Jean-Claude Desmarty’s idyllic Clos Saint-André used to be one of the best-kept secrets in boutique Bordeaux. But that ended abruptly this past February, when a flattering New York Times profile catapulted this minuscule, 200-case-per-year property onto the global stage. Overnight, the current release vintage sold out in every US market and Clos Saint-André joined Bordeaux’s unofficial “hot list.”
The only thing missing in this story is the four-figure price tag fetched by fellow Pomerol micro-chateaux such as Lafleur ($1,800/bottle) and, of course, Pétrus ($4,000). I won’t waste your time lamenting skyrocketing costs, or the horse-trading that will likely be necessary to acquire Clos Saint-André’s wines in the future; let’s instead focus on what’s in front of us, which is a maturing back-vintage release of one of the most soulful, authentic, hand-crafted Bordeaux wines any of us can hope to enjoy at a price that is hard to comprehend (and likely to rise in the future along with demand). Maybe Desmarty was able to keep his 2011 so affordable because he is a true one-man show—well, one man and his horse, meticulously tending to less than a hectare of perfectly situated Pomerol vineyards he can see from his bedroom window. To have lucked into a small cache of this velvety, intricately layered gem is one of the most exciting things to happen to us this year: I’m thrilled to be able to offer up to six bottles per customer today, and for those seeking to truly “get” Pomerol, I can suggest few finer, more illustrative wines.
[**PLEASE NOTE: Today’s wine will ship from California the week of Monday, July 30. Limit 6 bottles per customer.]
The first thing many close Bordeaux-watchers will be wondering about is the 2011 vintage, and how it is faring. Following as it did on the heels of two “vintage(s) of the century,” and described my most experts as a return to earth, so to speak, for most regions, there were some standouts—and on the red wine side, it was Pomerol that stood out. Earlier-ripening Merlot and Cabernet Franc fared considerably better than Cabernet Sauvignon in the season’s uneven weather, and when you add in the fact that Desmarty, like most of his Pomerol neighbors, farms all of his own fruit, you end up with exceptional wine. Most of the most successful 2011s are still described as ‘earlier-drinking’ styles, and in this respect, Saint-André’s ’11 is true to form. It is velvety and seductive and entering its “sweet spot” now, and yet I don’t foresee it fading anytime soon. It’s everything one could ask for in classic Pomerol: there’s luscious, chocolate-kissed fruit mixed with the unmistakably dark, damp-clay soil character of Pomerol. There’s plenty of delicious drinking still ahead of it!
And while words like ‘artisanal’ and ‘cult’ are tossed around like Halloween candy these days, there’s no overstating the artisan scale of Clos Saint-André. Desmarty is truly a gardener at this scale: Working entirely by hand in his small stand of Pomerol vines (average age is 60 years, but some are even older), Desmarty is able to call a few friends during harvest time and complete his entire pick in about five hours; the grapes travel less than 100 meters to his small garage winery (in bags on the backs of those friends) where they are hand-sorted and fermented on indigenous yeasts in stainless steel. There are no pumps or other winery technology—just capable hands and gravity. This 2011 spent about 16 months aging in French oak barriques, only a small percentage of which were new, and the final cépage (blend) was 80% Merlot with the remainder comprised of Cabernet Franc and a small (and unusual, for Pomerol) dollop of Cabernet Sauvignon. All of about 600 bottles per year make it to the US market, and somehow, we got our hands on a good number of them!
Today’s 2011 would be a great wine to be presented with in a blind-tasting exam, as it just oozes classic Pomerol character: texturally, it’s a smooth as silk and profoundly deep. In the glass, it’s a deep garnet red with hints of black and a slight touch of brick orange creeping in, with seductive aromas of red and black plum, Morello cherry, blackberry, ground coffee, tobacco, raw cacao, and wet clay. Medium-plus in body and entering its prime drinking window (where I anticipate it will remain for the next 5+ years), it is beautifully integrated in every way—a truly complete wine offering that magical balance of fruit, earth, fine-grained tannin, and enlivening freshness. It’s a decadent, long-finishing pleasure to drink now and should be treated with the proper reverence: Decant it about 60 minutes before serving in large Bordeaux stems next to a classic steak au poivre (Joël Robuchon’s take on it, attached, should do nicely). It’s a wine experience you won’t soon forget!
