Chateau Haut-Bages Averous Pauillac 2001

Chateau Haut-Bages Averous Pauillac 2001

Since 1978 (2 years before I landed) the famous Chateau Lynch-Bages has been producing "Averous" as the second label of the property rolling out 10,000 cases annually. As a second label it gives the consumer a chance to sample a prestigious Cinquièmes Cru wine without breaking the bank. However, even with the second label (and sometimes third label) sharing a close location to the Cru class property and benefiting from the input of their famous winemakers these wines seldom live up to their lauded fathers names.

Not so with Averous, in certain vintages holding a red hot flaming candle to Lynch-Bages and certainly the 2001 vintage has all the class, colour, texture and nose you'd want from top class Pauillac.

In the case of the Chateau Haut-Bages Averous 2001, currently selling with Virgin Wines at £27 we have a wine from a very good Claret vintage at less than half the price of the Lynch-Bages and at a great point in its drinking curve.

Chateau Lynch-Bages itself is, due to the failings of the 1855 system, a 5th growth property but it's an undisputed fact in wine circles that this classification falls well short of the châteaux obvious pedigree.

So what should you expect of a wine from Pauillac? For those who don't know Pauillac is an area within Bordeaux famous for producing top quality claret. Home to three of the five Bordeaux first growths Mouton-Rothschild, Latour and Lafite-Rothschild, Pauillac is considered the jewel in Bordeaux's red crown. Even within the appellation itself there is a great variance in the wine quality with "Pauillac" alone on the label no assurance of quality but certainly an assurance of price.

Just north of St Julien (whom frequent readers will know is my favourite area of Bordeaux) the best wines of Pauillac are in many ways similar to those of St Julien but true examples will carry clear notes of cigar-box, blackcurrent and pencil shavings. I'm sure the reader is aware of the prices currently attached to a 2001 first growth, but in case you haven't checked for a while or noticed the miserable fall of our pound then please have a brown paper bag ready before moving onto the next paragraph.

It's unusual for Wine90 to cover Bordeaux, but so impressed was I with this £27 2001 Chateau Haut-Bages Averous from the normally woefully dire range at Virgin Wines that I felt the need to tell any Virgin members that finally they have a top quality Bordeaux to buy for their subscription. Premier Cru Class Pauillac from Lafite in the 2001 vintage will set you back £365 a bottle. If I had the choice between 12 bottles of the Averous and 1 bottle of Lafite I would certainly choose Lafite but I'm a terrible snob. The smart money would be on Averous.

Chateau Haut-Bages Averous Pauillac 2001 - BUY - £27

Still somewhat dark in colour though a clear orange hue to the rim. On the nose this wine sings pure Pauillac and is as delightful a wine nose as I've had wafted my way in the last 6 months. Blackberries, cedar and super ripe. On the palate the wine was still quite tannic but firm with fruit continuing to a very full and fair length finish. A mid bodied wine that needs only 15 minutes out of the bottle. 89 Points

I haven't seen another wine writer rate this wine so highly so I'm out on a limb here but you gotta call 'em as you see 'em and I think the 2001 is reaching a peak. I highly recommend, any Brits (or anyone in fact!) reading this blog to please go out and try this wine and if you're not blown away, well, I'll send you a copy of Hugh Johnson's new book which the good people at Mitchell Beazley have sent me to review next week. So until next time, take care of yourself... and each other.

Where can I buy this Wine?

Europeans - Getraenkewelt-Weiser - €27.75

Americans - Sherry-Lehmann - $39.95

Brits - Virgin Wines - £27

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Recommend a wine for me to review! It's more fun when we get to interact! As long as it's available in the UK I'll try it. Any other comments about the blog or about this wine greatly received!

Le Due Terre Pinot Nero

Le Due Terre Pinot Nero

I get into everything late. My timepiece is a calculator Casio, I have to personally inject ink into my printer cartridges, I pay for things with cash! This very morning facebook apps told me I am not suited to life in the norties and should travel back in time to the 1920's. Whilst I would love to be a jazz loving, flappy gangster (or gangster's moll i suppose :( ) there is that small problem of prohibition. Faced with such an ugly concept I'd be forced to make my own wine, naturally, (actually naturally, natural wines) and that is what Le Due Terre do. Ok they are not forced into this by stringent alcohol laws but I just wanted to talk about my Facebook quiz result. Everybody say SEGWAY.

When it comes to Le Due Terre's Pinot Nero I am late on two counts. Firstly, I tried this particular wine once already two years ago and secondly because everybody is talking about natural wines these days and so I have strapped myself to the bandwagon. They say; because there are no pesticides or added artificial wotnots (yeasts, sulphites etc) these wines are better for your health. I say; the real reason us wino's love natural wines is because we can drink them all night and wake up hangover free. Maybe some people are drinking these wines for health reasons but I am pretty sure they are liars. So, onto the wine.

When we talk about "natural" wines we are dealing with a very tricky concept. Since there are no universal laws about the processes that make a "natural" wine you need to know, more than ever, a little bit about the producer before making your natural wine purchase. In theory these wines will have been virtually untouched from grape to bottle and will be like wines from "the days of olde". Wines falling under this category should not have added sugars or unnatural yeasts, no sulphites, no filtration and the grapes should be picked by hand. Each vineyard has its own processes and at Le Due Terre, a tiny little producer of just 20,000 bottles per year in the town of Prepotto in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy, just 3 miles from the Slovenian border, Flavio & Silvana Basilicata are passionate about their winemaking approach being "hands off".

Le Due Terre are 100% committed to showing the expression of the two soils (le due terre). The winemaking process here involves selecting only the very best grapes that are crushed and the must racked into small wood. Fermentation comes from native yeasts and eventually the wine settles and there is no need for filtration. Taking extra time in the vineyards tending to the vines and carefully selecting the grapes means less work in the cellar! All this labour and low yields come at an expense to the consumer and the wines of Le Due Terre are not cheap instead they are plain excellent and for those who like to whip out something a bit special at dinner parties the wines of Le Due Terre are sure to please even the most fussy palate. For such a small outfit they have a nice varied selection of wines too including the Pinot Nero, a Merlot, a Rosso Sacrisassi ( a blend of Schioppettino and Refosco which I haven't tried but sounds very interesting) and a Bianco Sacrisassi.

I've tasted their Pinot Nero on two occasions and both times have been blown away by the sheer drinkability of this wine even when young. I've been lucky enough to have tried the 2001 and 2005 vintages, both have been excellent.

Le Due Terre Pinot Nero 2005 - BUY - €30
Garnet red with floral notes on the nose, lots of strawberry present and a slight butter biscuit whiff on the end. Smooth, mid bodied with a gentle mouth feel and well balanced tannins. Good effort. 90 Points

Le Due Terre Pinot Nero 2001 - BUY - £105 (in magnum)
Garnet red with orange hues, the nose is a spicy display with some earth and gamey notes. The wine is perfect for drinking today with silky tannins and a lush mouthfeel that connotes a wine in its prime. The long, soft finish is as good as any Italian Pinot I've tasted. Unabashedly - 94 Points

Where can I buy this wine? - The 2005 Pinot Nero - (the 2001 is available at Decorum Vintners)
Europeans - Peck - €30
Americans - Morrell - $63
Brits - Everywine - £26

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