On the Road with the Grape Guy

Good Dei: 2 wines / 4 vintages

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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

(February 2023) ... Montepulcino - I have been to Dei before... I have tasted wines here before ... I have had a meal here before.

But this was a different visit, it was about comparing two Cru (single vineyards) the winery has. One, is the older vineyard used to make the Riserva – Bossona ... The other is an ode to the father, a small vineyard called “Madonna della Querce”, planted in 2005, the first vintage of which was released from the 2015 vintage. A handful of media from around the world was there to taste these two reserve wines side by side from four different vintages: 2015 - 2016 - 2017 - 2018.

2018 ...
Madonna Della Querce vs Bossona
Madonna - Nice structure with lovely acidity and spice notes; well balance dark fruit with cedar... It has lovely complexity and a good life ahead of it.
Bossona – Drink-ability is certainly in the now camp. Lots of red berries, good balancing acidity and moderate spice. Enjoy now.

Winner : A draw. While Bossona is drink now, Madonna will be waiting in the wings when you are finished all the  Bossona; and good thing too, as Madonna needs more time.

2017 ...
Madonna Della Querce vs Bossona
Madonna - Rough and rugged tannins from the outset ... There is fruit, it's there, but it's not ready to drink quite yet; it's also developing notes of leather, tar and cedar.
Bossona - An approachable wine that's very delicate, and doesn't disguise the fruit it has under a veil of wood.

Winner : Easily the Bossona; with its approachability and ease of drinking, it's a quaffer right now; I'm not sure whether the Madonna gets out from behind that tarry-woody-leathery veil.

2016 ...
Madonna Della Querce vs Bossona
Madonna - Happily, there is some fruit to be found here; but the extract is hard and there's some crazy age-ability here as long as that wood manages to settle itself down and the fruit can find a way to fight its way to the front.
Bossona - Approachable and fruity: lots of red berry: cherry, strawberry, and red currant really showing its way through. This wine is fresh, fruity and fun.

Winner : This should be obvious from the write-up above, but if the Madonna can write the ship over the next few years ... time will tell.

2015 ...
Madonna Della Querce vs Bossona
Madonna - Already 7 years old and the wine maintains rugged / tough tannins and dark brooding fruit... I'm not sure it ever will turn a corner.
Bossona - Tannins and acidity are battling it out, while the fruit waits in the wings to see who's the ultimate winner in their fight for supremacy. There is a certain approachability here, but the tannins need to drop like a set of balls.

Winner : tough call, but this round might go to the Bossona, just for having some drink-now-ability - otherwise, it's a draw of. Let's see what happens.

Chateau Bastor-Lamontagne : Seven Sauternes

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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

(January 2023) … A tasting held in honor of an Ontario Vintage release of the current 2020 vintage of Sauternes. Six other vintages saw the bottom of a glass: 2016 / 2011 / 2009 / 2006 / 1988 / 1986... But first some notes on the winery itself.

The Bastor domain was a property of the French king, sold to Vincent de la Montaigne in 1711.

The property has passed through many hands: 1838 to Joseph Eugene Larrieu, owner of Chateau Haut Brion; and two others in 1936, 2014 and then finally to the Helfrich family in 2018. The property sits in the municipality of Preignac, in the Gironde area. The vineyard makeup is 88.2% Semillon and 8.8% Sauvignon Blanc, though there is also some Sauvignon Gris (2.6%) interspersed.

It covers 50 hectares in a single block with the average age of the vines being 45 years. The vineyard is subdivided into 30 plots.

The blend of the wine is roughly 90% Semillon and 10% Sauvignon Blanc - it is age 16 months in oak barrels, 20% of which are new. Approximately 60,000 to 80,000 bottles are produced annually.

The Wines...

2020 Sauternes
Subtly sweet without going overboard, there is also a subtle leanness to this vintage. Flowers are poached pear, honey, tangerine and pineapple.

2016 Sauternes
There's a thick, unctuousness to this wine with good acid backbone; there's also a lovely spicy component on the mid-palate. Tangerine-esque with honeyed/ candied, orange peel and a long finish.

2011 Sauternes
Here spiced-honeyed-orange-peel and pear show up along with notes of roasted almonds ... honey-dipped of course.

2009 Sauternes
Showing more age than the previous versions: figs and dates play with honeyed-walnuts, leading to a long luscious finish complete with sweet clementine linger.

2006 Sauternes
This wine was served with trout and it proved to be an excellent pairing (shrug, who da thought) - but on its own it seemed a little disjointed.

1988 Sauternes and 1986 Sauternes
This is when Sauternes loses me, or at least at the tasting of Bastor-Lemontagne. These wines turned more mushroomy version of sweet wine, and lacked any kind of appeal I was looking for.