This magazine was shared with you as a member of our community of Bordeaux-lovers all over the world.
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Lafite Rothschild 2018, Ronald’s Left Bank Wine of the vintage!
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A Personal Note From Ronald,
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June is ending with a bang in Bordeaux. We are experiencing a heatwave rarely seen in Bordeaux in June. Yesterday the temperatures touched the 41C (106F) and we are so happy with our air-conditioning.
Last week’s Bordeaux Grand Cru Tour re-united an amazing group of American guests.
Or in the words of one of them on today’s TripAdvisor comment:
“We ate like royalty and tasted all first growths and many 100 point wines. You may think costs are high but I think it is cheap for the tour, meals and wines tasted, let alone the camaraderie. The experience, knowledge friendliness and generosity of Margaret and Ronald has no price.
We will be back when / if we can get a place on this fantastic adventure.”
My Left-Bank wine of the vintage
And speaking of the Classified Growths, Lafite Rothschild released their en-primeur prices for the 2018 vintage. They came out at € 480 per bottle ex-negociant. In my article you can find my tasting notes and how this remarkable First Growth produced my favorite Left Bank wine of the vintage 2018.
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Air-conditioning and the pool: the right ingredients at
Chateau Coulon Laurensac during a heatwave
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The famous Classification of 1855
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The Emperor of Classifications
On our tours we tend to focus on the Bordeaux Classified Growths and Margaret delved into the history of this historic ranking. In her article she’ll take you back to when Napoleon III had the unusual honor of being France’s first democratically elected president as well as being France’s last ruling sovereign. And how he was responsible for the now famous Classification of 1855.
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Last rooms on our
2019 Bordeaux Harvest Tours
The Bordeaux Harvest Tour may well be the most spectacular tour we offer, with meals as exceptional as your visits. The most exciting time in Bordeaux is harvest time. Experiencing the wineries in full harvest swing ads a very special touch to these tours.
We still have a few rooms available, so check out this exclusive Harvest Tour here and join us in tasting all five First Growths and Superior First Growth Chateau d’Yquem! And many of them will be older vintages!
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Join us on the Harvest Tour this September or October
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Feedback is more than welcome
I would love to hear from you so please send me your comments and reply to this mail. Thanks for your input.
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Ronald and Margaret love welcoming you
in Bordeaux
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And please remember: don’t drink anything I wouldn’t drink!
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The 1855 Classification of Bordeaux Wines
By Margaret Rens
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Napoleon III, the Emperor of the Bordeaux 1855 Classification
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Cru Classé?
The concept of « cru » (growth) in Bordeaux dates back to the second half of the 17th Century. A few truly great wines were already being produced at this time from specific «appellations» by owners who took special pride in the quality of their products. This was especially so for red wine, and the famous quartet of Haut-Brion, Latour, Margaux and Lafite. The great wines of Medoc had to wait until 1855 for an official classification.
Napoleon III
It all started earlier in 1851. This was the year that Louis Napoleon III took over political power in France after a Coup d’Etat. Born in France, Louis Napoleon was forced into exile like the rest of the Napoleon family after the defeat of his uncle Bonaparte at Waterloo. Napoleon III was a smart man and he got inspired by the great minds he met during his time in exile. He travelled to Switzerland, London and New York where he met the political and scientific leaders of the day, including politician Benjamin Disraeli, scientist Michael Faraday and writer Washington Irving.
First President and last Emperor
On his return in France he swiftly rose to power and was elected president from 1848 to 1852. When he could not constitutionally be re-elected, he seized power in 1851 and became the Emperor of the French from 1852 to1870. He was thus the first elected president and also the last sovereign of France. Napoleon III was a busy man with many plans. He commissioned the grand reconstruction of Paris, carried out by his prefect of the Seine, Baron Haussmann. Haussmann earlier was prefect of the Gironde. In Bordeaux you can find Haussmann’s influence on the place Pey-Berland, the rue Vital-Carles and on the cours Alsace-Lorraine.
Napoleon III launched similar public works projects in Marseille, Lyon and other French cities. He also modernized the French banking system, greatly expanded and consolidated the French railway system and made the French merchant marine the second largest in the world. He promoted the building of the Suez Canal and established modern agriculture, which ended famines in France and made France an agricultural exporter. Social reforms included giving French workers the right to strike and the right to organize. The first women students were admitted at the Sorbonne University, and women’s education greatly expanded, as did the list of required subjects taught in public schools.
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The four original First Growths
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Napoleon III, France’s first President and last Emperor
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Inspired by Queen Victoria
In 1851, the same year that Napoleon seized power, Queen Victoria opened The Great Exhibition in London. The exhibition was housed in the Crystal Palace, a huge, modular, iron, wood and glass structure like the world had never seen before. This Great Exhibition was the first of the World’s Fair exhibitions of culture and industry. There were some 100,000 objects, displayed along more than ten miles, by over 15,000 contributors. Britain occupied half the display space inside with exhibits from the home country and the Empire. France was the largest foreign contributor. The London exposition was a huge success and according to its official report, 5,162,330 visitors attended the exposition. Expenses amounted to upward of $5,000,000, while receipts were scarcely one-tenth of that amount. The exposition covered 16 hectares (40 acres) with 34 countries participating.
Bordeaux on display
This inspired Napoleon III and he took up the ambitious plan to organize an even grander International Exhibition in Paris to put France strongly on the world map. For this 1855 Exposition, Napoleon III requested a classification system for France’s best Bordeaux-wines, which would be on display for visitors from around the world.
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Only the Left Bank
The wine ranking was established by the Chamber of Commerce of Bordeaux. This organisation asked its courtiers (wine brokers) to hand over a list of the red and white wines they sold and the prices they received for a vat of 900 liters of wine (4 barrels of 225 liters). Because all the wine brokers linked to the Chamber of Commerce of Bordeaux only sold wines from the Left Bank (Medoc, Graves, Sauternes and Barsac) these were the only wines considered in the classification of 1855. The Right Bank wines (Pomerol, saint Emilion etc) were sold by the wine brokers linked to the Chamber of Commerce of Libourne and thus weren’t included in the ranking.
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The Right Bank got overlooked in 1855
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Margaret, an official ambassador of the Classified Growths
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Two main elements
The classification was based on two main elements: the reputation of the wine and the price for which the wines were sold in 1855. No tastings took place and no other criteria except price and reputation were taken into account. The idea behind this was quite simply based on the assumption that the more expensive a wine is, the better the quality must be.
The price categories were roughly decided as follows:
1st Classified Growths: over 3.000 francs for 900 liters (3,3 francs per liter)
2nd Classified Growths: 2.500 à 2.700 francs (2,9 francs per liter)
3rd Classified Growths: 2.100 à 2.400 francs (2,5 francs per liter)
4th Classified Growths: 1.800 à 2.100 francs (2,2 francs per liter)
5th Classified Growths: 1.400 à 1.600 francs (1,7 francs per liter)
(These were not the final consumer prices but broker to merchant rates)
To give some perspective to these prices, a skilled worker (mason, carpenter etc.) earned between 2 or 3 francs a day in 1855. A liter of ordinary table wine would cost him between 0,1 and 0,6 francs. A baguette (bread) would set him back 0,1 francs.
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A short proces
The whole process of classification of the Bordeaux wines took no more than 2 weeks and on April 18th 1855 the ranking was send to Paris. In total sixty-one chateaux, sixty chateaux in Medoc and one in the Graves are part of the 1855 ranking.
In Medoc and Graves four properties were ranked First Classified Growths. Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Chateau Margaux, Chateau Latour and Chateau Haut Brion. Chateau Mouton Rothschild was ranked Second Growth in 1855.
Sauternes
The Sauternes and Barsac ranking consisted of 27 crus in total. Château Yquem was singled out as a unique «Premier Grand Cru Classé Supérieur», and in an outstanding category of its own. Of the remaining crus eleven were awarded First Crus status and fifteen Second Crus.
Since the wines produced in Sauternes were much appreciated by wine brokers, these superb wines were very quickly in great demand. Not only to supply the rich Parisian market but also the royal courts and palaces of central and Eastern Europe, where Yquem’s dynamic owner, Marquis de Lur-Saluces had made them very fashionable.
The publicity brought on by the new classification helped the Sauternes and Barsac wines to an even greater popularity. In 1859, the Russian Tsar’s brother, the Grand Duke Constantine, paid 20,000 francs per barrel for the 1847 Yquem. This was an incredible price; four to five times higher than Latour or Margaux!
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Mouton had to wait until 1973 to be a First Growth
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Yquem, the only Premier Grand Cru Classé Supérieur
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Pichon Baron, a Super-Second Growth
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Ronald, a member of the Commanderie des Bontemps by Mouton Rothschild
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Two alterations
In all the 164 years the classification now stands, only two alterations were made.
The first was more an addition than an alteration and took place in September 1855, while the World Fair in Paris was still running: Château Cantemerle was added as Fifth Cru (by simple addition to the previous list). The request was made Caroline de Villeneuve-Durfort, the owner at the time. Cantemerle was overlooked initially because the domain sold until 1854 directly to its customers (especially Dutch), without passing by the brokers in Bordeaux.
The second alteration took years of lobbying by Baron Philippe de Rothschild. In 1973 his many efforts came to fruition as Chateau Mouton Rothschild got promoted from Second Classified Growth to Premier Grand Cru Classé.
Much debated
The ranking of 1855 has been disputed many times in its existence. Is a list that has been drawn up that many years ago still valid? Many of the chateaux that are on the list have changed significantly since 1855.
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Things change, but the list doesn’t
Over the years plots of vineyards have been bought and sold, winemaking skills have improved, prices have changed. For example 5th Classified Growth Chateau Lynch Bages today out-prices many of its higher ranked colleagues in the Medoc.
The same goes for chateaux like Haut Bailly, Smith Haut Lafitte or Pape Clement. These chateaux weren’t part of the original ranking but today their wines sell for more than the wines of several 2nd Classified Growths. Should they be included?
The debate is not settled yet. However, Bordeaux is attached to its traditions and I for one, I don’t belief Bordeaux is ready to change this tradition.
Commanderie du Bontemps
The chateaux that are part of the 1855 classification are united in the Commanderie du Bontemps. This wine-brotherhood brings together the principal players in the Bordeaux wine trade and safeguards the reputation and quality of the Medoc and Sauternes wines.
Fete de la Fleur
Every year during the Fete de la Fleur, a gala reception in honor of the flowering of the vines, ambassadors for Bordeaux are recognized with an honorary membership of the brotherhood. Ronald and I were privileged last year to receive this honor from the Rothschild family of Chateau Mouton Rothschild. And we continue wholeheartedly playing our role as Bordeaux-ambassadors.
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5th Growth Lynch Bages nowadays sells for more
than some of the Second Growths
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Mouton Rothschild became a
First Growth in 1973
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Margaret and Ronald with their host Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild at the Fete de la Fleur
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On all our tours you’ll see and taste all five First Growths plus Yquem
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Join us on the September or October Bordeaux Grand Cru Harvest Tour
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Join our 2019 Bordeaux Grand Cru Harvest Tour
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10 excellent reasons to join the Bordeaux Harvest Tour in September or October
| 1. |
Carefree and truly effortless travel in Bordeaux: We take care of everything, really everything! |
| 2. |
See and taste all 5 First Growths and Château d’Yquem! |
| 3. |
Grand Cru wines with all meals (except breakfast…)! |
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Private gourmet meals at Bordeaux Chateaux and in a famous Michelin-starred restaurant! |
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Superb food & wines and great fun in a small group! |
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Expert (and humorous) guidance by Bordeaux Specialist Ronald Rens! |
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An entertaining concise cooking class! |
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Air-conditioned accommodation at our privately owned 18th century chateau! |
9. Air-conditioned, luxury motor coach transportation throughout the tour!
10.Grand Cru Farewell Dinner with all Grand Cru wines (including Margaux,
Lafite Rothschild + Superior First Growth Yquem of over 20 years old!).
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Sipping First Growths at the Farewell dinner at Chateau Coulon Laurensac is one of
many highlights on our Bordeaux Wine Tours
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Chateau Lafite Rothschild 2018 tasting notes and ratings
By Ronald Rens, M.Sc., Wine Master, Bordeaux Expert
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Margaret is simply in love with the delicious French bread
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Happy faces at Lafite Rothschild
The big smile on Eric Kohler’s face when he welcomed me said it all. The talented technical director at Lafite Rothschild greeted me warmly and with confidence. The weather conditions at Lafite in 2018 were challenging at first. The summer began very late: on July 16. The weather conditions changed from “extremely challenging” to “unbelievable.” The vines were saved in the hot august by the reserves of water in the ground. Lafite created beautiful classical wines and Kohler’s secret was: “Not to be overwhelmed by the weather. The terroir combined with the weather and a lot of work gave the concentration, typical for the vintage. But we had to be precise to prevent over-ripeness. A gentle extraction was paramount. This vintage gave us a lot.”
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Ronald tasting the 2018 with Eric Kohler the technical director at Lafite Rothschild
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Carruades de Lafite 2018 (18,5+ points)
[38% Merlot, 56,5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5,5% Cabernet Franc]
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Outstanding
The Merlot at Lafite was outstanding this year. Kohler thought at first that he would be using up to 15% of Merlot in the blend of Lafite because of the outstanding quality. In the end Kohler and his team found that 8,5% Merlot brought a perfect balance and as a result all the rest of the Merlot was used in the Carruades. “This gave us a quality in the Carruades that we have never seen before at Lafite,” he added, almost apologetic. The parcels from which the Carruades are produced are rather heterogeneous.
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Drones
The new scientific approach where drones were used to determine which plots of the Carruades needed harvesting clearly paid off. For the Grand Vin this approach is not needed because of the next to perfect terroir of Lafite. An intense deep color with a light red-purple rim, reminding me of the 2010 or 2016. Discrete nose that takes a while to open up. Hints of clean and fresh red and black fruit. Tasting the wine I could only write: “This is Super!” All the work and effort paid off here. Superb and elegant tannins. Great freshness and an incredible length for “just” a second wine. A precision that is remarkable.
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Lafite Rothschild 2018 (20 points, without a doubt!)
[91% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8,5% Merlot and 0,5% Petit Verdot]
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Like I said before, 2018 is a vintage that that can easily turn into “Parker-style” wines. Kohler hit the brakes at some point and made sure to harvest at exactly the right moment to prevent jammy flabby wines with too much alcohol. And he did well because the wine is simply brilliant. The color is even more intense than the Carruades but not by far. A deep concentrated ruby color with a delicate purple rim. The nose is just stunning with an incredible concentration of perfectly ripe red and black fruit. Not a hint of jammyness. On the palate I found the elegance of a great Lafite intertwined with the power and concentration of the vintage. An exemplary freshness with beautiful ripe velvety tannins and a great structure and a creamy texture. A great wine with a outstanding ageing potential that will wow wine lovers for decades to come. I admit to swallowing this wine, it was simply this good. Bravo to Eric Kohler and his team! Definitely my Left Bank wine of the vintage.
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Definitely my Left Bank wine of the vintage.
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Discover our 2020 Bordeaux Wine Tour Program
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Great fun on the masterclass on the first night on our Bordeaux Wine Experiences
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2020 Bordeaux Wine Tour Schedule
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_____________________________________________________________________
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_____________________________________________________________________
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10 excellent reasons to join a Bordeaux Wine Experience
| 1. |
Carefree and truly effortless travel in Bordeaux: We take care of everything, really everything! |
| 2. |
See and taste all 5 First Growths and Château d’Yquem! |
| 3. |
Grand Cru wines with all meals (except breakfast…)! |
| 4. |
Private gourmet meals at Bordeaux Chateaux and in a famous Michelin-starred restaurant! |
| 5. |
Superb food & wines and great fun in a small group! |
| 6. |
Expert (and humorous) guidance by Bordeaux Specialist Ronald Rens! |
| 7. |
An entertaining concise cooking class! |
| 8. |
Air-conditioned accommodation at our privately owned 18th century chateau! |
9. Air-conditioned, luxury motor coach transportation throughout the tour!
10.Grand Cru Farewell Dinner with all Grand Cru wines (including Margaux,
Lafite Rothschild + Superior First Growth Yquem of over 20 years old!).
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Because you deserve a Bordeaux Wine Experience and not “just a tour”
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The Bordeaux Grand Cru Harvest Tour
The Harvest Tour is Grand in every way, both in food and wine. Enjoy chateau meals and Michelin rated dining. The most exciting time in Bordeaux is harvest time. You can sense the anticipation in the air.
And the food is superb as well: Exclusive meals at extraordinary venues not normally open to the public. On top of that you’ll see and taste all five First Growths and Superior First Growth Chateau d’Yquem and many of them will be older vintages!
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Experience Bordeaux in full harvest swing
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Enjoy meals in venues not open to the public while tasting
the best wines of Bordeaux
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The Bordeaux Grand Cru tour
This is probably our most exclusive tour. This ultimate wine tour for Bordeaux lovers is as good as it gets. Can you believe that you’ll see and taste all five First Growths and Superior First Growth Chateau d’Yquem including some older vintages! Of course we include the best of Saint Emilion and Pomerol as well. Add to this outstanding meals at exceptional venues not normally open to the public and you’ll see why this tour usually sells out early.
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The Grand Tour of Bordeaux
The Grand Tour may be the most special tour we offer, with meals as exceptional as your visits. Imagine tasting all five First Growths and Yquem. And there is more: Superb chateau meals and Michelin rated dining… Add to this the best of Pomerol and Saint Emilion and you’ll see that this dazzling Grand Tour of Bordeaux is your chance to see and taste the very best that Bordeaux has to offer.
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Feel completely Special and Pampered on this Exclusive Experience
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Chateau Coulon Laurensac, without a doubt the best place in the world to taste all five First Growths plus Yquem…
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The Bordeaux Wine Experience
at Chateau Coulon Laurensac
1, chemin de Meydieu
33360 Latresne (BORDEAUX), France
Website : www.BXWINEX.com
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Call us:
1-877-203-2665 (toll free from USA & Canada) or
+33 556 20 64 12 (from anywhere else in the world)
(These lines go directly to our Chateau in Bordeaux so please remember that we’re on Paris time!)
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Copyright © 2019 by The Bordeaux Wine Experience. All rights reserved. The content, design and graphical elements of this Magazine are copyrighted. The Bordeaux Wine Experience is a Dutch company specializing in wine and culinary tours in the Bordeaux region for an English speaking international clientele.
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