An Evening with Stephan Derenencourt

On Wednesday night I had the unique opportunity to taste a wide-range of wines made by the extremely famous Bordelaise consultant Stephane Derenencourt.  Though not as widely known globally as Michel Rolland, Monsieur Derenencourt is, along with Denis Dubourdieu and Christian Veyre, one of the giants of the Right Bank.  The tasting and dinner, held at Guy Passot’s always wonderful La Folie, was done in conjunction with Jeffrey Davies Selections and JJ Buckley wine merchants.

There are a few things that set Derenencourt apart from his consulting peers.  The major one is that he is completely self-trained– an enormous irregularity in the Aquitaine, where University of Bordeaux oenology graduates run rife throughout the land.  He is a major proponent of the use of micro-ox– not that this completely sets him apart but he uses it a lot.  He consults at relatively few properties and controls the process from the vineyards to the winemaking (unlike Rolland who show up a couple times of year to dictate stylistic decisions).

What was made most clear by the tasting is the wide-range of wines that Derenencourt makes.  We had whites and reds that will sell for 10-15 dollars a bottle, and then some of his superstar wines such as Clos Fourtet and Pavie-Macquin.  In all, we tasted 13 wines spread across five courses of Passot’s lovely food.

Below I have written out my chicken scratch tasting notes.  Most impressive though were some of his baby wines.  the wonderful Cotes de Francs white wine called “Le Thil Comte Clary” from 2005, and a little Bergerac white, the “Tour de Monestier” from 2006.  Also delightful was the impeccably balanced, bright, and snappy 2005 Bordeaux Superior called “Jean Faux.”  The 2003 Clos Fourtet was absolutely dense and delicious.  The 1998 Pavie Macquin is one of the best wines I have had all year.

That said, there were also a number of disappointments.  I found the levels of bret to be unattractively high in many of his wines.  The winemaker for Caldwell, Marbue Marke and I speculated that perhaps micro-ox had the unintended consequence of exciting bret yeasts via the streams of oxygen bubbled into the wine.  Those wines that clearly had the densest tannin structure, which would reasonably be assumed to be the lead candidates for the most micro-ox, seemed to feature the most bret.  I actually really do not mind bret in some amounts, and have come to expect it on many Bordeaux.  However, the levels on some of the wines that were only a few years old was disconcerting, as bret can continue to develop in bottle.

2006 Tour de Monestier Blanc.  Bergerac.  A mix of Sauvignon and Semillon.  Limpid, pale straw.  Grassy, vitamins and lemon with some pit fruit components and nice clean mineral inflection.  Forward on the palate, moderate density, but clean, forthright, and refreshing.

2005 Le Thil Comte Clary, Cotes de Francs Blanc.  S.B. and Semillon.  Limpid, pale straw with slightly green back.  Dusty, slightly oxidizes mineral note, pit fruits, and touch of oaky vanillin.  Nice, though a little backwards and austere right now.  I cannot tell whether this is going to simply oxidize more with time or open up a bit.

2006 Les Charmes Godard Blanc. Pessac-Leognan.  Full straw.  The nose delves into the tropical here with pit fruits, pineapple, and even an element of miso and soy.  Pliant, rich, and vibrant with forward dense, ripe fruit.  Great lift.  This is excellent Pessac, and interestingly features 10% Sauvignon Gris.

2005 Jean Faux, Bordeaux Superior.  Semi-opaque red. Vibrant, bright, red fruit, nice and forward.  Midweight, nice balance, and well-sculpted tannin on the finish.  Nice touch of oak spice.  Great for price.

2005 Gree-Laroque, Bordeaux Superior  Bret! bitters, a touch medicinal dark red fruits, and elements of dried meat.  Dense, with lots of gout de terroir with some hard tannins on the finish.  The bret seems to be eating the fruit here already exposing a pretty hard spine of tannins.

2005 Beausejour “1901.” Montagne St. Emilion.  From a block planted in 1901.  Fat, ripe, and rich.  Lots of of sexy oak, touch of horse-sweat bret component, and some coconut lactone.  Bright red fruits pitched dark into a shadow of tannin.  I think this is a bit 0ver-extracted and over-done but I know many will quite like this.  50% Merlot and 50% Cabernet Franc aged 15 months in 50% new oak.

2004 Domaine de L’A.  Cote de Castillon.  This is Derenencourt’s own property.  Odd nose of green tobacco, olive, ripe strawberry, fruit, and again a decent dose of bretty horse sweat and funk.  Midweight and elegant on the palate, with supple tannins.  Not a blockbuster but made in a classic style from a good, but not great, vintage.

2001 Lucia, St. Emilion.  Enormous amounts of bret make this hard to analyze.  I found this overwhelmed by funk with little fruit coming out.  This was aged in 80% new oak.

2004 Pierre de Lune, St. Emilion.  Lots of vanilla, cocoa, and puff-pastry.  Like a buffet of sweet oak tones along with a touch of oregano and dill.  Youthful fruit, lots of spice, some tea notes, and high-tone bright red fruits.  Quite nice.

2003 Larcis-Ducasse, St. Emilion.  Ripe, mentholated, and resinous fruit.  The wine shows excellent fruit-acid-tannin balance.  Wonderfully exotic aromatics highlight great fruit, tea, spice, and even a touch of tea tree oil.  Though there is a touch of the 2003 over-ripe character here I find this wine quite pleasant.

2003 Clos Fourtet, St. Emilion.  Tons of sexy dark oak, rich black fruits, and tobacco.  Still unevolved this wine really opened up with some air.  In terms of sheer richness I loved this.

2003 La Mondotte, St. Emilion.  Enormous, smells like CA.  Dark, charred earth, dark fruits, and some unintegrated oak.  Slightly over-ripe and porty I find this wine lacking in much grace.

1998 Pavie-Macquin.  Absolutely wonderful nose that is showing some development.  Clearly made in the era before winemakers were terrified of a little pyrazine.  Elements of super-perfumed red fruits, spice, tobacco, mineral and earth.  Impeccably balanced this wine has great power combined with mouth-watering acidity.  I could drink this wine forever.  Absoutely stellar.