Chateau de France Vintage 2004, 2006 and 2010(white)
A lazy Saturday afternoon best for flexing skills......
Chateau de France 2004 Pessac Leognan(rouge), 13%. Dark, dense ruby colour with tight rim. Notes of ripe red and black currant fruit on tones of new leather, mineral and smoky oak. Very balanced and dense palate, with polished tannins, minerality and a lovely length. Supple. DD89. Chateau de France 2006 Pessac Leognan(rouge), 13%. Looks even denser, and with a slightly tighter rim. With cedary and sandalwood tone, fruit is suppressed to begin with but finds its way in expressing dense, ripe, dark plum fruits on palate in glass. With bigger tannins, its edging dryness and minerlity well expressed vintage variance. DD90. Château France 2010 Pessac LEOGNAN (blanc), 14%: A fruity wine with notes of white peach, papaya, honey and citrus. The attack is fresh. The palate is crisp, mineral, round and with some spicy notes. In glass after 20 minutes, slight hint of blue cheese. Quite 'lanoline' nose and palate. Edging dry; fermented out; full bodied by Pessac Leognan standard; smart, clean, not hairy, good and modern. A woman with curves. DD92.
Robert Parker ranked Chateau de France ‘Good’. He regards this wine better than Bouscaut, Haut Bergey, Malartic-Lagraviere, Olivier and even Smith Haut Lafite. Also this is a Michel Rolland wine and very likely this is a crowd pleaser for the ‘Graves’ palated. Cabernet fans may find the tones and structure of its majority 60 % Cabernet Sauvignon(40 % Merlot) within the comfort zone too.
Technicals are as follows: alcoholic fermentation of 7 to 10 days , followed by maceration in 17 vats of 130 hl for 3 to 4 weeks; 14 to 18 months in barrels, 50% new oak and 50 % used oak; fining with egg white and only a light filtration are performed before bottling. Soil type is very much big and medium gravel, with limestone and clay similar to Haut Brion and the neighbors de Fieuzal and Domaine de Chevalier.
The reds are so dense. Will those as Pessac Leognan interest you at all? The whites are ripe(almost sweetish) and smart, and almost too modern to be true.
Last night was superb. If music be the fruit of love play on. Thanks J.
