Long conflated with Bordeaux but geologically and geographically very much a different wine - but with similarities. So perhaps deserving it’s own thread.
Pomerol… same side of the river, same grapes, similar terroir. Please feel free to discuss here?
The problem: Many years I ago I travelled to the region a few times hosted by the local folk, and enjoyed some fabulous wines - not high-end chateau but genuinely great bottles bought cellar door. Do these still exist… can anyone suggest some good and very ‘typical’ St.E for under £30 ?
This is great when they have it in stock. The 2016 cost me £17.50 a bottle. Good value wine for anywhere, ridiculous for St Emilion. While slightly over your £30 and also not actually a St. E this is an incredible amount of wine for the money in a very good right bank style. Made by the family of the Tertre Roteboeuf wine maker.
I have always enjoyed Fonbel , just finished a 14. Last one sadly but a case of 15 to come.
Have also enjoyed Rochebelle - located on the St Emillion plateau or scarp to some folks but both good value. It’s a tiny property but elevated in the last cru status realignment
Fonbel is on the 22 EP offer btw.
On a side note I have enjoyed Vieille Cure , Fronsac, last case I had was 2009, good year and excellent wine. Always look out for it but not easy to find.
For things that are actually in stock, I am sorely tempted to give this mixed case a go. Three wines from St Emilion Satellite AOCs at a sub-£15 price tag sounds worth a punt!
St Emilion is one of my favorite appellations, but seems somewhat sneered upon by many, given the ease (apparently) of getting into the Grand Cru Classe. The Carteau that @strawpig mentions is lovely, the mags of 2010 i picked up at the showroom 4 years ago were punching well above their weight. St Christopher is great if you can get it, Gaffeliere, Blanquet, Teyssier all lovely wines.
Loved my day there drinking great wines
I bought some Montagne St Emilion from a friendly merchant EP a few years a go - youngish drinking wines - but wasn’t impressed after 5 years of ageing, so I now stick to the main appellation
I have had an ambivalent relationship with S E for a long time. Normally I drink left bank, and would say that S E is over alcoholic and over ripe. But then I find a lighter wine like the 2008 Pindefleurs, and it’s simply delicious at about a decade old. I just wish I could find a way to identify these jems without having to wade through the others.
I would welcome suggestions. .
As mentioned previously the Puy Blanquet is very good value and I’d also endorse @strawpig with his suggestion of the Ch Carteau Cotes Daugay, another excellent VFM St Emilion. Both sadly out of stock just now.
Would be interesting to hear what folk find appealing and or ‘typical’ in St. E. I have a few chateau-carteau-cotes-daugay-saint-emilion-2015’s in reserves as I think they are delicious but do not know what would be typically St.E. on the nose ot palate etc. Good opportunity to learn, thx for the thread @lapin_rouge .
Yes, that’s the central question. I used to think I knew what St.E was (compared to left bank Bordeaux): lighter strawberry scarlet in the glass, distinct fleshy merlot fruit, some spice, less tannin, ready to drink early on.
Pomerol, Fronsac and the Gr.Cru’s were stylistically similar to the above but more concentrated and more suitable for aging.
Nowadays I’m not so sure - ‘typical’ St.E seems to have morphed into generic Bordeaux - in recent years quite dark, rich and alcoholic. So I’m looking for the lighter style we used to drink in the 1980/90’s
Agree with @lapin_rouge regarding the morphing of SE. Do we still think of it as Parkerisation ?
Also on Fronsac in terms of price/quality/reliability. I have bought a fair amount of Ch de la Dauphine over the years while in France- mostly to drink while there
Today visited the Showroom and really desired a bottle of the Annonce de Bélair-Monange, Saint-Emilion 2019 - but the £52 tag got in the way.
So instead… a more moderately priced alternative at £13.95. And happily in my glass right now. I’d say that remarkably this hits the last century St.E nail squarely on the head! Red fruit in glorious abundance both in nose and palate, a touch of cinnamon and chocolate wafer mints. This is straight out of the bottle after a 2 hour car journey and no decanting. Finish is slightly thin and some residual tannin - which is all good - this is Bordeaux after all.
Parkerisation… I’m not so sure… the French quite rightly ignore any external advice, even from the next village. But you can’t blame the vignerons for making what the market demands.
Climate change and a succession of hot years definitely.
And maybe - just maybe - it’s down to historically being lumped into ‘Bordeaux’. Same negociant, same buyer, same slot in customer’s wine rack.
Back in 1989 I was on holiday with my family near St. Emilion and had some lovely wine which I alas no longer know what it was called. Loved the wine but somewhere along the line had some that made me wonder why I ever liked it. After much left bank buying I decided to try an EP case of 2015 Fonbel and think I had unfairly classed the whole region.
Alas in the intervening 30 years I have learnt a lot more about the left bank so a lot more tricky for me to know what will be to my tastes but Fonbel definitely hits the button and was tempted to buy this 22 EP season but went for the left banks I know.
01438 741177
.