Henri Bonneau Vertical Tasting Graz 2005-12-17:
Gerhard Präsent conducted an extensive Henri Bonneau Vertical Tasting
last Saturday in Graz spanning the vintages 1971 to 2002. This year was in
terms of wine tastings a very good one for me and this event was one of the
highlights.
My anticipation was slightly marred by a little hangover from a
hedonistic event the evening before so the prospect of having to taste 28 wines
was more considered a threat than as a treat but I managed gracefully I hope.
Overall impressions:
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The wines of Bonneau are signature wines and share the same
specific features more or less over all
vintages
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One of the main features is a rather excessive amount of tannins and
other phenols, taste and finish is marked by mouth impregnating persistent
tannins of sometimes nearly searing quality – this seems a consequence of the
fermentation with stems (as is said to be a common practice at this winery) as
new oak is no topic here
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Other common features seem to be rather low acidity und a rather sweet
tasting fruity note
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The typical Chateauneuf du Pape nose (Grenache specific phenolic
“barnyard” odour) is nearly consistent a “missing” feature of the Bonneau wines
and also Brettanomyces seem of no concern here despite … (see below)
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The wine production methods seem rather archaic and eccentric as some of
the features of the tasted wines (besides the information in writing and on the
web, some photos and from hearsay) suggest a very handicraft as opposed to
industrial approach. This includes not only the no destemming policy but also
the assumed spontaneous fermentation without cultured yeasts (and germs for the
malolactic fermentation) with obvious by products like elevated volatile
acidities, elevated volatile phenols and other sometimes a bit odd aromas and
flavours
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3-5 out of 28 wines were defect – this may be a usual rate for cork but
for me this seems rather high. And only two of them showed (at least for me)
the clear TCA taint but rather muddy aromas and tastes so I would assume here
some creepy microbial activities as a consequence of the mentioned methods
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Otherwise: These are extraordinary wines, very interesting, impressive,
not for the faint-hearted, monuments …
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This said – but not one of the tasted wines triggered the “this is it”
feeling caused by utterly sensory satisfaction if one or two were at least
close to it
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To the discussion above about volatile acidity: While I think that there
is may be a somewhat elevated level of volatile acidities due to the
spontaneous fermentation (the wild yeast run amok in the beginning of the
fermentation producing a lot of welcome and not so welcome by products to
ethanol including acetic acid) I don’t see a sensory problem here. But due to
the extremely high amount of phenols I would not be surprised of a very good
dose of volatile phenols and here we are. This would also explain, why this
“feature” goes away with ageing: Phenols are very reactive in building bigger
molecules and change therefore their sensory characteristics or fall even out
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Concerning the two pirates: The Pöckl was very good and showed a rather
exotic nose – clearly different from all other wines. The Vieille Julienne was
very very primary young and therefore clearly also very different from the
Bonneau wines. One thought was Languedoc although basically this wine tasted
and smelled like a rather cheap Austrian Zweigelt sold for 5 Euro in the
supermarket
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All wines were tasted half blind and decanted about half an hour before
the start of the tasting with the exception of the Celestins 1995 (decanted 5
hours in advance) and the bonus Vieille Julienne CdP (decanted immediately
before tasting). The glass was Oberglas 1806 kind of Riesling glass.
The Tasting Notes:
Flight
#1:
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1994 Henri Bonneau,
Chateauneuf du Pape, Chateauneuf du Pape, Rhone, France: Very light garnet,
brilliant. Decent dark fruity nose,
only a hint of barnyard. Medium body, massive acidity, harsh tannins, low
fruit, slightly bitter. Long finish, persistent tannins. Score: 50 + 3
for optic + 12 for bouquet + 16 for taste + 6 for overall = total score of
87. |
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1993 Henri Bonneau,
Chateauneuf du Pape, Chateauneuf du Pape, Rhone, France: Light ruby, bright,
fat tears. Decent Pinot Noir type
nose, nice volatile phenolic touch, beauty. Medium body, mouth impregnating
smoky dark fruit, good acidity, fine tannins, well balanced. Long finish,
decent acidic tannins in the aftertaste. Score: 50 + 4
for optic + 14 for bouquet + 18 for taste + 8 for overall = total score of
94. |
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1996 Henri Bonneau,
Chateauneuf du Pape, Chateauneuf du Pape, Rhone, France: Medium brilliant
garnet, fat tears. Very soft restrained nose,
subtle red fruit. Medium to medium full body, some bitter dark red fruit,
mouth impregnating smoky tannins. Long finish, smooth fruity persistent
tannins. Score: 50 + 3
for optic + 13 for bouquet + 18 for taste + 8 for overall = total score of
92. |
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(2001) Henri Bonneau,
Les Rouliers, Vin de Pays, Chateauneuf du Pape, Rhone, France: Very brilliant
light ruby, fat tears. Resinous notes in the nose,
some red fruit. Medium body, smooth fruit, rather low acidity, soft tannins,
medium balance, soft. Medium finish, velvety fruity aftertaste. Ex post
annotation: There are different bottlings of very different quality of this
wine on the market. Score: 50 + 4
for optic + 13 for bouquet + 17 for taste + 7 for overall = total score of
91. |
Flight #2:
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Flight #3:
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Flight #4:
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Flight #5:
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1997 Pöckl,
Mystique, Neusiedlersee, Burgenland, Austria: Dense brilliant ruby, fat
tears. Decent dark fruity nose, notes of lime and cocos - very exotic nose.
Medium body, intense dark sappy fruit, good acidity, smoky persistent
tannins. Long finish, persistent smoky tannins. Ex post annotation: The
varietal mix of the cuvée may be cryptic, but the use of american oak seems
sure. Pirate Score: 50 + 5
for optic + 13 for bouquet + 18 for taste + 8 for overall = total score of
94. |
Flight #6:
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1985 Henri Bonneau,
Celestins, Chateauneuf du Pape, Rhone, France: Brilliant medium garnet, fat
tears. Nice Pinot Noir type nose, soft red fruit.
Medium to medium full body, bit broad fruit, flat, low acidity, soft tannins.
Medium finish, bit flat tannins. Score: 50 + 3
for optic + 13 for bouquet + 16 for taste + 6 for overall = total score of
88. |
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1986 Henri
Bonneau, Marie Beurrier, Chateauneuf du Pape, Rhone, France: Slightly corked
nose, strong cork in taste. Corked Score: No score. |
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1988 Henri Bonneau,
Celestins, Chateauneuf du Pape, Rhone, France: Brilliant light garnet. fat
tears. Decent Burgundy nose, fine smoky fruit. Medium
body, bit caramelized fruit, nice melting acidity, silky mouth impregnating
tannins. Very long finish, very persistent tannins. Great wine. Score: 50 + 4
for optic + 14 for bouquet + 19 for taste + 9 for overall = total score of
96. |
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1990 Henri Bonneau,
Marie Beurrier, Chateauneuf du Pape, Rhone, France: Brilliant light garnet,
fat tears. Very fine red fruity nose
with a hint of barnyard. Medium body, sweet-sour drops, good acidity, fine
fruit, silky tannins. Long finish, fine mouth impregnating tannins. Score: 50 + 4
for optic + 14 for bouquet + 19 for taste + 8 for overall = total score of 95
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Flight #7:
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1989 Henri Bonneau,
Celestins, Chateauneuf du Pape, Rhone, France: Brilliant medium ruby, fat
tears. Very unobtrusive pure clean nose, hint of
champignons. Medium full body, slightly dull dark fruit, low acidity, massive
tannins. Long finish, persistent tannins. May be a slightly damaged bottle. Score: 50 + 4
for optic + 13 for bouquet + 16 for taste + 7 for overall = total score of
90. |
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1990 Henri Bonneau,
Celestins, Chateauneuf du Pape, Rhone, France: Brilliant medium ruby, hint of
brick. Decent lime note in the nose, fine red fruit.
Medium full body, hint of fresh distilled grape brandy, good acidity, bit of
dark fruit, coarse tannins. Long finish, mouth impregnating tannins, sweet
aftertaste from alcohol. Score: 50 + 4
for optic + 13 for bouquet + 17 for taste + 7 for overall = total score of
91. |
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1990 Henri Bonneau, Cuvée Speciale, Chateauneuf du
Pape, Rhone, France: Brilliant medium ruby, hint of brick, fat tears. Nose of
Vintage Port, alcoholic touch. Medium full to
full body, hint of fresh distilled grape brandy, low acidity, coarse velvety
tannins, bit fat and hot. Long finish, bitter sweet alcoholic tannins. Hot. Score: 50 + 4
for optic + 12 for bouquet + 17 for taste + 7 for overall = total score of
90. |
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1995 Henri
Bonneau, Celestins, Chateauneuf du Pape, Rhone, France: Very light and
transparent garnet, fat tears. Nose after Vintage Port, alcoholic touch.
Medium full body, some fruity acidity, velvety tannins, bit coarse. Long
finish, coarse persistent tannins, sweet aftertaste. Hot. Score: 50 + 4
for optic + 12 for bouquet + 17 for taste + 7 for overall = total score of
90. |
2005-12-19/WK