Prince of Wine » pauillac http://www.princeofwine.com Prince of Wine Wed, 21 Jul 2010 09:00:14 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Wine Review Short #26: Chateau d’Armailhac: The feminine Pauillac with many names! http://www.princeofwine.com/chateau-darmailhac-the-feminine-pauillac-with-many-names/ http://www.princeofwine.com/chateau-darmailhac-the-feminine-pauillac-with-many-names/#comments Sun, 24 May 2009 05:34:02 +0000 princeofwine http://www.princeofwine.com/?p=681 Chateau d’Armailhac is a well respected fifth growth of the 1855 classification located in the commune of Pauillac on the left bank of the Gironde river, Bordeaux. It is owned by the Baron de Phillipe Rothschild wine behemoth (owners of stablemate and immediate Pauillac first growth neighbor, Chateau Mouton Rothschild). The Chateau is named after Dominique d’Armailhacq who bought the estate between 1718 and 1740 from Nicolas Alexandre de Sequr (known then as Prince de Vignes – no relation!) and who named it Chateau Mouton d’ Armailhacq. Subsequently, after many changes of hands over the next 200 years, the 40 plus hectare property was acquired by Baron Phillipe de Rothschild in 1933 who later on changed the name to Chateau Mouton Baron Phillipe. In 1976 the Baron attemped unsuccessfully to change the name on the label to Mouton Baronne Pauline (to honor his late wife), so he changed the label again to Mouton Baronne Phillipe, adding the sub words ‘en hommage à Pauline’. However, after the Baron passed away in 1988, his daughter Phillipine reverted the label to Chateau d’Armailhac (dropping the q in the process).

The 2006 Chateau d’Armailhac is described by my interviewee Mr. Lebrouzet as a feminine vintage for the masculine wines of Pauillac. Composed of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, I would suspect that the ‘feminine’ aspect is more due to the higher percentage of Merlot rather than the specific aspects of the 2006 vintage. The garnet colored wine has beautiful berry and tobacco leaf aromas with medium tannins, bright acidity and a well rounded red berry, cassis and cedar box notes. A nice effort, (POW 91).

For technical information please click on: www.bpdr.com

Walid Romaya
Prince of Wine

www.princeofwine.com

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]]> http://www.princeofwine.com/chateau-darmailhac-the-feminine-pauillac-with-many-names/feed/ 0 Wine Review Short #23: Chateau Clerc Milon, Pauillac, Bordeaux http://www.princeofwine.com/chateau-clerk-milon-pauillac-bordeaux/ http://www.princeofwine.com/chateau-clerk-milon-pauillac-bordeaux/#comments Wed, 06 May 2009 06:05:21 +0000 princeofwine http://www.princeofwine.com/?p=588 A chat with Mr. Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy, the Director of Chateau Clerc Milon. This 5th growth Chateau of the 1855 classification does not garner the headlines of its geographical neighbors, Lafite Rothschild and Mouton Rothschild, but for me it is a wine worthy for attention. Having fallen into disrepair following the change of title over the years, the 106 acre estate was acquired in 1970 by Baron Philippe de Rothschild for the bargain price of $1 million francs. The Baron invested heavily in equipment and in the vineyard and the wine produced began to improve noticeably in the 1980′s. Today the chateau is managed by Mr. Danjoy who reports to the Baron’s daughter, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild (the Baron died in 1988) who oversees the various chateau holdings including the flagship Mouton Rothschild, Chateau D’Armailhac, Opus 1 in California and Almaviva of Chile amongst others. The 2006 vintage is comprised of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc and has blackberry and chocolate notes with a creamy texture and firm tannins and a medium-long finish (POW 91). The label is from a 16th century german art of two dancing clowns made of precious stones (the original artwork is in the Museum of Wine Art at Mouton Rothschild). For more information please click on Chateau Clerc Milon website at bpdr.com.

Walid Romaya
Prince of Wine

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