After spending a week on the Right Bank of Bordeaux last month, my passion for the region’s wines was reignited. Tasting at top châteaux such as Cheval Blanc, Angélus, and Pétrus was unforgettable, but there’s one problem: These wines are priced so high they are rarely consumed by anyone on a regular basis.
Luckily, there are wines like today’s magnificent Saint-Émilion Grand Cru from underground sensation Château Vieux Taillefer. It is on par with the very best wines of the region at a fraction of the cost. Vieux Taillefer produces the kind of Bordeaux that has gotten people excited about Bordeaux again: sustainably farmed, small in scale, and crafted to taste like a place rather than just taste expensive. It’s also the kind of Merlot that would silence Miles from “Sideways” once and for all (and by the way, let’s not forget that the cherished bottle Miles drinks at the end of the movie is from Cheval Blanc, which is in the same appellation). While there is some star power associated with this bottle—winemaker Catherine Cohen was a protégé of legendary Pétrus winemaker Jean-Claude Berrouet—the appeal of this wine is its transparency. What do I mean by that? That it is a finessed, aromatic, mineral red that conveys power by way of persistence and drive rather than with added bulk and ‘makeup’ (i.e. new oak and extract). Catherine and her husband, Philippe, a longtime
négociant in the region, had long dreamed of owning their own vineyard—a dream which came true in 2006 with their acquisition of the well-positioned Vieux Taillefer. They’ve brought what’s been described as a “Burgundian” sensibility to Bordeaux, devoting most of their energy to organic farming and to bottling their wines by soil type, rather than using the traditional “first” and “second” wine model. This wine is a luminous, polished gem that will only grow more refined over time. I cannot recommend it highly enough. It's a very smart cellar selection which will drink beautifully now and for decades to come.
As Bordeaux lovers are aware, the Saint-Émilion appellation has one of the region’s greatest concentrations of limestone soils, and within the five hectares of vines at Vieux Taillefer, which sits right on the bank of the Dordogne River a few kilometers southeast of Libourne, the Cohens see pockets of nearly pure limestone interspersed with a more typical Bordeaux gravel/clay mixture. The property, blessed with carefully tended old vines, is planted predominantly to Merlot, with some Cabernet Franc and an interesting assortment of white varieties (the Vieux Taillefer Blanc is well-worth seeking out). Working 100% organically, the Cohens produce two reds, which they view as discrete expressions of their terroir rather than as two tiers in a hierarchy: Today’s wine hails from a single, old-vine Merlot vineyard planted on pure limestone, while their Pavillon de Taillefer is a cuvée (blend) sourced from four different plots rooted in clay and gravel.
As the story goes, it was Jean-Claude Berrouet who pointed the Cohens in the direction of Vieux Taillefer. While she was in her second year studying enology, Catherine landed an internship with Berrouet at Château Pétrus, which eventually led to her being named winemaker at nearby La Fleur Pétrus, where she made the wines from 1995-2001. When Berrouet learned that the previous owner of Vieux Taillefer was retiring, he saw an opportunity for his talented protégé, and she and Philippe ran with it. They take pride in doing everything naturally and by hand, employing very little new oak in their cuvées (this wine spent about 16 months in just 20% new barrels) and generally striving to make what they call “terroir wines.” I’d say they’ve succeeded.
The refinement and energy on display in this sublime 2014 is just incredible (only about 1,800 bottles were produced). It shows the more perfumed, red-fruited side of Merlot as well as a more linear, tensile structure than some of the blacker-fruited, riper styles found elsewhere in Saint-Émilion (and especially neighboring Pomerol). Despite her background, Catherine’s 2014 skews more toward Cheval Blanc than Pétrus in style, displaying a ruby/garnet hue in the glass and leading with lifted, almost Burgundy-like aromatics of red cherry, pomegranate, black plum, currants, cacao, sweet tobacco, wild herbs, violets, and a subtle hint of warm spice. It is medium-bodied and its tannins are as fine and soft as cashmere, yet there such energy and balance to the wine it’s easy to see it aging for 10-20 more years, filling out as it does. There’s a perfectly tailored, balletic feel to this wine that showcases Merlot at its most elegant and sensual: You should definitely enjoy a bottle now and stash some others for revisiting later, giving it a 30-minute decant and serving at 60-65 degrees in Bordeaux stems. Pair it with leaner cuts of beef like filet mignon or consider something even a touch lighter like veal medallions. Don’t overpower this silky, feline Bordeaux: Let it shine!
