Ric Forman is a Napa Valley legend.

Joy and I (along with friends) had a very interesting visit with Ric at his ‘eclectic’ Napa Valley winery at the base of Howell Mountain more than decade ago. We scheduled an appointment, and as directed we opened the unmarked front gate (carefully closing it behind us) and then traveled up a winding driveway to his house and winery. The note on the door indicated that he would join us shortly. The note also suggested we enjoy the view. Behind the house was a deck overlooking Napa Valley with an extraordinary view of the Forman Vineyards below.

Soon, Ric Forman roared up to the house on a dusty ATV, indicated that he needed gasoline for a crew that was drilling postholes for a new vineyard, collected the gasoline, and roared away. He eventually returned, and thus began one of the most interesting winery tours in our experience.

Uniquely, we were not offered a taste of wine. He makes very little and chooses to sell what he makes. However, we had previously tasted multiple vintages of Ric Forman’s icon extraordinary Cabernet and did not need to taste the wine to appreciate the quality. We knew the wine…we now wanted to know where it came from and how it came to be.

The wine, as it turned out, came from a winery located in a multi-car garage/large basement and aged in a wine cave carved by Ric Forman and his son Toby (and assistant winemaker) nearly 100 feet below the cellars. The cellar was carved in a semicircle and barrels are moved into position for filling by employing small gauge railroad tracks and human muscle. Barrels are aged in a single level. Ric Forman largely works alone (Toby joined the ‘family business in 2003) and a barrel of wine is heavy, and the cellar is too small for a forklift.

So, what prompts this memory recovery?

Joy and recently stumbled across a bottle of a Forman 2000 Napa Valley Cabernet in our ‘abbreviated South Carolina cellar’.  It was outstanding.  Stephen Tanzer awarded this bottling 90 points…impressive given that the overall Napa 2000 Cabernet vintage was rated an 85. The color was still excellent with a just a little brown around the edge. The dark red fruit and leather tones that are a trademark of Forman wines were still evident from the nose through the finish. Tannins were well integrated. The Wine Spectator review suggests that the wine needed a few years to soften, and that you should plan to consume your bottle by 2010. Nine years past the WS ‘drop dead’ date we determined that Forman wines certainly cellar well…

Some background on the man and the winery.

Forman wines reflect their creator. Ric Forman has been making excellent wine for nearly a half century. A late 1960s University of California at Davis enology graduate, he worked for the virtual Who’s Who of Napa Wine. His resume includes time with Justin Meyer of Silver Oak, Nils Venge at Groth, Robert Mondavi, and Peter Newton (before Newton Vineyards) for ten years as the winemaker at Sterling Vineyards. He has directly influenced winemaking at both Spottswoode (convincing them to focus on Cabernet – turned out to be excellent advice) and helping Duckhorn connect with the extraordinary Three-Palms Vineyard.

Forman’s success (especially his multiple 90 point wines) became a model for the UC Davis approach to teaching the production of California Cabernet.

Newton sent Forman to France to study ‘classic’ winemaking techniques. The trip informed the path of his career. He introduced barrel to barrel racking and was one of the first winemakers to vintage date Merlot (starting with the 1969 vintage). The Bordeaux experience clearly influenced his approach to vinification.

He purchased an 8.5 acre vineyard site in 1978 on a ridge at the base of Howell Mountain with a view of St. Helena. His house and his vineyard still occupy that site. He organized his winery in 1983 with the goal of producing “small quantities of classically made Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon”. He now owns nearly 90 acres in both St. Helena and the Rutherford Bench.

His vineyards produce the four ‘classic’ Bordeaux varietals – Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petite Verdot. The vineyard is defined by three soil types that inform the complexity of the grapes grown on them. The soils offer outstanding drainage. The trellis system is designed to expose the maximum leaf surface, and each vine is attended to no less than 16 times during the growing season.

Forman’s approach to winemaking is “traditional as opposed to technological”. His hillside vineyard grapes are handled gently (and hand harvested) and then placed in “small stainless-steel fermenters for white wines and new Burgundy barrels for red grapes”. Reds are aged in new French oak in that cave 10 stories below the winery. Limited fining of Forman wines is accomplished using egg whites.

Following the French model, Forman ‘assembles’ his wine early, and produces just 100 barrels each vintage (or 3000 total cases – 2,000 Cabernet and 1,000 Chardonnay). He stopped making Merlot as a separate varietal in 1998.

Despite the small production you can find recent vintages of Forman Cabernet nationwide at a price north of $75 for the most recent vintages. The wines are pricey, but they are worth it.

And, with every sip you are experiencing the best of Napa’s winemaking tradition.

Washington State winemaker Owen Roe often thinks outside the box. Over the years I have enjoyed many Owen Roe wines. And, the grape composition is not always obvious from the flavor profile. You need to read the back label.

That brings us to Owen Roe’s Abbot’s Table. I spotted this unique wine (there are just 3,700 cases produced) while surveying the always interesting collection at Accent on Wine in Summerville. The blend was intriguing…Sangiovese (40%), Zinfandel (34%), as well as some Malbec and 12% Blaufrankisch(!!!).

I assumed that this was a field blend until I noted the Blaufrankisch. This is a unique grape that is usually linked to Eastern Austria. I was unclear how the Blaufrankisch ended up as a part of the blend. But, interestingly, you can find a few acres of the grape growing in Eastern Washington (Columbia Valley AVA). The creative genius (and creative palate of the Owen Roe team) had discovered the grapes in near proximity to each other and simply blended them. And, indeed, it is marketed by Owen Roe as a field blend (more on field blends later in this post).

First, some background on Owen Roe and Abbot’s Table.

The winery is named in honor of Owen Roe O’Neill, a 17^th century Irish Patriot. Jerry Owen, who manages the vineyards, and David O’Reilly, the winemaker/owner (with wife Angelica), suggest that O’Neill’s dedication to the highest principles of political equality and freedom, established the model that they follow with a motto of “only the best is good enough”.

Owen Roe sources the grapes for its total production from both Oregon and Washington State (Willamette, Mid-Columbia, Yakima, and Walla Walla). The winery has long term vineyard contracts in all of those locations “with strict controls on yields and vine development”. Pesticides and herbicides are not utilized.

In the winery they allow “only minimal handling, racking by gravity, and excellent cooperage”.

The Abbott’s Table is dark with a dense ‘mouthfeel’. There is excellent balance that offers dark fruit elements on the nose and through the palate. The palate also offers a hint of tobacco and earth that extends through a medium finish. This is an excellent wine for virtually any roasted meat meal.

Now for a short discussion regarding field blends.

In the viticulture world before engineered wines, grapes grew in the field simply where they would without regard to variety, and winemakers worked with whatever grapes (often a few white grapes with the reds) grew there regardless of those varieties. There was an assumption that if grapes grow together they are likely to agree with each other in the bottle. Thus…the term ‘field blend’. These “are single-vineyard wines whose grapes are grown, harvested, and vinified together-the blending is done in the vineyard, not in the winery”. The growers and the winemakers must collaborate on the most tricky element of the process. What is the perfect day to pick multiple varieties that are likely ripen at different intervals?

Any differences in the flavor profile of the wine vary by the percentage of each varietal the ‘blend’  might contain. With many field blends the winemakers are unable to identify all the varietals in the blend. Sean Thackrey admits that he can “only identify about 2/3 of the grapes in Orion, his flagship wine”.

Most field blends are reds. There are some white field blends, but winemakers suggest that white varietals do not produce sufficient grapes from old vines, and that white varietals, according to Mike Officer of Carlisle Wine, “have a greater susceptibility to disease”.

Joel Peterson, the founder and for the past four decades, the winemaker of Ravenswood in Sonoma, suggests that throughout history many European winemakers produced field blends (some still do). And, awareness of field blends influenced the work of the ‘father’ of Northern California wine and the founder of Buena Vista Winery, Hungarian count Agoston Haraszthy.  He toured Europe in 1861 (as the American Civil War raged in the East) collecting and eventually transporting more than 100,000 vine cuttings to the California. The cuttings, from multiple varietals, were simply planted, and they made wine.

Unfortunately, many of the vines and their cuttings offspring that survived the Haraszthy efforts, were affected by the phylloxera louse during the 1880s. When replanted, it was decided to organize vineyards by varietal. Zinfandel was dominate in those late 19^th century vineyards although other traditional blending varieties (such as Petite Sirah, Carignane, and Alicante Bouchet) were planted in smaller percentages.

The American palate, however, likes consistency, and field blends do not generally offer consistency. The flavor package of each variety will vary widely  due to the unique climate elements of a specific vintage, and the subsequent joint fermentation in a single tank guarantees each vintage is unique. And, of course, profits come into play.  Labels identified with a specific varietal generally have a higher price point. Some Carlisle and Ravenswood wines, which are produced as field blends, are generally labeled as Zinfandel because their blend is 75% or more Zinfandel.

There are some excellent field blends available. Ridge Geyserville (particular the 2014) is produced from vines that are nearly 130 years old, and Thackery’s Orion has grapes sourced from 111-year-old vines. California producer, Fog Mountain (available at Total Wines) produces a wine labeled as a ‘Field Blend’ and sells for under $15.

There are some ‘unlikely mixes’…like The Prisoner (blended from Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Petite Sirah, and Charbono). Less expensive Menage a Trois and Apothic are also unique combinations of varieties. However, these wines are blended from varietals vinified separately and then blended to assure consistent flavor package.

The Owen Roe is according to the winemaker, “a true field blend, its composition varies from year to year.   Again, the 2016  combines Zinfandel, Sangiovese, Malbec, and Blaufrankisch.  Regardless of the vintage and the composition, the wine is always rich, warm, silky, smooth, and flavorful.”

Available at some Total Wines (not Charleston), and at Accent on Wine. The wine is generally priced at around $25.

From the mid-90s through 2005 you would likely find dozens of Australian wine options on the shelves of virtually every retail shop across the United States.

However, the American taste buds are fickle, and the attraction to wines from ‘Down Under’ waned, and for more than a decade there was a steady decline in Australian imports to the United States. Yellow Tail, still the #1 U.S. imported Chardonnay (as well as four other varietals), was only Australian product to continue growing its sales.

For more than a decade the American palate had been drawn to Shiraz. From Penfold’s Grange and Henschke’s Hill of Grace to Rosemont and, of course, Yellow Tail.  The sweet spicy elements of Shiraz satisfied many American consumers. However, as noted, the American palate is ever changing. The Zinfandel craze was followed by the movie Sideways and an enormous interest in Pinot Noir soon became a varietal of choice. And, while some Americans gravitated to sweet reds like South Africa’s Jam Jar and Italy’s Adesso, others rediscovered Cabernet. Americans associated Australia with Shiraz, and Shiraz  was out, and Australia was off the wine radar.

There has been recent growth in Australian imports…Americans discovered the continent produces more than Shiraz. But, one through the ups and downs one Australian wine remained consistently popular with the American market…Mollydooker.

In a recent outing to Accent on Wine, I spotted a bottle of 2016 Blue Eyed Boy Shiraz by Molly Dooker, the last vintage of Mollydooker to be bottled by the team of Sarah and Sparky Marquis. Joy and I shared it with friends visiting from New York, and in a subsequent trip I purchased another bottle…just in case I might have a ‘hankering’ for a jammy and fruit forward wine.

Mollydooker was the stepchild of the winemaking talent of Sarah and Sparky Marquis and the marketing skill of The Galloping Gourmet’s Dan Philips. The team was responsible for the producing and introducing the public to the outstanding wines of Marquis Philips. The Marquis Philips wines had a excellent 15-year run starting in the early 1990s. The wines received stunning reviews and were highly sought by consumers. Unfortunately, the principals in the enterprise had different goals. Sarah and Sparky had originally made their reputation as the team behind the highly acclaimed Fox Creek, and Dan Philips was the U.S. importer of Fox Creek.

The original goal that Sparky and Sarah had for Marquis Philips was to “produce the best bulk wine in Australia”, but the Australian wine glut of the late 1990s scuttled that plan. Instead the winemaking/marketing team decided to focus on premium wines. The Marquis’ produced the wine, Dan Philips marketed the wine, and Robert Parker loved the wine. He awarded 99 points to the 2001 and 2002 Integrity Shiraz. The team may not have intended to make ‘classic’ wines, but they certainly could.

The winery quickly grew from 8,000 to 120,000 cases in the first four years, and Dan Philips envisioned a production that would eventually reach a million cases. Sparky and Sarah balked at the number. Sarah noted, “We couldn’t do it because we’re very hands on and couldn’t physically taste that amount of wine.”

The company parted ways and Sarah and Sparky intended to take their proceeds and “roll out their own brand”. However, two issues arose.

First, the Marquis were low on cash. Second, the former partners counter-sued each other for breach of contract. The lawsuit was settled in 2007, following the withdrawal of allegations by Philips, without the plaintiffs going to court, and for terms that were undisclosed.

Philips intended to continue the Marquis Philips brand, but that venture was recently abandoned

Sparky and Marquis formed Mollydooker. The name evolved from the term for the Australian term for ‘left-handed. Both Sparky and Sparky are left-handed.

The Mollydooker wines which were highly extracted, high in alcohol, offered fruit-forward flavor profiles, intriguing packaging, and user-friendly prices, were an immediate hit with both American reviewers (particularly Robert Parker), and with the American public. The first Mollydooker inventory sold out in just 19 days. Interestingly, Australian reviewers were not as kind in reviewing the Mollydooker efforts (especially in relation to alcohol level). The winery struggled through a difficult financial period in 2014, but it has survived and now enjoys a robust following.

Mollydooker survived the lawsuits and financial insecurity. Unfortunately, the marriage of Sparky and Sarah did not. They separated in 2015, and in early 2017 Sarah took controlling interest of the winery. She owns 116 acres of vineyards in the extraordinary McLaren Vale and manages another 150 acres in the area. She has retained the services of both the Mollydooker vineyard manager and chief winemaker. Sarah guarantees that Mollydooker wines will continue to exhibit the flavor profile that has defined the portfolio since its inception. Total cases produced exceed 80,000.

Sparky’s future is unclear.

The Mollydooker wines continue to feature fruit over tannin, and the ABV often exceeds 16%. The vineyards are still managed by a unique and carefully timed irrigation program, and the Marquis Fruit Weight standard is still critical. The ‘Fruit Weight’ focuses on “the percentage of your palate that’s covered by the velvety sensation of fruit, before you experience any of the structural components of the wine”. A wine “must have at least 60% Fruit Weight in order to considered as a Mollydooker”.

The winery ‘works closely with coopers to achieve very specific flavor profiles”. They use a blend of French and American Oak and various levels of toasting with a “mixture of medium and fine grains”. Wines are ‘generally’ aged for a total of eight months of “achieve complexity and balance”.

Mollydooker, concerned about the loss of virtually one bottle of every 12 due to cork taint, became one of the first wineries to shift to screwcaps for wines at every price point. Mollydooker uses screwcaps on 10 of their wines, including the ‘flagship’, “Velvet Glove”.

And, don’t forget the ‘Mollydooker Shake’. Most wineries use small amounts of sulfides to stabilize their product, but Mollydooker uses nitrogen, and as a result the flavors are compressed. While the impact of the nitrogen dissipates in an older wine, if you are opening a young red (up to two years old), pour a little in a glass, replace the screw cap and shake the bottle. It works…

So, back to The Blue Eyed Boy.

Aged in 100% American oak (mostly new), the wine offers dark color, dark fruit dominated by blueberry and dark cherry, and a finish that is dominated by chocolate tones. This is a full-bodied wine that achieved an 80% Marquis Fruit Weight. Approximately 7,000 cases of a wine that markets recent vintages north of $40 is available in virtually every U.S. market.

Sarah Marquis and Mollydooker have traveled a difficult and twisted road over the past 15 years. However, they have both survived and wine drinkers are the better for it.

The Kittle House in Chappaqua, New York has a wine cellar that is a temporary home to more than 70,000 bottles and lists approximately 6,000 selections. Paris’s wonderful la Tour d’Argent, overlooking the Seine River and Notre Dame Cathedral, has a wine ‘book’ that is 400 pages in length and manages a cellar of more than 450,000 bottles. You can certainly find a bottle worth drinking on either of those lists. Creating a wine list that includes largely ‘the greatest hits’ of the past half century (or more) is not difficult, however, it is expensive.

I have navigated and reviewed literally thousands of wine lists over the years. Many of you have done the same. And, as I have aged, whether a result of ‘wine list fatigue’, or simply a greater interest in conversing with dinner companions than reading a wine tome, I have come to appreciate a wine list that is both short and well cultivated.

In the June 2019, issue of the Wine Spectator, Harvey Steiman, who has certainly reviewed more wine lists than have I, has come to the conclusion that shorter may be better. His revelation, like mine, came slowly. His began in the mid-1990s when dining at the wonderful Plumpjack Café in San Francisco. Plumpjack offered just 90 wines on its list (although you could bring a Plumpjack Wine to the restaurant with virtually no corkage fee). The wines were carefully chosen to accompany the unique menu offered by the restaurant, and offered a range of prices that could accommodate every budget.

Steiman’s employer, The Wine Spectator, has also begun to recognize the value of smaller lists. The 2018 “Award of Excellence” list awarded 250 lists with “fewer than 100 wines”. For many years the Award of Excellence rewarded lists that offered the greatest number of ‘blue chip’ wines.  Now, the goal is to reward lists that “focus on value and interest”. Likewise, in 2018 the “annual World of Fine Wine” list of restaurant awards included a category for best ‘micro’ lists.

The key according to Steiman, and echoed by me, is that whatever list we are reviewing has been created through a process of “diligent research”. A simply rule of thumb…if you spot wines on the list that you can purchase at your local grocery store…it is likely that the restaurant wine buyer is not doing the research.

Wine blogger Megan Kavanaugh offers specific suggestions for those building a list. Offer a variety with an option for every “diner’s taste buds”; understand that focus is essential, a restaurant “should be a cohesive brand. Just as the music should work with the décor, the wine list should be in harmony with the dining menu”. Make the wine list user-friendly. Restaurants should consider establishing a digital wine list to improve the diner’s experience.

Those who ‘curate’ a wine list should put themselves in the place of the consumer. What does a restaurant wine consumer want to know? For instance, what is a wine’s flavor profile and how does a particular wine work with the dishes those at the table are considering? Don’t price gouge. A restaurant is certainly entitled to make a profit on their wine sales as well as their food. The restaurant pays rent and pays employees. The restaurant must purchase, clean, and replace stems, and they must pay for and carefully cellar wines prior to a patron’s purchase. However, for a recent vintage of a widely available bottle, an all-too-often 300% markup with an additional (and often high) bottle fee will simply not sell as much wine as a reasonable priced product tailored to the restaurant’s menu. Sommeliers should offer samples. A patron may be willing to spend a bit more when they know what they are buying.

However, the shorter list can be a risk for the restaurant. Matt Stamp of Napa’s Compline suggests that “Micro lists are less intimidating and easier to navigate, for sure. Also, there is no room for error. The micro list should exist just like a best hits playlist, with every option the best of its kind for value”. And, Stamp continues, that it should be “a list on one page, with a font that can be read”.

A shorter list permits a wait staff to be better educated to understand and interpret the list and in turn, better able to assist patrons in making appropriate decisions. And, for the restaurant, a shorter list “means less investment up front and more rotation of bottles”.

Which brings me a discussion of Charleston, SC.

Our new home of Charleston, SC is becoming a more ‘wine savvy’ location. Lettie Teague, a wine columnist for the Wall Street Journal suggests that “the Holy Cities” wine reputation is catching up to its food reputation. Beyond the now venerable Accent on Wine, there has been a multitude of new wine bars from the extraordinary Graft on upper King Street, to Josh Walker’s (formerly of Accent on Wine) Wine & Company on Meeting Street.

Hall’s Chop House has a wine list that would make any New York steak house proud, and Leon’s Oysters and Chicken on upper King offers a very manageable choice of ‘cheap’ and ‘good’ wine…and excellent frozen Gin and Tonics.

And, notably, Charleston restaurants have ‘manageable’ wine lists.

I need to add another pet peeve related to this discussion…wine lists that do not reflect the menu focus. You can certainly have a seafood restaurant with just a few Pinot Noir options, but they should explain (on the list) why the other wines chosen for the list would be excellent accompaniments to your seafood option. Steak houses should offer a selection of ‘big reds’ wines, and it would be nice to see a big Zinfandel on a BBQ list. That is not to say that the ‘traditional’ choice is always the right one, but a restaurant should at least meet minimal (and safe) wine expectations relative to their menu. Then the restaurant might challenge the patron’s to consider something unique.

Reviewing the wine list should not be a chore.

Luzon Rosado

My sister-in-law Lisa recommended that I occasionally include a less expensive wine in Vine and Spirits Report posts. She is right. Consider this one at less than $10.

Rosé (Rosado) is no longer just a Summer wine. And, the Luzón Colección Monastrell Rosado could be enjoyed year around.

Jay Gruber at Sterling Cellars in Mahopac, New York suggested the 2018 version of the Luzón when we visited a few months ago, and his recommendation was spot on.

For more than a century Bodegas Luzón has been both a leading producer and exporter of wines from Jumilla. Located in the south-eastern region of Spain, Jumilla is blessed with a continental climate and ideal soil.

The Luzón Rosado is 100% Monastrell for vineyards more than 20 years old. The mechanically harvested grapes are lightly pressed and fermented in a temperature-controlled tanks. The result is a well-balanced, medium bodied wine with a “delicate texture” and light cherry tones.

The winery recommends that you consider the Rosado as an accompaniment to fresh salads, seafood, white meats, and soft cheese. They are correct.

Available nationwide.

Sometimes you just need to trust your friends on wine recommendations…especially if those friends have an outstanding palate.

I met Jay Gruber many years ago when we both worked for Sterling Cellars in Mahopac, New York. He then traveled the many twists and turns of the wine business, and eventually, to the good fortune of Sterling Cellars patrons, has returned to the excellent store on Route 6.

During one stop on his journey, Jay spend time as a wine manager at the first Total Wines store established in Connecticut.   My first visit to that Total Wines location introduced me to their unique marketing model as well as to many wines that I had never experienced. Jay spoke glowing about a 2010 Chateau Lilian Ladouys St. Estephe Bordeaux. I bought a couple of bottles.

We stored the bottles in our New York cellar, and then packed them amongst the wines we eventually moved to the Low Country of South Carolina. A few nights ago we opened it. In a regular paradox for wine consumers…we are sorry that we waited to open it, and very glad we did.

This Cabernet based Bordeaux from the Medoc earned 94 points from the Wine Enthusiast and a 91 from James Suckling. It is unlikely that you will find any more 2010. However, every Lilian Ladouys vintage since 2010, and through the current 2018 release has been rated at 90 or higher by every rating agency from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate to Decanter Magazine. However, it is a little tricky to track down a Lilian Ladouys…more on this later in the post. But, first a little background on the wine, the winery, and the region.

Formed in 1654 under the name La Doys, by the 18^th century the estate was controlled by the Barre family. The Barre’s managed the estate for a century and a half and was responsible for building the chateau that defines Lilian Ladouys today.

Unfortunately, the early 20^th century was not kind to the winery, and it “fell into a dilapidated state”. Ownership was ultimately forced to sell vineyards to resolve debt. In the late 20^th century the tides of fortune changed. The Thieblot family purchased the estate, changed the name to Chateau Lilian Ladouys (honoring the wife), and expanded the vineyards. In 2007, the estate was sold to Jacky Lorenzetti, who earned his fortune as the founder of Foncia. Foncia is a real estate management firm with control of nearly 500,000 rental properties.

Lorenzetti is committed to Lilian Ladouys. He has dramatically expanded the vineyard holdings. His winery team has also increased Merlot plantings (older vines – most over 40 years old). “This represents a major change in a vineyard that was previously dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon. Recent vintages of Lilian Ladouys have increased the Merlot in the blend to nearly 40% with a small quantity of Petite Verdot added. The 47 hectares of vineyards, twice the average vineyard acreage for the Medoc, average between 8-10,000 vines per hectare (which is average for the region), are picked by hand, and age their wine in 40% new French oak barrels for between 14 and 16 months.

The result is a serious wine produced by very serious people.

For the wine snobs amongst you…this is not a ‘classified growth’. For those of you who may be interested…some explanation.

In 1855 the French government classified the wines of France. The classification was largely done on the basis of price. The operating assumption in development of the classification was that the more expensive a wine, the better the wine. The ‘best wines of Bordeaux’ were rigidly classified in growths 1-5. The classification is so rigid, that in the past 150 years there have been only two alterations to the list. One of those changes was the addition of Mouton Rothschild as a First Growth. The price of Mouton Rothschild would have justified its inclusion as a First Growth in 1855, but the estate was excluded because winery had been recently purchased by an English group.

All of the 1855 classified wines were from Medoc with the exception of Haut-Brion from Graves. Petrus, generally regarded as one of France’s finest wines, was not included because it was from the ‘Right Bank’ and produced predominately from Merlot. ‘Left Bank’ (designated by the rivers that separate Bordeaux) wines are more than 50% Cabernet Sauvignon. Cheval-Blanc and Ausone, two of the most respected Bordeaux wines, were not included because they originated in St. Emilion.

What if your Bordeaux winery was not one of the fortunate 58 chateaus to be included in the 1855 classification?   For nearly 75 years…nothing…but, in 1932 The Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce selected 444 estates as Cru Bourgeois. The term was granted to wineries a step below the classified estates, but still of high quality. And, although the status of these previously ignored wineries was never official ratified, many named estates printed the term Cru Bourgeois on their labels. However, there were multiple lawsuits from estates not ‘granted’ Cru Bourgeois status. The term was at first both eliminated and eventually reinstated throughout the early 21^st century.  In 2010 a program by which estates could apply for the  Cru Bourgeois status (starting with their 2008 vintage) earned through an assessment of both the estate’s production quality and an evaluation of the final product.

French wines have a complicated history, and the competition between estates for status is fierce. Status is very important to sales. By way of illustration, there are 6,000 Bordeaux estates producing wine from less than 300,000 acres. By comparison, the United States has approximately 3,000 wineries drawing from more than 1,000,000 acres of vineyards.

The Lilian Ladouys has certainly earned the status of Cru Bourgeois. The 2010 was vibrant red, and the wood and fresh fruit on the nose continued onto the palate. The wine is velvety in texture and the finish lingered. Newer vintages, with equally excellent ratings, offer similar flavor profiles.

You can find Lilian Ladouys at Total Wines (where it is identified as a Winery Direct product) and is generally available at a price in the low $30s. And, interestingly, you can also find it at Sterling Cellars in Mahopac, New York at the same price point.

Track a bottle down…it will be well worth the effort.