Nov 012010
可能真的太久沒有喝波爾多紅酒，近期真的喝多了波爾多紅酒。
今天喝的是 Ch. L’Eglise-Clinet 2004。雖然明知現在喝有點過早，但又想一支比較貴一點的右岸，便選了這一瓶。Ch. L’Eglise-Clinet 雖然不能和 Ch. Petrus 相比，但它仍是被公認為 Pomerol 的最佳酒莊之一。它擁有一些極老接近一百年的葡萄樹。釀酒方法不會跟風 Parker-ize。當大部份釀酒師都選擇延遲收成葡萄，令葡萄更加成熟，Ch. L’Eglise-Clinet 的 Denis Durantou 則不跟隨，因為他希望得到更好的酸度和單寧。此外，當差不多全世界人都認為使用 sorting table 以去除不佳的葡萄和其他雜物如葉子和昆蟲極為重要時，Denis Durantou 卻不同意，認為時間和精力應放在葡萄園管理上，去除品質欠佳的葡萄。Ch. L’Eglise-Clinet 的葡萄酒因此往往都有其獨特個性。
這支 2004 Ch. L’Eglise-Clinet，擁有非常複雜的香味，甘草、薄荷葉、黑苺、黑加侖子、紫羅蘭、雲呢那的味道。酒體的結構非常好。果味雖然豐富，但非常足夠的酸度平衡下，仍覺得非常凊爽，不會有一點 fruit-bomb 的感覺。Mid-palate 非常好，沒半點空洞的感覺。單寧非常多但很幼細和成熟。餘韻亦很長。
坦白說，今天喝這支酒真的早了一點，但它已有很好的表現，一支高品質的酒已表露無遺。
Hi Man,
Do you mind to tell me how much this wine costs? I looked it up online. The price of the wine ranges from USD$100 to USD$400, depending on the vintage. The good vintages 05 & 09 cost UsD$400+.
I am a new wine drinker and am still trying to build up my taste library. Do you have any recommendations at a low price range?
Hi William, I really can’t recall how much I paid for this wine as I bought it two years before in London. I seems to remember it is on special at about GBP40 for 2004. Right now, 2004 L’Eglise-Clinet is selling at about GBP60 per bottle. 2005 right now is really expensive at about GBP350 to GBP400 per bottle.
For recommendation at a low price range, I assume you are asking for Bordeaux’s recommendation. If so, I would recommend you to buy and try reliable producers at good vintage. Usually they would not be much more expensive than lesser vintages. Producers at relatively low price range I personally like include d’Argludent, Cantemerle, Kirwan, Classe-Spleen, Clos du Marquis, Les Pagodes de Cos, Sociando-Mallet and Smith-Haut-Lafite.
I have one quick question for you. How do you determine how long to decant a wine? And also how long can a wine age? I know the answer would be “depending on the type of hte wine”, but is there a general rule in the wine world? Like how long can a french wine and a chile wine age? And how long we need to decant the wine before drinkin it?
Oops, I think this is more than just a one quick question. Do you know of any books or websites that explain decanting and aging.
Many thanks.
Hi William, sorry for the late reply as I’m not in HK for the last few days. How long I decant a wine is really just a guess. Normally, for wine from very good vintage and from good Bordeaux producers, I normally would decant it for two to three hours if they are young. For lesser vintage or from lesser Classe Cru producers, I may just decant it for an hour even if they are young. For non Classe Cru producers (unless notable names). they do not need any decanting. Alternatively, you can decant and continue to try if the wine is getting better or starting to get worse. If it starts to get worse, then drink it up! This may be the only way to really know how long a bottle shall decant.
For how long can a wine age, the only way to know is by experience and history. For example, by past experience, we know most reputable Class Cru Bordeaux should have no problem cellaring up to 20 years if they are stored properly. For wine without a long history from New World, we can only guess. You can guess its cellaring potential by sensing if the wine got enough fruit and tannins to age. Also, does the wine has a strong mid-palate? If so, then it is likely the wine can age well.
Your question on ageing is actually a very complicated question as it depends on a lot of different factors such as grape variety and winemaking technique. This is a good article for you reference (http://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show/id/43281)