Wines >100 CHF: Last month I organised a blind tasting of wines that sells between 100 CHF and 150 CHF.
The six wines we tasted were freely picked by the participants to the event. We usually taste completely blind, without even knowing the wines we are tasting. This time we decided to announce the wines beforehand.
The six wines were:
- Grand Vin de Léoville du Marquis de Las Cases 2007, Deuxième Cru Classé, Saint-Julien. A blend of 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 8% Merlot. It currently sells for 140 CHF.
- Chateau-Figeac 2008, Premier Grand Cru Classé, St Émilion. A blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Cabernet Franc, 20% Merlot. It currently sells for 145 CHF.
- Chateau Malescot St Exupery 2009, Troisième Cru Classé, Margaux. A blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot. It currently sells for 115 CHF.
- Chateau Lafon-Rochet 2009, Quatrième Cru Classé, Saint-Estèphe. A blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, 1% Cabernet Franc. It was bought for 98 CHF.
- Vega Sicilia Tinto Valbuena 5° 2008, Ribera del Duero. Produced with 93% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) grapes, and the remaining 7% a blend of Merlot and Malbec. It currently sells for 130 CHF.
- Arcane le Pape 2010, Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Made with 100% Grenache grapes. It was bought for 130 CHF.
We actually tasted seven wines. I added an intruder. A Merlot based wine made in 2017 that I bought for 9 EUR in Desenzano del Garda at Pilandro winery. I was the only one knowing about it.
Here how it went, according to the judgement of myself and the five friends that joined me for the tasting.
Vega Sicilia Tinto Valbuena 5° 2008 was a clearly flawed bottle and was therefore taken out of the ranking.
Chateau-Figeac 2008, Chateau Malescot St Exupery 2009 and Chateau Lafon-Rochet 2009 stood out and got the first three places in this order.
Fourth place went to the fourth Bordeaux, the generally superior Grand Vin de Léoville du Marquis de Las Cases, but from one of the worst vintages of the Century. The very challenging 2007.
Arcane le Pape 2010 probably wasn’t appreciated as much as it should have been because it was served (randomly by my wife) last, after the much bolder Bordeaux wines.
Interesting fact is that the 9 EUR Merlot wasn’t a clear looser. In fact, the average ranking placed it in the middle. One participant placed it first, two last and three exactly in the middle.
Since yesterday, I’m walking the 1000 km of the Italian part of the via Francigena from Aosta to Rome. For technical reasons, till the beginning of July I’ll not publish any post, but I’m pretty sure that during my wandering I’ll have a chance to discover a lot of interesting wines and to write about them.
Country: France, Spain
Region: Bordeaux, Rhône Valley, Ribera del Duero
Grapes: Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Malbec, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Tempranillo
Type: Red
Vintage: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
Producer: Chateau-Figeac, Chateau Lafon-Rochet, Chateau Léoville Las Cases, Chateau Malescot St Exupery, Vega Sicilia, Xavier Vignon
Price range: Luxury (>100 US$)
Pascal’s Enjoyment Index: 3/5