“To wine! It improves with age. The older I get, the more I like it.”
- Unknown
I hope you are enjoying reading this series as much as I am writing the articles. I have identified 80 wines that I want to share with you. I am in the home stretch. I think I’ll open a bottle tonight and see if it resonates with me.
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Château Beychevelle Grand Vin Saint-Julien 1982 – It may be a fourth growth, but it is first on the palates of many!
This is a clarion call you have heard from me before, but the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855, which made sense at that time, no longer has efficacy if it never changes. I acknowledge Château Cantemerle’s addition to Cinquièmes Crus (Fifth Growth) in 1856 and Château Mouton Rothschild being raised to Premier Cru status in 1973. See, it can be done!
Wineries throughout Bordeaux have expanded, decreased, or otherwise changed since 1855, but the classifications have not, save for the exceptions I have mentioned. The wine I am going to discuss is a very good example of why there needs to be changes in the classifications.
Château Beychevelle, located in the Saint-Julien appellation of Bordeaux, is one of ten Quatrièmes Crus (Fourth Growths) in Napoléon III’s historic Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855. The other Fourth Growths Châteaux are Saint-Pierre, Talbot, Branaire-Ducru, Duhart-Milon, Pouget, La Tour Carnet, Lafon-Rochet, Prieuré-Lichine, and Marquis de Terme. Not bad company, indeed!
The name Beychevelle comes from the Old French term baisse-voile, which means “lowered sails.”
Château Beychevelle’s foundations date from the 15th century. Bishop François de Foix Candale built the grand chateau in 1565. The château eventually passed into the hands of Jean Louis de Nogaret de La Valette, the first Duke of Epernon, whose titles also included Admiral of France, Governor of Normandy, of Caen, and of Le Havre. Ships sailing in front of the château were ordered to lower their sails as a sign of respect when passing the estate. The name Beychevelle comes from the Old French term baisse-voile, which means “lowered sails.” Hence, the name of the Château is Beychevelle. That is also why there is a depiction of a ship with a lowered sail on the obverse side of the wine bottle.
I have enjoyed Château Beychevelle many times in the past, but there was something different about having the wine in Bordeaux. It is a special wine from Saint-Julien, one of my favorite AOCs in the Médoc subregion in Bordeaux. More particularly, it is in the commune of Saint-Julien-Beychevelle, which is on the left bank of the Gironde River. This means that the dominant varietal is Cabernet Sauvignon.
We had lunch at a very charming restaurant in Saint-Julien. The luncheon menu included beef bone marrow, which is one of my favorites. We enjoyed Château d’Haurets 2018 and 2021, and the star of the lunch, Château Beychevelle 1982.
The wines and the beef bone marrow were an inspired pairing. There are wines that are best consumed when they are young. Some should be enjoyed in five to 10 years. Only the rarest wines are crafted to be age-worthy. Château Beychevelle 1982 falls in the latter category. This vintage was 40 years old, and there was still a spring in its step. This wine proved what a bold wine can do when it reaches its maturity.
One of the attributes of wine is the color. This is a broad statement, but white wines tend to turn darker with age. This is why they will look browner, as opposed to the vibrant yellow, pale, or wheat color that it was originally. Red wines react in the opposite way. They tend to get lighter in color with age. A wine that was dark purple upon release can become a brick color after a few years.
The Beychevelle 1982 was still a richly dark ruby, purple-tinged color, with minimal rim-variation despite being 40-years old. Rim variation is the distinctive lighter color that rims the darker color of the wine in the glass as a wine ages. The nose had aromas of black current, liquorice, mint, cedar, white truffle, and sous-bois. The palate had a stunning mouthfeel, medium to full-bodied, rich with notes of dark fruit, particularly, Damson plums, dark cherries, and crème de cassis. There was a touch of leather, vanilla bean, and Belgian dark chocolate, leading to generous tannins and a glorious and lengthy finish.
I would love to revisit this wine in another five years. It will be hitting its stride. Hopefully, so will I.
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Château Lascombes Margaux 2012 – “Why does this man continue to taunt me?”
Château Lascombes is located in Margaux and has its roots in the 17th century (even I must admit that pun is horrid). Margaux is in the Haut-Médoc region on the Left Bank of the Gironde River. Typically, this means that the predominant varietal is Cabernet Sauvignon.
Château Lascombes is one of 15 Deuxièmes Crus (Second Growths) in the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855. The Château had fallen into disrepair over the years until it was acquired by an investment group headed by the French wine writer Alexis Lichine in the 1950s. The group also included the American banker, David Rockefeller. This group made significant investments to modernize the Château and replant the vineyard.
The Château changed hands several more times before being acquired by the American hedge fund, Colony Capital in 2001. Colony Capital made extensive renovations to the Château, including replanting more vines, expanding the estate, and further upgrading the chai and the other facilities. Colony also hired Michel Rolland as its consultant.
Hedge funds rarely invest in anything for the long term, and Château Lascombes was not an exception. Colony Capital sold the Château to a French insurance giant for a record sum in 2011. Interestingly, the Château was returned to American hands in 2022, when it was acquired by Gaylon Lawrence of Lawrence Family Wine Estates, and its Managing Partner, Carlton McCoy, Jr. McCoy is also a Master Sommelier and CEO of Heitz Cellars, which is also owned by Lawrence Family Wine Estates. Yes, this is the same Carlton McCoy, Jr., who is dating Maya Dalla Valle (the director and winemaker of Dalla Valle Vineyards fame). Why do I like this man’s wine? Why does this man continue to taunt me? (See an earlier article in this series on Maya Dalle Valle to fully understand this philippic.)
Château Lascombes hired Axel Heinz, the long-time director of Ornellaia and Masseto, two of the best Super Tuscans, to manage the Château. Lascombes is now the largest château in Margaux, and the new owners have made it clear that they are not afraid to spend money to make improvements and present the best wines available.
There is something about enjoying a wine where it is made. It is like pairing a wine with local food, it is just better. Thus, it was with Château Lascombes Margaux 2012. The Lascombes was part of a lineup of eight wines we had in the cellar of a delightful wine shop in Saint-Émilion. I had not had the 2012 vintage before, but this was Margaux at its best.
The vineyards are near those of Château Margaux. This means that Lascombes is amongst world-class estates and its terroir is similar. This wine had just the right blend of varietals, aged for just the right amount of time, in just the right amount of oak, blended as only someone like Michel Rolland can do.
Château Lascombes’s plantings are counter-intuitive amongst Left Bank vineyards. Left Bank wines are predominately Cabernet Sauvignon-based. However, Château Lascombes’s Merlot plantings are greater than the Cabernet Sauvignon. The percentage of plantings may explain why there is such a great amount of Merlot in the Lascombes 2012. The 2012 is 48% Merlot, 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 4% Petit Verdot. It is aged 18-20 months in 60% new French oak barrels.
There is a richness to the Lascombes. It is an inky, purple-colored wine laden with dark fruits, particularly crème de cassis and black cherries, on the nose. There is also a trace of peppercorn. The nose also has violets, sous-bois, and chocolate, with a subtle suggestion of vanilla. The vanilla is clearly a residue of the time the wine is aged in such a high percentage of new French oak.
The palate is well-structured and balanced. There were floral notes accompanied by blueberries, with an infusion of liquorice, cigar box, plums, cherries, and mocha. The tannins are luscious, and the acidity is balanced. All of this leads to a supremely decadent finish.
The Château Lascombes Margaux 2012 is a superbly executed wine. This is why I love wines from Margaux. So, does this mean I am going to be forced to add more of Carlton McCoy’s wines to my cellar? He takes my future DIL, and still, must I give him money by buying his wines? The answer is yes! Life is so unfair!
Santé!
