Paolo Baracchino 91/93

Magazine ONOS Italie                     
http://www.baracchino-wine.com
Avril 2012 dégustation primeurs 2011

"Ruby red with intense crimson tints.
Pleasant bouquet with an abundant variety of intense aromas: graphite, cherry, mint, chocolate, tanned leather, a delicate touch of rubber and strong hints of liquorice, plum, tar and violets. A palpable touch of Virginia tobacco on the finish.
Lovely fresh sweet plum on the palate veering to slightly ripe Morello cherry.
Nicely balanced wine; the acid outweighs its alcohol.
The tannins are round and velvety and completely fill the mouth (6/6). Long with violets on the finish.
The 2010 displayed black truffle on the bouquet and on the palate, which I could not find in the 2011.
In my opinion this 2011 outdoes the already pleasing 2010 and the 2009, whose wood was a little too distinct.
The ripeness of the fruit has improved.
In general terms for me, too much wood and jam do not make a good wine.
Fortunately, this chateau does not have this sort of problem."

"I like Mr Paolo Baracchino a lot. This very cultured Italian gentleman from the world of wine and gastronomy is very distinguished and has an extraordinary ability to describe the aromas and tastes of wines. On my opinion he excels even more with aromas than with tastes, for which in my view  JM. Quarin leads. Both tasters are shining examples and I would encourage you to read their comments, whenever you get the opportunity, not to follow them blindly, but to help you develop the yardsticks with which you can assess and form an opinion about wines according to your own taste and hone your own analytical skills, so you can choose the best wines for your cellar. " Guy Meslin

Lafleur Laroze

Lafleur Laroze 2009 recently won a silver medal at the “Feminalises” competition in Beaunes, awarded, as the name implies, by an all-woman jury. The organiser asked me for a comment on the wine.

Lafleur Laroze is the second wine of Château Laroze.
It is a Saint-Emilion Grand Cru.

"Intense garnet robe.
Elegant, fairly strong bouquet with a complex feel, and sweet vanilla and fresh red fruit aromas with a little liquorice.
Soft attack which grows to fill the mouth with noticeable, smooth tannins, which are like nectar on the palate. This wine has volume, depth and taste! It is a good idea to let the wine breathe a little to highlight the sweet tannins.
The tannins carry right through to the finish, which is fresh, but they have blended in enough to be really enjoyable. The palate aromas are the same as on the bouquet with some extra slight notes of pepper and sweet spice."

Even if a winemaker may not be the most objective when describing his own wine, nevertheless, I think this comment isn’t too far from the truth."

Laroze 2009 Decanter 4 stars: 17.25/20

Last issue of Decanter magazine about tasting notes of Grands crus Classes and 1er GCC de Saint-Emilion on vintage 2009:
"Abundant ripe,fresh cherry, toasty oak and perfume. Fresh in the context of the vintage with chewy tannins, admirable concentration and a good kick of acidity. Delicious. Good raw material. Lush, broad and succulent."

Laroze is placed at the 11th place amongst the 61 wines tasted.
Great for us!

2011 Afternoon tasting

We were tasting the batches of 2011 this afternoon with our consultant oenologist from Hubert de Bouard’s team.
It was the first general review after malolactic fermentation and I felt the same sensations as when we were tasting the grapes from the vines in August and September. I said and wrote at the time that because the grape pips were so ripe so early as a result of the very dry conditions, there was no astringency and the tannins were soft without being dominant. I said I expected a 2011 vintage with soft tannins.
This is exactly what I tasted today.
The tannins are soft and clear-cut, the body is very well endowed and there is still fresh, ripe fruit on the palate. This is not a muscle-bound vintage, but one that is sensual and soft with clear-cut aromas and tannins. It is beautifully elegant and smooth, and glides across the palate very comfortably, which makes it so attractive.
This will be an easy vintage to approach that is accommodating and sociable, enjoyable early, but also worth laying down for quite a while, because it has the acidity to age well.
In fact 2009, 2010 and 2011 make a fine trilogy!

VINTAGE FACT SHEET 2011

Often the climate excesses give the specifities of the vintage. What where they in 2011?