2011 Réserve de la Comtesse, Pauillac
Dry, Red, Still
France
Leave 2017 – 2025 
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Tasting Note
The 2011 second wine from Comtesse Lalande exhibits a dark nose of rich fruit, lifted by fresh leafy notes, courtesy of a proportion of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot in the blend. This medium-bodied wine strikes a lovely balance on the palate between fresh fruity flavours and a slightly bitter chocolate edge that brings a certain complexity. This should be excellent for medium-term ageing.
Region Details
Bordeaux is France's largest quality wine region, indeed producing almost as much wine as Australia. Its westerly position ensures a mild maritime climate, a long growing season and mild summers; rains in the autumn are the primary threat to the harvest, dampening expectations in around one year in three. Red wine predominates - indeed many white wine vines are being uprooted today - with Merlot the dominant variety. The region is dissected by the Gironde estuary, with on the Left Bank the district appellations of the Médoc and the Graves and on the Right Bank, those of Saint-Emilion and Pomerol amongst others. Sauternes is made in the south of the region. The notable red and sweet wines were classified in 1855 according to their then status. At that time not a single Pomerol or Saint-Emilion was deemed worthy despite their historic traditions, and only a single Graves wine. In the last few decades first Saint-Emilion and then Pomerol have become intensely fashionable, their usually small production guaranteeing a premium for scarcity.
Vintage Notes
Grape Variety
A grape which has become immensely popular around the world in the last 20 years, initially as a purveyor of the flavours of claret in a fleshy, accessible and inexpensive form. Subsequently it has developed a following as a varietal in its own right and often finds itself the recipient of lavish winemaker attention. Most celebrated as the principal 'Right Bank' grape, underpinning most Pomerols and Saint Emilions with its sweet plum and currant fruit and fleshy, soft textures. These qualities have proved ideal as a foil to the drier, more astringent Cabernet Sauvignon and in the rest of Bordeaux, notably the Médoc, it is a contributor to the blend. Indeed so well does it 'round off' Cabernet Sauvignon that it is now rare to find a single Cabernet, even where marked only as such on the label, which does not include a small percentage of Merlot as compensation. The compliment is played the other way round and many varietal Merlots today are seasoned with a little Cabernet to give backbone. Merlot is a major player in Chilean wines, and plantings have overtaken those of Cabernet in California and indeed in Bordeaux, such is the popularity of this easy to admire variety.
An intensely deep, damson-perfumed variety which serves as a seasoning in top flight Bordeaux blends. Its use must be managed very carefully as if less than fully ripe its astringency can dominate, such that it rarely contributes more than a few percentage points to a blend. Its enigmatic nature has persuaded a handful of pioneers in the New World to experiment with Petit Verdot as the dominant variety. Here absolute ripeness remains the key.
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