The Côtes de Bourg might be the most under-appreciated appellation in all of Bordeaux, despite being one of the oldest. It’s a small riverfront appellation on the Right Bank with a wine culture going back to Roman times, a few miles across the river from Margaux yet a world away in terms of recognition.
If we know anything here at SommSelect, it’s that there are always treasures to be found in the “forgotten” places. And sure enough, Château Falfas is producing the kind of place-expressive, elegant Bordeaux that transports you to a time when quality was more important than quantity. Falfas’ owner-winemaker Véronique Cochran is farming biodynamically in a place where synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers are still a fact of life. Her environmentally-friendly, minimal-intervention wines don’t just illustrate the way forward for Bordeaux, or the way forward for viticulture—they exemplify the way forward for all of agriculture. This is “alternative Bordeaux” and it’s an absolutely beautiful, age-worthy collector’s wine with more soul and story than most. Today’s offering, “Le Chevalier,” is Château Falfas’
tète de cuvée (top wine), a blend of 80% Cabernets Sauvignon and Franc mixed with 20% Merlot from 75-year-old vines. And yet look at the price: You can’t afford not to grab a few for your cellar!
The Côtes de Bourg was first planted by the Romans in the second century AD. Its strategic location as a port city created a natural hub for wine trade, providing access to both the Dordogne and Garonne Rivers, which empty into the Atlantic Ocean via the Gironde. The gently sloping hills of the “Côtes” were planted with enough vitis biturica (ancestor of today’s Cabernet Sauvignon) to quench the thirst of its resident sailors and ship to more remote corners of the Empire. Today, those same south-facing hills are covered with Bordeaux varieties and crowned with limestone castles that melt like caramels into the ancient landscape. The wines vary in quality, but legendary producers such as Roc de Cambes keep Château Falfas in good company and prove that this little appellation has the potential to turn out refined, jewel-bright wines that’ll give more-famous châteaux a run for their money.
Véronique Cochran is the daughter of the famous François Bouchet, a founding father of the French biodynamic wine movement. Farming without chemicals in the damp, mildew-and-disease prone region is a dangerous but thrilling thing to do. Véronique is perfectly level-headed about the nature of her endeavor, explaining that some years are lean and others aren’t. Her 20 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec average 35 years old and are planted on calcaires a astéries: clay and silica soil over a deep limestone bedrock of fossilized oyster shells. Every 12 hours the tide changes and sends a big waft of oceanic air up the estuary. Véronique says she feels her vineyards “breathe in” the moist, salty breeze, fortifying the grapes’ thick skins and intense flavor. Her intricate biodynamic additions result in healthier, hardier fruit—even if there is less of it in years hard-hit by mildew. The vineyards are surrounded by a serene 15 hectares of woodland, including the aforementioned fig trees and some prolific blackberry tangles. She harvests the grapes and other fruits by hand, sorting in both the vineyard and the winery before vinification. The winery is part of the château itself, built in 1612 on a foundation dating back to the Hundred Year’s War.
While initially surprising for the Right Bank, the predominance of Cabernet grapes in Le Chevalier makes sense considering how far west the Côtes de Bourg really is if you look at a map. Grapes for Le Chevalier originate from the estate’s the oldest vines—75 years of age—and fermentation is, of course, initiated with indigenous yeasts. Véronique believes her hardy fruit results in cleaner, more robust fermentations that don’t require sulfur dioxide additions, although she does add a small amount of sulfur before bottling for stability, considering the wines have extraordinary potential for aging. Le Chevalier is aged in 100% new French oak, where it sleeps for 18 months before bottling. While her natural methods may be unorthodox for Bordeaux, Véronique’s vinification process creates a classically styled wine with all the structure and polish of a First Growth.
The 2012 vintage was a tricky one in Bordeaux. The best wines—Véronique’s among them—were meticulously farmed to avoid unripe bunches during harvest. She made a tiny quantity of wine, drinking ever-so-slightly earlier than we would normally recommend for a producer of her caliber. For that reason, today’s 2012 is entering its perfect drinking window. Expect a dark garnet core, with a little brick-red on beginning to show on the rim. I highly recommend decanting the wine for a solid two hours before serving in your best Bordeaux stems. The raw intensity of Véronique’s fruit is polished to a shine by the new oak. The nose is a wonderful wave of vanilla bean, red tobacco, cedar, and plum sauce. On the palate, the wine retains its purity of fruit and a very ‘upright’ structure enveloped by notes of cacao nibs, clay and cherry juice. Remember that this wine still has a 20-year lifespan. Cellaring for a few more years will further integrate the wood and the fruit notes, softening the wine’s remaining freshness while preserving the lithe, tensile qualities of great Bordeaux.
Le Chevalier demands a classic pairing. I like bavette steak, medium-rare, with duck-fat french fries and a pile of fresh kale sautéed in butter for this wine. Whatever you do, get more than one bottle. This is a collector’s wine, and every bottle is a vote of confidence in the potential for sustainably farmed Bordeaux. Cheers!
