Many of you stopped by Kreston's on Tuesday evening, April 3rd and took advantage of the opportunity to meet and speak with winemaker and consultant, Stephane Toutounji.  All were able to taste the wine from Chateau Cote Montpezat, his jewel in the Cotes de Castillion, along with the four additional estates where he oversees, makes decisions for and manages the wine production.  
     What follows is a report on that tasting, along with notes on the five wines enjoyed that evening.  But most interesting was the opportunity to discuss first hand the news circulating in the industry concerning the Bordeaux Vintage 2000.  We hope you find it helpful in analyzing these wines, and interesting in the opportunity this allows for us to gain insight into the motivations and desires of one of the young, rising stars on the Bordeaux wine scene.  But first a little background on the 2000 Vintage in Bordeaux...

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News From Bordeaux:
     Briefly, first reports coming out of Bordeaux resulting from tastings of the 2000 vintage out of bottle have the specter of greatness hanging over them.  Put simply, it may be a "must have" vintage, greater even than the legendary 82's or 95's.  The Wine Spectator's James Suckling has been lavishing praise on these wines, rating the vintage overall in the 95-100 point range!  His full reports and tasting notes for hundreds of these wines can be found at www.WineSpectator.com and we recommend a review of these, and other critics' reports, so that your information concerning this vintage is complete.  
     And in that spirit, Kreston's gives you the exchange between winemaker Stephane Toutounji, importer Alain Blanchon and retailer Joe Neuberger, all players at different different points in the economic chain that delivers fine wines from the producer to you, the consumer.  We hope you find it interesting and informative. 

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The Interview:
STEPHANE TOUTOUNJI  is a young and upcoming winemaker who has vinified for Jacob’s Creek in Australia and currently manager of Château Côte Montpezat (Côtes de Castillon) in the Bordeaux region. He recently visited with us in Delaware, and we got to ask him a few important questions about the phenomenal region of Bordeaux, its current trends, ideas, directions and, timely, the much anticipated quality of the vintage 2000.

STEPHANE TOUTOUNJI:  First and foremost, I have been, since the past 8 years, the managing Director for Chateau Cote Montpezat, owned by Mr. Dominique Bessineau.  The 66 acre property is located in the villages of  BELVES DE CASTILLON in the Cotes de Castillon region. As managing Director, I am the winemaker, oenologist and "soul" of the property.  Besides Cote Montpezat, I consult for the ANDRE QUANCARD NEGOCIANT firm in Bordeaux  where I oversee exclusive properties such as, for example, CHATEAU PONT DE LA TONNELLE in Cotes de Bourg, CHATEAUX ROC SAINT JACQUES and  DE MOLE both in Puisseguin-St.Emilion, and also CHATEAU HAUT-CANTELOUP in Medoc.  I have these wines, all of '98 vintage, for us to taste this evening while we dine.

Joe Neuberger:  What is your common philosophy with those different properties?

Stephane: Very simple - to produce youthful, well structured Cuvees, with great fruit extract, soft tannins, gorging with harmony and pleasure for the consumer. Wines that will be easily accessible, though with nice potential ageing, but for more immediate satisfaction, versus having to wait 10 years before the wines are finally ready!

Alain: What type of winemaking process, and corresponding philosophy, do you employ?

Stephane:  I always like to use the "Grand Cru wine making process."  A fermentation temperature maintained below 32C by circulating the fermenting wine out of vat and through cold water heat exchangers and back into the vat. Free run wine is kept separate from press runs. Press run wine is added if the free run needs tannins. Most of my wines spend six months in the cellar, using 30% of new oak each year. The barrels are topped up every two days to replace evaporated wine and racked every three months. No filtering, and the fining is done in the barrel with egg whites and a small amount of water.  During the first six months, a loose-fitting glass stopper (bung) is used to provide easy topping up and escape of residual gases.  Then, the glass bung is replaced with a linen wrapped wood bung for a tight fit.  The relative humidity in our cellars is 80-90%, reducing the rate of evaporation of wine from barrel.

Joe:  Now, can you tell us about each of these properties?

Stephane: CHATEAU COTE MONTPEZAT, is planted with 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc throughout some 125 acres of selected parcels. A statistic method of analysis has permitted us to determine the optimum grape harvest date.  The wine was aged in new oak barrels and the grapes were vinified with pre-maceration at cold temperature, alcoholic fermentation for 8 days, further maceration for three weeks at 28°C and underwent microbubbling of pure oxygen that softens the tannins and promotes aromatic development.  In 1998, which is the current available vintage, the result is a supple wine with red fruits aromas and without excess of either acidity or tannins which could happily be drunk now or kept to develop and age for five to ten years. This new style of Bordeaux wine is different but keeps a high standard of quality.

As for CHATEAU PONT DE LA TONNELLE in Cotes de Bourg, it was blended with 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Malbec.  It has a deep red color, a spicy nose, but very elegant and generous in the mouth.

CHATEAU DE MOLE is a property in Puisseguin-St.Emilion owned by Mr. Lenier.  This is a very exclusive Cuvee that we assembled from their older vines parcels throughout the property.  The average age of the vines is 40 years, and we also added some 30% more of new oak in the ageing process.  It has the same grape combination as the Chateau Roc St.Jacques.  Still true to its terroir!

Then, CHATEAU ROC ST.JACQUES still from Mr. Linier's range of Chateaux, is another property in Puisseguin-St.Emilion owned by Mr. Lenier.   From his young vines, mainly produced with Merlot; a youthful, honest, terroir-like Cuvee, soft in the mouth with a very good persistency. After a few days on the East-Coast I realized that this wine was an incredible value compared to other Chateaux coming from the same district appellation. We really enjoyed making this wine!

Finally, CHATEAU HAUT CANTELOUP in Medoc; our exclusive left bank property, planted with 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot; a great blend, showing a very fruity nose with cherry scents; plenty of volume in the mouth; homogeneous structure. I still believe that we were able to show at its best the genuine terroir character of the St. Christoly-Medoc area.  30% of new oak as well.  I trust that as long as you don't overuse the oak, your fruit stays as healthy and full as it should be; but the structure and the volume of the wine remains vital, and you amplify it by using new oak barrels.

Alain: Tell us about the current movement  on the right bank of the Gironde and more so in your immediate area, i.e. Cotes de Castillon, Cotes de Bourg, etc.?

Stephane: I am proud to be part of a "new wave" of young winemakers that have fresh ideas, and ready to bring innovative processes to the region.  Michel Rolland is my mentor, and I studied several years ago with him.  I now use  what I have learned from him, but constantly building from it to the appropriate needs of our own land.  I regularly meet with groups of oenologists, where we exchange ideas and expose eventual problems that need to be resolved; and the core of the team leads to more effective resolutions.  I was lucky to gain an experience in Australia, and which allowed me to move further and quicker back home, knowing of the growing and strong challenge that Bordeaux was facing.  It is definitely a healthy competition that our region needed badly in order to survive and stay unique!

It is impossible today for a young creative mind to start fresh in the Medoc district; the right bank, where appellations such as St. Emilion, Pomerol and obviously the Cotes districts are located, they are much more open minded and not as much set in their ways; and which explains the true changes taking places with the "garagistes" (garage wines) phenomenon.  I don't call myself a "garagiste," more of a "creative traditionalist;" I believe in bringing the best from the terroir, without overdoing it.  I want my St. Emilion, or my Cotes de Castillon, or my Cotes de Bourg to taste like a wine from that region, and not like a merlot or a Cabernet Sauvigon from either Australia or California, or where ever.  We have an incredible chance to have the soils and terrains that we have; let's build from them.  Let's not bastardize our grand reputation, just to be like everybody else.  I don't think it works in the long term.  I would like for my 2 year old son, one day, to still talk about the virtues and advantages of being located in those incomparable Bordeaux districts.  I think as an oenologist it should be our main motto and concern.

Joe:  The microbubbling of pure oxygen that softens the tannins and promotes aromatic development that you mentioned before, is this one of the new processes that you mention the "young turks" are bringing to the production of wine in Bordeaux?  And is this a tool for bringing wines for immediate consumption to the market without the need for awaiting the maturity and melding of elements that time has traditionally played in this process?

Stephane:  Yes, Joe, it does as you have just explained.  We are still analyzing and collecting data on the ageing process with wines so treated, but it is an example of some of the new processes that we are bringing to the winemaking art to make some of the products more accessible on arrival to market.  The "average" consumer does not possess, nor does he have interest in long-term cellaring of wines.  So we must be aware that most wines are purchased for immediate consumption and it is our duty to the profession to explore avenues of making this process, the enjoyment of the glass of wine, a simple one for the consumer.  This is one of those explorations that we are employing and analyzing.  The jury is still out.    

Joe: Now, Stephane, what about the Vintage 2000 in Bordeaux? Any thoughts or comments?

Stephane: As a matter of fact I attended last week in Bordeaux the most famous and extensive barrel tasting of the new vintage; and I am telling you that it is quite an impressive vintage. The Medoc did great; not quite comparable to 1990, though, but better than 1996. I would say in between 1995 and 1996. I don't think prices will experience any major increase; between 5 and 10% max. With the strong dollar against the French Franc, the American consumer should not see too much of an increase, which should be great news!  Don't wait though!

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