Featured Monthly Tasting Report

100+ Affordable Bordeaux 2005 and the Rolland Collection

December 2007

100+ Affordable Bordeaux 2005

When most consumers think of Bordeaux, they envision the Classified Growths of the Medoc, and the top wines of Pomerol, Saint-Emilion, and Pessac-Leognon. These are the best wines the region has to offer, but represent only a fraction of the wines produced. These wines have never been better, nor have they ever been more expensive. Prices for the 2005 vintage are 30% over the 2000 vintage. The prices of the great Châteauhave risen so dramatically in recent years, that only the wealthiest global collectors can afford them.

So what to buy if you like Bordeaux, but can not afford to spend a house payment on a case of wine? The good news is that there are some terrific wines, at reasonable prices, you just have to know where to look. In this Featured Monthly Tasting , The International Wine Review reports on a major assessment of more than 100 affordable Bordeaux from the outstanding 2005 vintage. In a future issue (February-March, 2008) the Review will examine in-depth the impressive 2005 Crus Bourgeois and report on a tasting of over 125 wines.

The 2005 vintage in Bordeaux was of superb quality. It was a very dry year; many have called it a drought year. The vintage began early and finished without difficulty. Many growers are comparing 2005 to 2000, an outstanding year. Ripe fruit and ripe phenolics are the hallmark of this vintage. The quality of the vintage is also seen in the less well known Châteaux of the region. This month’s Featured Monthly Tasting emphasizes these less famous (and definitely less expensive) wines of Bordeaux.

And we have discovered some exceptional values: Château La Croix de Roche Bordeaux Supérieur [$13, 89 points], Henri Luis Fagard Château Bois Redon Bordeaux Supérieur [$9, 88 points], Château Roquefort Bordeaux [$14, 90 points], Château Thieuley Bordeaux [$13, 91 points], and Château Larrivaux Haut Medoc [$15, 92 points].

In addition, we find some wonderful wines that would warm the heart of any connoisseur at any price: Château Cap de Faugeres Côtes de Castillon [93 points], Château Clarke Listrac-Medoc [92 points], Domaine de L’A Côtes de Castillon [92 points], Château La Fleur Morange Mathilde St. Emilion [93 points], Château Labegorce Margaux [94 points], Clos Manou Medoc [92 points], and Château Moisin Bordeaux Supérieur [92 points]. Most of these wines are also offered at very reasonable prices.

The tasting notes and ratings are grouped into four categories. The first category is the Bordeaux and Bordeaux Superior AOCs, which includes wines made throughout Bordeaux. The second category is the left bank of the Garonne River, including Medoc and Graves. The third category is Saint Emilion and its surrounding villages of Pomerol and Fronsac, and the fourth category is the Côtes de Bordeaux, which covers the hillsides along the right banks of the Garonne and Dordogne Rivers. continue (subscribers only) >>

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The Rolland Collection

Michel and Dany Rolland are the most influential consulting oenologists in the world today. Michel grew up on the family’s Chateau Le Bon Pasteur in Pomerol and studied under Emile Peynaud at the prestigious Institute d’Oenologie of the Universite de Bordeaux, which is where he met his wife, Dany Rolland.

In the early 1970s Michel and Dany purchased a laboratory in Libourne and began a highly successful winemaking consulting business that today has 150 winery clients across fourteen countries. It is their wide ranging influence within France and abroad that distinguishes them from other winemaking consultants. With Chateau Le Bon Pasteur as a base, Michel and Dany gradually acquired ownership and long-term working relationships with wineries elsewhere in France and in Argentina, South Africa, and Spain. In 2007, with the help of their daughter Stéphanie and their son-in-law, David, the Rollands decided to begin directly marketing eleven of these wines as the Rolland Collection.

Line Up of the Rolland Collection Bottles

Recently, the International Wine Review had the opportunity to visit the Rollands at Le Bon Pasteur and to taste through this exciting collection of international wines. As we discovered, this impressive lineup includes some outstanding wines. If there is a common element among these wines, it is an emphasis on the purity and ripeness of the fruit, while retaining the characteristics of the region. The Rollands practice what they preach.
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