It’s fitting that we were given the first crack at Chantecler’s 2016 Pauillac nearly one year ago because today we find ourselves looking at the last few cases in the importer’s possession. There is no incoming ship on the horizon, nor is there a hidden-away stash in Chantecler’s cellar: This represents the last few cases we’ll get our hands until we (hope and pray) have access to a new vintage.
For those that are unaware, this is certified blue-chip Bordeaux for serious collectors and “buy low/sell high” investors. While First Growths Lafite and Mouton Rothschild scrap over which will command the highest price in the stuff-of-legend 2016 vintage ($700-$1,000+), their literal next-door neighbor produces a microscopic amount for fractions less. Neighbor? It’s true: Dead center of Pauillac’s extortionate real estate sits one lone hectare surrounded by the iconic trinity of Mouton Rothschild, Lafite Rothschild, and Pontet-Canet. It’s owned by none other than Chantecler, who takes its precious clusters and produces a few hundred cases of truly extraordinary Pauillac. Simply put, this ‘16 the most deeply refined and explosively perfumed bottles I’ve ever had from Chantecler, and its luxury neighbors pale by price-to-quality comparison. I can’t think of a smarter investment than this hand-crafted, bluechip Bordeaux—it’s a global benchmark for Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated wines and it went interstellar in the legendary 2016 vintage.
[NOTE: This will be arriving at our warehouse in two weeks. Only six bottles per person this time around!]
You may have seen this property receiving top honors in Decanter’s magazine piece, “The Last Little Guys of Pauillac,” but Chantecler’s is a fascinating story that is worth exploring further. Yannick Mirande grew up in wine and his family has owned and worked vineyards in Pauillac for many generations. Over the years, the Mirande family assembled a respectable 12-hectare collection of vineyards and were able to earn a living selling their harvest to prestigious neighbors like Mouton and Lafite. In the aftermath of the 2000 “vintage of the century” hysteria, demand for Pauillac fruit skyrocketed and real estate values quickly followed suit. Yannick’s aunt was unable to resist the temptation of selling almost all the Mirandes’ vines to Mouton Rothschild in 2004. Fortunately, Yannick salvaged the family’s crown jewel, a one-hectare hillside parcel of a Pauillac lieu-dit, “Plateau de Padarnac,” for himself. Over the next six years, he continued farming and improving his small vineyard, selling fruit to various cru classé neighbors, and apprenticing while honing his skills in the cellar.
Having made great strides as a winemaker and vigneron, Yannick finally released his first vintage of Château Chantecler in 2010, made from that one single hectare. Even today, he still only bottles a few hundred cases of this one cuvée, composed of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot. To put that in context, consider that neighboring Mouton, Lafite, and Pontet-Canet own 676 acres of vines in Pauillac and produce a combined 80,000-85,000 cases of wine each vintage!
Yannick farms his small plot of vines using a hybrid of organic and biodynamic practices. The soil in this hillside site is classic Pauillac gravel, with vines averaging 50 years of age. All grapes are de-stemmed, and aging occurs in new (60%) and used barrels for 18 months. The wine is lightly fined with egg whites before bottling.
If 2015 was a masterstroke for Yannick, 2016 was a legendary triumph. No one thought it could match the power, concentration, and stunning perfume of the previous 5-star vintage...until it did. And, in my opinion, 2016 outperforms 2015. There’s a tad more structure, longevity, finesse...and all of it is already melding together so seamlessly. You’ll find loads of perfume packed into this concentrated ‘16: bushels of black plums, boysenberry, black cherry liqueur, and currants harmoniously exist alongside cigar wrapper, damp violets, fresh cedar, crushed rocks, chimney ash, and a wonderful mix of baking spices. For me, there are few contemporary expressions of the historic Pauillac terroir that perform at this level—and it’s worth mentioning that all the others are far more expensive and nowhere near as limited. In all my years, I have rarely encountered a Left Bank wine, at this young age, that is already so intricately complex and profoundly integrated—and I just came back from two weeks of tasting heaps of ‘16 and ‘17 Growth Bordeaux, in Bordeaux! That said, if you plan to enjoy a bottle in the near term, allow at least two hours of air before serving in large Bordeaux stems. Do, however, save as many as you can because it will reward you tenfold in 2030, and twentyfold in 2040. That’s the mesmerizing power of elite Bordeaux in a blockbuster vintage.
