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Ch. Jacquinot, Ste.-Foy de Bordeaux - A Rising Star

We spend a lot of our time looking to add to, and improve upon, the wines we list. Time is always at a premium, but we taste countless wines during the year, and visit numerous properties when we are travelling to the wine regions. An area where we strive to continually find new and innovative wine-makers is in Bordeaux. Our close friend Paul Uhart, who owns Ch. Lavanau in the Côtes de Duras, is always keeping his ear to the ground on our behalf, and this year he has come up with a cracker. Ch. Jacquinot in the lesser known appellation of Ste.-Foy de Bordeaux, the eastern most of the Bordeaux appellations. Florent Niatout, the proprietor, has an extraordinary gift making wines which are simply knockout. While the style of these wines is modern, Florent’s principles are drawn from a long history of wine-making.

The key to this offering is it is the first time Florent’s wines have been sold. We are convinced that this is a young man to follow for the future. His wines are good now. We believe they will get better and better as each vintage progresses. This is an opportunity to start following Florent and his fabulous wines.

Florent is 28 years old and comes from the fifth generation of wine-makers at Eynesse in Ste.-Foy. After leaving school, he qualified in viticulture and wine-making followed by oenological studies at Bordeaux University. After taking a degree in the Biochemistry of Wine in Dijon and spending his summers researching the effects on the terroir of water table variations at Château Léoville Las Cases in St. Julien, he completed the prestigious three year Oenological Diploma in Bordeaux. Whilst qualifying academically in all the major areas of wine-making, Florent managed to spend time making wine in South Africa. He returned somewhat surprised by the lack of rigour at many wineries in his native Bordeaux, standards he now applies diligently to the wines he makes.

Florent now works as consultant oenologue as well as developing his own vineyard. He was unimpressed by the terroir of his 40ha family estate, so in 2007 he bought 4ha (Ch. Jacquinot) of his own which he felt would give full rein to his creativity. Within this compact space he has located varied soils, slopes and exposures to the sun. This enables him to get the best from each grape and provides many options at 'assemblage'. The varietals grown at Jacquinot are:

Sauvignon Blanc on steep slopes on limestone clay with limestone rock covering the surface forcing the vines to build vigour by digging deep.
Merlot on limestone clay for the reds and alluvial sands for the rosé.
Cabernet Franc on alluvial sands
Malbec (not yet in production) on alluvial sands
Cabernet Sauvignon on alluvial sands

The wines we are offering are Florent's first production from his own vineyard. We have acquired all his white, rosé and have an option on all his red. As mentioned earlier, we think this young wine-maker is one to start following. At this stage, his pricing is very competitive. We hope we can persuade him to stay that way.

The Wines

Rosé 2008 - Made by the saignée method from Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Stock only 300 bottles. Derek Smedley MW writes ‘The nose has an attractive mix of strawberries and raspberry, all very red fruited. There is a sweeter feel to the palate, hints of bilberry and lovely freshness on the finish. DS 89.’ For us, this wine is similar to Ch. de Sours’ famous rosé, but, dare we say it, rather better.

Price per case £105.00 (£8.75/bottle)

Blanc Sec 2008 - Sauvignon Blanc fermentation in new American oak barrels, and barreled for a further 6 months. Stock only 120 bottles. Derek writes ‘An appealing fragrance on the nose and it appears on the palate overlaying the richer fruit. Tropical fruits are refreshed by citrus and given a lift by slate and mineral. DS 89’. Due to the limited size of this vintage, we are selling the white in packs of six only, with one per order.

Price per case £63.00 (£10.50/bottle) – only available is six-packs

Rouge 2007 - 75% Merlot 15% Cabernet Franc raised for 12 months in French oak barrels. The vintage is 2007 (not 2008 as marked on the labels). It can be drunk now although it will improve significantly in the next 6-12 months. It is advisable to decant and leave to rest for a couple of hours. Stock 1800 bottles. Derek writes ‘The nose has an attractive fragrance, violets backs by bilberry. More of a red fruit character on the palate, the freshness lifting the flavours. Sweet cassis at the back gives a richer feel to the finish. DS 89.’

Price per case £138.00 (£11.50/bottle)

Availability is limited. We have more of the Red lying in France but our stocks of the rosé and white are limited and will be sold on a first come, first served basis. No more that one case per wine is available per order. We are very keen to let as many people as possible try this wine. When his new vintages are available, we will let you know. Prices include VAT and duty. E&OE.

Normal delivery terms apply. Please visit our website for further details.

Edward Parker

1^st July 2009

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