Château Monconseil-Gazin 2007 Tasting Notes

Blaye 2004 

Our exclusive Blaye is a blend this year of 65% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Malbec and comes from the 2004 vintage.  After the heatwave conditions of the previous year the weather returned to normal in 2004 with the required balance of heat and rain at the right times.  The grapes ripened perfectly in the warm, dry summer weather, and after light refreshing rains in September the harvest took place under ideal conditions, finishing in early October.  After the fermentation the wine was aged in oak barrels, half of which are new, for 18 months.

This vintage won a Silver Medal at the 2006 International Wine Challenge in London, the largest blind tasting competition in the world.  The judges noted a wine with “a bright dense plum colour, a nose and taste of chocolate cassis, and flavours of dry sweet chocolate and well integrated tannins”.  Who are we to disagree with the IWC judges but Françoise Baudet prefers the word ‘smooth’ to ‘sweet’!

The tannins from the oak combine with the ripe fruit to give an opulent and rich wine that is ideal with red meat: roast lamb or beef, game, rich casseroles and, in a few years’ time, hard strong cheeses.  You can drink it now, but this wine will develop great complexity and improve over at least the next decade.