Château de Reignac - A Tour, Tasting and Lunch

After a tour and tasting at Planet Bordeaux, the headquarters of the Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur AOC Winemaker's Association, our group headed to Saint-Loubès to learn more about Château de Reignac. We were greeted by export manager, Marion Bechu, who along with the vineyard manager, Benjamin Fruquiere, toured us around the estate.

Like so much of Bordeaux, Château Reignac was significantly affected by the two heavy frosts in late April causing them to lose between 70-80% of the 2017 vintage while also pushing their harvest date back, the grapes were still hanging during our visit.

The estate is located where the Dordogne and Garonne meet so the

property has both the gravelly soils of the left bank which are ideal for Cabernet Sauvignon and the chalky clay soils of the right bank which are ideal for Merlot.

The château was built in 17th century. It got a nice upgrade two hundred years later when a greenhouse created by Gustave Eiffel was added to the property. Yves and Stephanie Vatelot purchased the estate in 1990 and began a new stream of improvements including the addition of a lake, a remodel of the 16th century pigeon tower into a tasting room along with continuous environmental upgrades with the goal of becoming more sustainable and biodiverse. New measures taken range from adding a bamboo plantation to help clean winery waste to inviting local farmers to graze their sheep on the property through the winter.

Château de Reignac is very easy for wine tourists to visit as well. Their website lists multiple tasting experiences from the olfactory tour of wine aromas in the Scent Garden, to a multi-course lunch or a vertical tasting in the pigeon tower. The pigeon tower tasting room features bird's eye views of the property at the top and a high tech tasting space below complete with a mechanized bar top which carries down the wine bottles elevator style for the final reveal.

Our group ended the visit with lunch inside the château with owners, Yves and Stephanie Vatelot. We savored some of the culinary delights offered up in the estate's food and wine experiences while we tasted through the current releases.

The wines:

Reignac Bordeaux Blanc 2015 - Primarily made from Sauvignon Blanc
with some Semilon and Sauvignon Gris sourced from their 2 ha plot planted on soils with large polished gravel, this wine is fresh and inviting with citrus and honeysuckle.

Chateau de Reignac Bordeaux Supérieur 2014 - This is the second wine of the property, it is fruity, approachable and crowd pleasing.

Grand Vin de Reignac Bordeaux 2012 - The estate's premium wine is a blend of 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc sourced from the estate's best terroirs. Effusive aromas of blackberry, black cherry and dark chocolate with a hint of smoke, it is dry with good tannic structure and a rich chocolate cherry finish.

Balthus 2012 - This limited production special cuvée is made from 100% Merlot sourced from 40 year old vines in a high density planted vineyard which is then fermented in new French oak barrels. Dry and fruity with ripe plum and raspberry aromas and lush flavors, silky tannins and a persistent rich chocolate-laced finish.

Grand Vin de Reignac Bordeaux 2001- This older vintage of the estate's premium wine is very expressive with cassis and leather with dark berry and espresso flavors, it is dry, with velvety tannins and a light truffled note in the lingering finish.

All of these wines are highly recommended.

Lust Zinfandel 2007

My husband loves this wine so he purchased quite a few bottles at a recent Michael~David dinner that we had attended. Last night, I decided to open a bottle to serve with dinner. I was making a roasted southwestern pork tenderloin, sweet potato fries (w/ chipolte ketchup) and a salad consisting of baby lettuce (fresh from my garden) with strawberries, red bell peppers, red onions and walnuts tossed with a white balsamic-raspberry vinaigrette. This turned out to be a great pairing. It is a bold wine that really stood up to the strong chipolte seasoning while complementing the fruit flavors. I opened the bottle a 1/2 hour before I served it as I have found this wine to be more enjoyable when I do so. The Lust Zinfandel by Michael~David 2007 was a dark purple color with a ruby rim. It has intense aromas of very ripe mixed berries and baking spices-both allspice and ginger with hints of cedar. It has flavors of creme de cassis, milk chocolate and also more of the baking

Nocera - A Native Grape from Sicily

Nocera is a native grape from Sicily. It comes from the Messina province which is located in the northeast. Nocera is a quality red wine grape that is most known as a blender in the red wines of the Faro DOC. I had the opportunity to taste some pure versions (which according to Wine Searcher are rare) this week at a trade tasting held at Roma Restaurant in Houston. Wine production in the region dates back to the 14th Century BC, however, phylloxera decimated the vineyard area in 1881 leaving it at a fraction of its original size. The area boasts a Mediterranean climate with sunny days and coastal breezes, moderate rainfall, and mild winters, all ideal for grape growing. The Nocera grape is a bluish/black color and has a thick skin which allows for the production of structured wines with prominent tannins which are balanced by good acidity. High alcohol is common. Red wines produced from the grapes are an intense ruby color with purple highlights and aromas and flavors of dark fruits a

The Salta Tour 2012

Vine Connections and Pioneer Wine Company hosted a seminar and tasting event for Houston's wine trade and media at Backstreet Cafe yesterday. All but two of the wines were from the Salta Province of Argentina. Salta is the most northern wine region in Argentina lying close to the Bolivian border. The climate is very extreme due to the high altitude. Plantings start at 5,000 feet above sea level and climb to 9,000 feet, making these vineyards the highest in the world. The intense sunlight the area receives helps to create grapes with more anthocyanins, these are the color pigments which result in softer tannins, lower astringency and more intense flavor. The wines produced are extremely pure, concentrated and terroir specific. Torrontes Riojano which is considered the best of the three Torrontes clones is the most widely planted grape with plantings of Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Tannat increasing. The seminar started with a tasting of four Torrontes wines, three from diff

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