2005 Château Labégorce Zédé Margaux

31 Oct 2011 | posted by 5PBS | in Wine Corner

The red wines of Margaux are superb. Margaux lies on the left bank of the Gironde river, the boundary that bisects Bordeaux. Broadly speaking, vineyards on the left bank produce Cab-heavy Bordeaux, and those on the right bank lean more heavily on Merlot, although there are of course many exceptions to this rule.

The Château Labégorce Zédé from the mighty 2005 vintage is 60% Cabernet, 33% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot, and it is gorgeous. “Iron fist in a velvet glove” is sometimes used to describe Margaux, and is accurate here – beautiful solid hearty tannic structure, earthy, full-bodied and well-constructed, is wrapped around elegant velvet blueberry and ripe oaky chocolate, deep blackberry, and licorice. A beautiful wine with a long, lovely finish.

Château Labégorce Zédé was sold to its neighbor, Château Labégorce, in 2009, so no more wine will be produced under that label after that year. The 2005, therefore, is a rare find, and one that won’t be around forever. Pick up a bottle for your anniversary, or for Christmas Eve, or to put it away in your cellar. This amazing wine will age for a decade or more.

Recommended pairings: Any day that beautiful wine would make better

Serving suggestions: Decant at room temperature and drink slowly, slowly

2005 Château Labégorce Zédé Margaux, $49.99

Vintage Port / Colheita

25 Oct 2011 | posted by 5PBS | in Wine Corner

Vintage Port. Exceptional ruby port that comes from a vintage year is called Vintage Port. There are only about three vintages a decade, on average, and Portugal’s Ministry of Agriculture is responsible for determining which years – and which ports – make the cut.

Vintage Ports are highly sought after and extremely expensive. These ports have an almost unbelievable aging ability. One port website casually suggests that the 1900 vintage is probably ready to drink now, no need to continue to hold on to it; the 1945 vintage, however, still needs a little more time in the cellar. Sure. 1863 is probably the most highly prized port vintage ever.

That’s the year the Battle of Gettysburg was fought.

That’s why these ports are so fascinating: they’re like very old men with stories to tell. By drinking them, you can taste history. Delicious, delicious history.

Vintage Ports, especially the very old ones, are very delicate. They throw sediment and require careful decanting with a cheesecloth or coffee filter, and will oxidize fairly quickly. Drink them with a group of friends on a special occasion, and savor each sip.

Colheita. All Vintage Ports are rubies – by definition, they are bottle-aged. There are barrel-aged ports from single vintages, however. These ports, labeled colheita, are very rare, and have an aging ability equal to that of Vintage Ports. Only about 1% of all port produced is Colheita. These ports spend decades (or more, sometimes more than a century) in the barrel before bottling, so it is not surprising to see quite old vintages on the shelf (because a 1966 might have been bottled in 2009). 1937 is commonly considered the greatest vintage, and there are Colheitas out there from 1815, the year Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo.

Those are expensive.

Colheitas are already fully oxidized when you open them, so they will last a little longer in the bottle, up to several weeks if stored in the fridge. Colheitas are tawny port, so they will have notes of elegant chocolate nuttiness and dried fruit as opposed to the cherries and sweet raspberries of a ruby.

Colheitas are filtered and should not require decanting. Serve at room temperature or very slightly chilled, with dessert.

Ask your wine steward for current pricing and vintages.

Warre’s Otima Ten Year Old Tawny / Graham’s “Six Grapes” Reserve

17 Oct 2011 | posted by 5PBS | in Wine Corner

Port! We’re discussing port again this week. Last week we covered the basics – port is a sweet, fortified dessert wine – and alluded to how many different categories of port there are. Port will be either barrel-aged (tawny), or bottle-aged (ruby). From there, port will either be a blend of different vintages, or from a single vintage. These styles can be aged in different ways.

This week we’ll go into more detail about two types of aged port: aged tawny port and reserve ruby port.

Aged tawny port is divided into four categories: ten, twenty, thirty, or forty years old. These are blends of different vintages of barrel-aged port. This is where things start to get really fun, because each port house has a recognizable style for each category.

Broadly speaking, ten-year-old tawnies tend to be lighter and slightly nutty, with a little oak and chocolate. Twenty-year-olds, which tend to be the best value, are perfectly balanced, with mellowed tannin and a beautiful fragrant nuttiness that seems to evolve with each sip. Thirty-year-olds taste older, and are more refined and delicate; and forty-year-olds are voluptuous and rich and elegant.

Warre’s makes great, affordable aged tawnies – the ten year is a great place to start. Each producer and age category is different; you can keep exploring these styles for a lifetime.

 

Reserve ruby ports, like Graham’s Six Grapes, are blended from only a few vintages, and are intended to convey the characteristics of Vintage Port without the high price tag. Aged for four to six years, this style of port is more lush than aged tawny, and often has notes of cherry and dark plum, and a long, lingering finish.

Next week: Colheita and Vintage Port.

Recommended pairings: By themselves after a big meal, or with dessert

Serving suggestions: Room temperature. These ports are already oxidized, so they should keep for a few weeks after you open them. Keep them in the fridge.

Graham’s “Six Grapes” Reserve Porto, $22.99

Warre’s Otima Ten Year Old Tawny Porto, $26.99

Ramos Pinto Porto Ruby

11 Oct 2011 | posted by 5PBS | in Wine Corner

Port is awesome. Port is a rich, sweet, warm, fortified Portuguese dessert wine that has extraordinary aging potential. The Douro region, where port is produced, is the oldest defined wine region in the world.

There are many different styles of port (at least ten, depending on how you slice it), but you can start with two basic categories of red: ruby and tawny. Ruby ports are aged in the bottle, and tawny ports are aged in the barrel. Ruby ports are sultry and fruit-forward, and ruby red in color; tawny ports are more viscous and nutty, and generally chocolate brown.

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