Chateau Haut-Beausejour, Saint Estephe, 2001 Cru Bourgeois ~ $20.00
So what does it all mean? Haut Beausejour is the winery, Saint Estephe is the appellation, "Cru Bourgeois" is a classification used in the Medoc region of Bordeaux. For a good read on classifications in Medoc click here , and for all of Bordeaux,click here . The label also announces "Mis en Boutelle Au Chateau" That's French Speak for Estate Bottled, or "we bottled this here wine at our digs"
St. Estephe is a sub appellation on the left bank of the Gironde Estuary in the greater appellation of Bordeaux. The region is mostly made up of smaller, family owned vineyards and wineries. It has a mixture of gravel soils with outcrops of limestone known as calcaire de St-Estephe. These outcrops are considered the prime locations for growing Cabernet Sauvignon which is the main component in the St Estephe blend. The rest of the blend is usually made up of, in order of importance, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot.
So how is it you ask? I enjoyed it very much.
Color: Dark, purple-red, with hints of aging on the edges.
Nose: Leather, violets, and damp earth give way to a sweeter, cedar and tobacco note with time in the glass.
Palate: Soft tanins with a long finish, slightly lacking in the midpalate but its a good balanced blend with lively acidity.
Overall: This wine is a great food wine and paired well with my cream of bacon and mushroom pasta. I give it a B
posted by David Ogilvie @ 11:18 PM
9 comments
9 Comments:
Hi David,
The dinner sounds good as well as the wine. Your "Bordeaux,click here" link does not work on my computer, you may need to check it out. I have made you my home page as it is great to be able to purchase a great wine and a good price for the weekend.
Hey Anonymous, Thanks for visiting. I just tried the "bordeaux" tab and it worked fine. Try again, its a great map of the region showing all of the different appelations.
d.o.
Links worked for me too. I didn't know you'd be eating so well in Atlanta. Good job on finding a nice inexpensive St Estephe.
Thanks for getting back to me. I have tried the link this morning and it is perfect and very interesting. I was able to open the link to the map, it was the other wine classifications that won't open.
thanks
Hi I'm from Melbourne Australia- I've tried the 2000 Haut- Beausejour and I think it is a nice inexpensive bordeaux with nice spice and sweet fruit although a bit short on the palate.At least it is not corked liked the leoville barton 86 that just disappointed me over dinner. Cheers Michael.
David,
What can you tell me of the original Château Beauséjour wines? I know the original winery was purchased in 1992 by Jean-Claude Rouzaud along with Château Picard and renamed “Château Haut-Beauséjour.” I happen to have 6 bottles of 1986 and 6 more of 1985 Château Beauséjour Saint Estephe wines. Are they worth anything? should I just drink them now or have they gotten funky and were too cheap to last this long anyway? Thanks for the info
Wow Norcalwinefan! You have quite a collection. If you bought or recieved these wines with the intention of one day drinking them, then I would try one and decide if it is still drinkable and ageable. If you got them to sell, 1)it needs to be stored properly, 2) You can call one of the auction houses to see what the going rate is for your wines, if it is low, then keep them and have a good time, If they are worth something then yo have to get them checked before you can auction them. If it was me I would just enjoy them myself. I enjoy wine too much to buy and then sell. As far as the vintages are concerned, both the 85 and 86 Vintages were winners.
Good luck, and if you do open one soon, send me a little email with your tasting notes and I will put it up on the blog. It would be a very interesting addition.
David,
Well I finally did it. I opened 2 bottles each of the 85 and 86 Château Beauséjour Saint Estephe wines with some friend this past week. As expected, they took a little time to open up to their potential, but were rewarding none the less. The fruit was minimal, but the wines were still fairly well balanced with a surprizingly long finish. I feel the 86 was the better of the 2. The bottles of 85 seemed to have a slight musty overtone to the wine. Now that I know they have promise, I am looking forward to delighting other friends with the remaining bottles. It is not every day that you can bring out a wine that is a legal drinking age itself, 21 years old.
Norcalwinefan
Hey thanks for reporting back Norcalwinefan. What a great opportunity to try two great vintages side by side with such age. I wish I were lucky enough to sit at that table.
Thanks again
David
Post a Comment
<< Home