I truly enjoy attending wine tastings, especially at The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  If you are a member of their wine club, you get invitations to attend wine tastings, though you must be flexible, because of the crowds.  I will discuss two different Bordeaux red wines and then a vertical of four wines from Lussac-Saint Emilion. 

The first wine was Chateau Tour de Luchey Bordeaux 2022. This estate is located in the district of Moulon on the banks of the Dordogne River.  On the grounds of the estate is a medieval tower, and years ago, “Luchey” meant the King’s usher who would check the ship’s loading leaving for France’s King, via Bordeaux.  The estate has been in the same family for five generations.  It is a little more that sixteen hectares of forty-year-old vines on silty soil and predominately Merlot.  This vintage is eighty percent Merlot, ten percent Cabernet Franc and ten percent Cabernet Sauvignon.  The fruit is both mechanically and hand harvested.  Each varietal is picked and vinified separately in Stainless-Steel and concrete vats and thermal-regulated for about fifteen days; and then the wine is aged in Stainless-Steel vats.  This deep claret colored wine offered notes of red cherry, raspberry and strawberry.  On the palate this medium-bodied and well-balanced wine displayed tones of fresh red fruits and blackberry blending with ripe tannins with tones of chocolate and coffee and ending with a medium-count finish of fruit.

The next wine was Chateau Rocher-Calon Montagne-Saint-Emilion 2022.  Pierre Lagardere after returning home after The Great War, bought a hectare of land in Pomerol, and over the next four generations the family has acquired twenty-two hectares of vineyards in the Libournais; as well as investing in a temperature-controlled cellar, pneumatic wine press and micro-oxygenation equipment.  The estate is basically Merlot with some Cabernet Franc, and the average age of the vines is about thirty-five years on Calcareous-clay soil.  The fruit is both mechanically and hand-harvested, and this vintage is ninety percent Merlot and ten percent Cabernet Franc.  The fruit undergoes a four-day period of cold-maceration prior to fermentation to extract deeper color and flavor from the skin. The wine is then aged for eighteen months in a mix of Stainless-Steel and concrete vats. A deep ruby-garnet red colored wine that offered notes of cherry and blackberry, leather and sous-bois. On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of dark and red fruits, and chocolate blending with supple tannins and ending with a medium-count finish of fruit and terroir. 

We then had a special treat of having the chance to experience a vertical tasting of Chateau du Courlat Lussac-Saint-Emilion and is part of the family run business estates of Jean-Baptiste Audy.  The company was founded in 1906 and today it is run by his great-grandson, Jean-Baptiste Bourotte and the fifth generation. Chateau du Courlat has seventeen hectares of vines, of which four hectares are dedicated to the company’s first wine Cuvée Jean-Baptiste.  The estate is planted ninety percent Merlot and ten percent Cabernet Franc and the vines average about twenty-five years in age and planted on a clay-loam soil.  The fruit is mechanically harvested and then is manually sorted on vibrating tables.  Vinification is done plot by plot, with maceration for about twenty-five days, in Stainless-Steel and cement vats then pneumatically pressed.  Aging is done in French Oak barrels and cement vats for about eighteen months.  The 2016 vintage showed a deep ruby wine that offered notes of dark fruit, tobacco and spices.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of red cherry, blackberry, chocolate blending with silky tannins and ending with a medium-count finish of fruit and pepper, almost demanding a second taste.  The 2019 vintage was a deep ruby wine that offered notes of black fruits, violets, camphor and spices.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of blackberry, strawberries blending with rich tannins and ending with a medium-count finish of fruit and spices.  The 2020 vintage was a deep purplish-ruby color that offered notes of dark fruit, leather, licorice, cigars and spices.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of fruit forward blackberry and plums, raisins, tobacco blending with grainy tannins and finishing with a medium-count finish of fruit, smoke and spices.  The 2022 vintage was pure merlot and a dark violet wine that offered notes of plums, blackberries, violets, and spices.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of rich dark fruits, licorice, espresso blending with mellow tannins, a nice “chewy” wine that ended with a medium-count finish of fruit, spices and terroir.