TN: Deconstructing the "70 de Pez

Fascinating - thanks for the notes!

[] ] 1992 Guigal Condrieu ] Floral as expected, apricot/peach fruit seems just a little flat. Certainly ] hanging on while one might think it should be dead, but doesn't change my ] general feeling that I like Viognier young. To be fair, it actually seemed to ] put on a little weight/life in the glass. B ]

I wonder if the vintage played a big role, too. '92 was no thriller. A '91 might be considerably fresher.

[] ] ] 1970 de Pez (St. Estephe)- whole and in components ] Background: Before the assemblage of the 1970 de Pez, the owner M. Dousson was ] persuaded by his exporter to bottle half barrels of the varietals, which were ] then used by the L'Ecole du Vin at Chateau Loudenne. When Loudenne was sold, ] Mark Golodetz was allowed to buy the remaining sets. This was the last set. ] Truly a unique chance to taste the components of the cepage 30+ years later. ] ] 1970 de Pez Cabernet Franc ] Flowery nose, dark fruit with grass and green pepper. OK. B ] ] 1970 de Pez Merlot ] This seems the most tired red wine of the night to me, subdued dark plum fruit, ] a bit of decay/forest floor. B- ] ] 1970 de Pez Cabernet Sauvignon ] Whoa, baby, this one's not tired. Mellow yet vibrant cassis fruit; tannins ] still present though resolved; complex nose of saddle leather, vanilla, and ] earth. A-/B+ ] ] 1970 de Pez - final assemblage ] Nice wine, though doesn't seem to have quite the vibrancy of the CS. Seems more ] tannic than the 3 components, which seems logically impossible. Quite a decent ] Bordeaux, smoky nose and nice dark fruit. B+ ]

I'd love to do this experiment. Have done with barrel samples, but never like this!

Any info on the final assemblage percentages? How about the average vine ages for each cepage? For me that would have a big impact on how each held together in the long term.

I usually find strong grassiness in CF a sign of being long in the tooth.

][] ] 1984 Burgess ] At first I think there's a bit of VA here (though this had been decanted), but ] whatever I was getting blew off. Plenty of American oak, raspberry fruit with a ] lot of mint and anise. Big contrast to the Ducru. B/B+ ]

Interesting on the VA, I've never noticed it with this. I've got a couple of these left, haven't tasted it for several years. Do you think they should be put out of their misery?

cheers,

-E

Great post, sounds like you were in luck's way... ;-)

Mike

Mike Tommasi, Six Fours, France email link

Who happened to be the late Martin Bamford of Gilbey/IDV, residing at Ch. Loudenne.

Michael Broadbent says "one barrel each", which seems much more logic.

M.

Don't know whether he is correct. Michael Broadbent who tasted the wines in 1972 from cask and 1976 in bottles reports (in his "Great Vintage Wine Book" from 1980, p. 123) the blend being 70% cabernet sauvignon, 15% cabernet franc, 10% merlot, 5% petit verdot.

M.

] snipped-for-privacy@aol.comdamnspam (Dale Williams) wrote: ] ] > BTW, I should have mentioned that Mark thought the final ] > assembly of '70 de Pez was 8% Cab Franc, 30% Merlot, 62% Cab ] > Sauv. ] ] Don't know whether he is correct. Michael Broadbent who tasted the ] wines in 1972 from cask and 1976 in bottles reports (in his "Great ] Vintage Wine Book" from 1980, p. 123) the blend being 70% cabernet ] sauvignon, 15% cabernet franc, 10% merlot, 5% petit verdot. ]

Thanks for that, both Dale and Michael. I seem to have missed Dale's earlier post. Indeed, wouldn't 30% merlot be very high for a St Estephe of that era?

-E

I'm pretty sure that Cos ran 30+ % even in 70s, and HAut-Marbuzet more than that. That being said, I was reflecting my memory of Mark's memory. One or the other could be wrong.

Though if there was Petit Verdot in the mix, why wouldn't they have bottled as part of the set?

Dale

Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply

] >Indeed, wouldn't 30% merlot be very high for a St Estephe ] >of that era? ] ] I'm pretty sure that Cos ran 30+ % even in 70s, and HAut-Marbuzet more than ] that. That being said, I was reflecting my memory of Mark's memory. One or the ] other could be wrong. ]

This is very interesting. I suppose I've always made an assumption that because of the "virility" of the appellation, there was a lower amount of merlot generally used in St. Estephe.

Has my tongue been lying all these years? (Wouldn't be the first time!) :) Or maybe I've just imagined a trend based on a small sample set....

] Though if there was Petit Verdot in the mix, why wouldn't they have bottled as ] part of the set? ]

Hmm, perhaps a very small %? Good question, though.

-E

In fact they *have* bottled it, M.B. gives TNs. Don't know why the PV was missing in this peculiar set.

M.