pop & pour

By Tyler Derksen

As we come to the end of the first week of this year’s Bricks Wine Advent Calendar, I’m thrilled to be able to join Peter and Ray’s blogging efforts.  I think this is my first wine entry on Pop & Pour and following these titans of amateur Calgary wine blogging will be no small feat, but today’s wine is oddly appropriate for the endeavour.  Just as I take inspiration from Peter and Ray and their deep knowledge and passion for wine, so too does today’s wine look to an icon of the French wine world for its own inspiration.  Let’s hope we both do them justice.

We close of the week with the 2015 Clarendelle Rouge from Bordeaux, which is fitting after Bordeaux was sort of called out by Ray yesterday, who began his discussion of the Starmont Cabernet Sauvignon by reminding us that it was a California Cab that beat out the best that Bordeaux had to offer in the 1976 Judgment of Paris tasting.  This may not be the Judgment of Paris, but it will be interesting to see how this red blend from Bordeaux stacks up to last night’s New World offering.

Clarendelle is produced by Clarence Dillon Wines, which is a subsidiary of Domaine Clarence Dillon, a family of wineries that includes the legendary Chateau Haut-Brion and Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion.  Clarendelle was launched in 2005 by the Chairman of the Domaine Clarence Dillon, Prince Robert of Luxembourg (the great-grandson of Clarence Dillon, who purchased Chateau Haut-Brion in 1935), in an effort to create an accessible yet quality wine at an affordable price point, one that does not need to sit in your cellar for years before enjoying.  Clarendelle unabashedly takes its inspiration from the famous Haut-Brion, proclaiming this inspiration proudly on the bottle (if you’re going to find inspiration in a particular wine, you could do far worse that Haut-Brion). Unfortunately for me, I haven’t had the pleasure of drinking Chateau Haut-Brion, so I cannot confirm whether or not Clarendelle was successful in combining the elegant, earthy characteristics for which the vaunted Chateau Haut-Brion is known with the approachable and affordable sensibility that was Clarendelle’s genesis.  That said, I am appreciative of the effort to make a quality Bordeaux wine that does not require me to obtain a second mortgage on my house.

The 2015 Clarendelle Rouge is comprised of 83% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Cabernet Franc.  Clarendelle views 2015 to have been a great vintage, due to ideal weather patterns that year.  A warm spring and hot June and July allowed for full ripening of the grapes, while a more temperate August and September prevented the wine from becoming overripe and jammy, enabling the development of balance and complexity. The grapes were harvested from vineyards in a number of sub-regions in the broader Bordeaux AOC, including St. Emilion, Haut Medoc, and Pessac Leognan with some even coming directly from Chateau Haut-Brion, Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion and Chateau Quintus (the St. Emilion property that comprises part of the Dillon stable).

Cork Rating: 7/10  (clearly effort was made, even for the half bottles).

I decanted the 2015 Clarendelle for an hour before drinking, at the suggestion of online sources.  In the glass, the wine is a beautiful dark ruby colour.  On the nose, fresh raspberry, vanilla, hot chocolate powder, sage, coriander, unlit cigar leaf, leather book binding, mushroom, and wet dirt intermingle giving this a notably Old-World flair.  The palate was brighter than I expected with notes of raspberry, blackberry, plum skin, dark romaine lettuce (probably from the Cabernet Franc), green bean and a slightly bitter peppery note to finish.  The wine is more bold than elegant and certainly embraces its youthful vigour.  I would be happy to drink this again, perhaps with a nice slow cooker stew.  A fine end to the week!

88+ points