Red Blend from Bordeaux - Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classe

Reminding Emilio that non-Spanish wines do exist...

We dined at the old Merchant's Guild House (Schlüsselzunft) in the centre of Basel a couple of weeks ago. The streets were still and we just couldn't stop ourselves from comparing the unnerving Saturday night scene to Sao Paulo, or Zaragoza, or Hong Kong or in fact any other city we've been to where we detected a greater sign of life! At the restaurant, we ordered a bottle of red Bordeaux – a Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classe - Chateau de Ferrand, 2007, but only after I reminded my 'Saint Emilio' of the need to deviate away from his usual choices. 

Bordeaux, situated in the southwest of France, is naturally separated into two areas by the Gironde estuary and carries 57 appellations (AOCs or Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée). The "right bank" (west) of the estuary produces mostly Merlot blend while the warmer "left bank" (east) is extremely well known for their Cabernet Savignon. Saint-Émilion sub-region, located about 40km away from the centre of Bordeaux, is on the "right bank". 

Saint-Émilion has been producing wine since the Roman era and consists of the historic and picturesque village of Saint-Émilion (a UNESCO world heritage site) as well as 8 other nearby villages. Wines from this area are typically made from Merlot and Cabernet Franc grapes, grown from soil with varying mixtures of limestone, clay, sandy plains with alluvium and gravels. There are a number of appellations within this sub-region and in addition to this, a separate classification at work that labels the finer wines as "Grand Cru Classé" and the even higher quality wines as "Premier Grand Cru Classé A" and "Premier Grand Cru Classé B". There seem to be a lot of debate and drama going on regarding the classification system which is reviewed every 10 years and I am glad to see that I'm not the only one who finds it confusing. 

Anyhow, here you can find an interactive wine map of France and here, an appealingly colourful map of Bordeaux.   

A blend of Merlot (76%) 
 Cabernet Sauvignon (13%) 
Cabernet Franc (11%)

The wine we drank - Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classe by Chateau de Ferrand, 2007 (priced at CHF89/Euro73 at the restaurant) smelled of red berries. This translated to the taste, accompanied by a combine flavour of minerals, wood and smoke. We also discerned high tannin and  acidity which was followed by a decent finish. Chateau de Ferrand goes back to the 17^th century and is owned and managed by the family of Bich (founder of the Bic biro company) and Chandon Moet (Champagne house). The vineyards are planted with mostly Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Interestingly, the website for this Chateau is not only in French and English, but also Mandarin. 

Red blend from the Franschhoek Valley in South Africa

I’ve spent a number of good holidays in South Africa. This is primarily because I like spending time with my twin sister, G and her husband, T. T is from Zim and has a lot of connections in SA and moreover, his late mother, Monica, whom I had a lot of affection for resided in Knysna, c.491km from Cape Town. A few years ago, Emilio agreed to my suggestion to jet off to Cape Town from Spain (where we celebrated Christmas and New Years) so we could spend some of our holidays with G&T, their kids and Monica. The weather that greeted us was perfect; a much needed respite from the cold bitter winds we experienced in Spain. We had a fantastic time in Cape Town and yonder, including a visit to Franschhoek valley to sample some fine wine and cuisine, supposedly to be the best in SA. 

  

Franschhoek (“French corner”) is a village situated some 80km east from Cape Town. Popular grapes in this region include Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz and Cabernet  Sauvignon. Wine producing started in the 17^th century, when French Protestants refugees (the Hugenots) settled on land provided by the Dutch and cultivated grapes in the surrounding mountain slopes. The scenery of this village is breathtaking and there are many enchanting wine farms offering tasting as well as fine dining. Watch this promotional video if you have 4.55 minutes and want to glimpse the picturesque village.

La Motte Wine Estate beguiled us in on a beautiful summers day. The winery was crowded and busy but we still managed to sample a good number of wines at leisure and browse in the lovely farm shop for wine paraphernalia. Afterwards, we sat relaxed on the loungers on the sunny lawn, discussing (rather tipsily) how beautiful the estate was and our haul: mostly red blends, which we then preferred to the SA's native Pinotage. The estate was bought by a South African industrialist called Dr Anton Rupert in 1970 and subsequently restored. It is now owned by his daughter Hanneli Rupert-Koegelenberg (a mezzo soprano in SA) and managed by her CEO husband.

  

Not surprisingly, La Motte 2008 Millenium is a bottle we opened a few weeks ago with a lot of happy memories. Fruity and spicy, it was medium bodied and provided a lingering finish. The blend of this wine varies depending on the year. For example, the vintage we drank consisted predominantly of Cabernet Franc (44%),  Malbec (11%) mixed with Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2011 bottle on the other hand, has mostly Merlot (60%) and Carbernet Franc (31%) and a residual a mix of Petit Verdot and Malbec. The different components were left to age separately for 15 months in French oak barrels before being blended. At only R84.00/ Euros 5.65, we both found the price:quality ratio more than reasonable.