A Bordeaux Gem
The rumblings are starting to get louder. After years of being relegated to has-been status, Bordeaux is becoming an "it" category among edgy wine-buyers. Of course, there has always been demand for the anointed classified growths but there was a huge gap that wasn’t being serviced for authentic wines being made by farmers and not insurance companies and luxury conglomerates. The wines were there but the complex courtier/negotiant system of getting wine to market left a void. That's all starting to change as some influential importers have set their sights on Bordeaux, looking for the same types of organically farmed, artisanal wines they were seeing in the Loire, Burgundy or Rhone. They are bypassing the Place de Bordeaux to find quality and value from France’s most famous region. It may come as a surprise that gems can be found even famed appellations such as St. Emilion Grand Cru. Chateau Trapaud is one of them.
St. Emilion is one of the most sought after addresses in all of Bordeaux, home to the picturesque town and legendary Chateaux such as Ausone, Cheval Blanc, Figeac and Pavie. It has also been the home of innovation with the rise of ‘garagiste’ wines like Valandraud, La Mondotte, La Dôme and others which rival the prices, scores (and style) of Napa. Among the three major sub-regions of St-Emilion—the Côte, the Graves and the Plateau—most of the top classified wines are on the Côte, a steep limestone slope offering the only significant elevation in all of Bordeaux. Ch. Trapaud is between Ch. Pavie, Pavie-Macquin and Valandraud on the Eastern Côte.
Ch. Trapaud's estate is a small contiguous parcel of 15 Ha. The gentle sloping vineyards are planted to Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon and are farmed organically by 4th generation vigneron, Béatrice Larribière. She strives to constantly improve the winemaking to showcase her prime terroir and to make transparent wines of place.
The wines show the opulent fruit of St. Emilion yet are not stylish critic-driven wines (although they do get plenty of accolades). They are wines for the table which can be enjoyed young or cellared for a few years.
The current vintage is 2015, by my count the 4th vintage of the century in the past 20 years with three more coming along after it. It shows ripe lush Merlot fruit tempered for structure by splashes of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon. There is the distinctive spice box note from moderate French oak and a plush texture moderated by refreshing acidity. The underlying structure is balanced by the fruit with a mineral core that comes through on the finish. It’s the type of wine that will serve as a great introduction to Bordeaux for California drinkers (just don’t tell them it’s mostly Merlot) and a serious value score for Francophiles. Even at full markup it overdelivers its price point. There need to be more wines like this on wine lists and shelves. Of course, we can help with that.
