Grape Wine Journey

Have you ever tried barrel tasting?  It’s the tasting of wine straight from the oak barrel.  It was a wonderful experience, not because of the tasting, but because you feel the passion from the winemaker!

This summer I visited Bordeaux with my husband.  Through my work contact, I happened to have the opportunity to visit Chateau Clos De Sarpe, a Grand Cru vineyard in St Emilion.  It was a private tour arranged just for me and my husband.   The day of the visit was National Day, so I was very lucky that the Chateau owner also the winemaker was in town and hosted the tour.

Chateau Clos de Sarpe is a very small vineyard in the St Emilion region, owned by a French family.  We were greeted by Monsieur Beyney, his son Charles and his family friend Michael. 

Standing at the verge of the vineyard, the first question I asked Monsieur Beyney was how could you tell the grape varieties.   He was trying to explain in English, but the language barrier was evident. It however made me appreciate his effort.   He said it’s from the shape of the grape bunches , shape and color of the leaves.  I was sure it was way too simple of an explanation, but he probably thought that was all I could comprehend.

In Bordeaux, the first vintage from the vine will generally be spouting out 10 years from the day the trees were planted.  Most of the vineyards in Bordeaux will harvest up till 45 years, then the land have to be ploughed and planted for new trees.  In Chateau Clos de Sarpe, Monsieur Beyney said their oldest trees are around 85 years ago.  And just like old men, these old trees do not produced grapes every year, but then the grapes will have high concentration of taste. 

We then walked into a barn which was around 3,000 square feet.  This is where everything happened – from sorting of the grapes, fermentation, oak aging, wine making and bottling. 

Monsieur Beyney walked towards the oak barrels, took a long test tube and started to draw wine from the one of the barrels. We were expecting wine tasting, but not from the barrels.  I have heard a lot  about barrel tastings, but normally it’s for special guests only.  So we were very excited and could not wait to taste the wine, which was from the vintage – 2008.

After the first nose & palate, Monsieur Beyney asked for my opinion.  I said it was very green, and that I could smell and taste grass with some red fruit.   Then he went to a second barrel and asked me the same question.  I told him this one tasted plum, not much grass.  He nodded with a smile and said because the first barrel came from a young Merlot vine tree whereas the second barrel came from an older Merlot vine tree.

Then we went to the tasting table, where he had 3 bottles opened and decanted already.  After tasting the first 2 bottles, he asked me to guess the vintage on the third glass.  So based on my memory on the 2008 vintage from the barrel, and the two tasted which were 2007 and 2006, I said 2000.  He said very close, it was 2001.  It was not a shot in the dark; I did pick 2000 as an educated guess.  The wine definitely tasted older than the previous ones, but should not be before 2000 as I believed it would be very mature if it was so.

Towards the end of the tour, I said sincerely to my host that I truly appreciated the dedication and heart that went into their wine.  To me that is always the fascination that got me hooked in wine and trying to understand wine!