Saina Nieminen
Saina Nieminen
Ch. Vieux Pourret 2005 - 13,5% abv; Grand Cru St.-milion
This is a biodynamic wine, 80% Merlot and 20% Franc. I didn't approach this with great hopes: there is some connection to Tardieu-Laurent, whose wines I have rarely received any pleasure from, it is made in an area that I am disillusioned with and is mostly from the least interesting grape grown there and it is higher in alcohol than those old-style wines from there that I like.
But unlike with other Bordeaux I have recently tried, I could actually sense that this is made from grapes rather than from wood. I have no idea how much oak this sees, but I do remember the importer saying that it is not even half of the wine. It is, of course, ripe and dark; but it is also earthy and deliciously refreshing/herbaceous or whatever the currently favoured euphemism is for that delightful, greenish aroma of traditional Bordeaux. Crisp, refreshing and dangerously moreish (when has that last been said about a Bordeaux?); palate-cleansing tannins. Delightful already though young. The only typically Bordelais problem with this wine is its price of c.35.
This is a biodynamic wine, 80% Merlot and 20% Franc. I didn't approach this with great hopes: there is some connection to Tardieu-Laurent, whose wines I have rarely received any pleasure from, it is made in an area that I am disillusioned with and is mostly from the least interesting grape grown there and it is higher in alcohol than those old-style wines from there that I like.
But unlike with other Bordeaux I have recently tried, I could actually sense that this is made from grapes rather than from wood. I have no idea how much oak this sees, but I do remember the importer saying that it is not even half of the wine. It is, of course, ripe and dark; but it is also earthy and deliciously refreshing/herbaceous or whatever the currently favoured euphemism is for that delightful, greenish aroma of traditional Bordeaux. Crisp, refreshing and dangerously moreish (when has that last been said about a Bordeaux?); palate-cleansing tannins. Delightful already though young. The only typically Bordelais problem with this wine is its price of c.35.