Bourgueil “Racines” 2004 – Frédéric Mabileau – Alc. 12.5%
This Alsatian choucroute prepared by a usually reliable butcher was so salty and sharp that I wondered whether he had not inadvertently doubled the dose of salt and used vinegar instead of Riesling to marinate the cabbage.
I am thankful that I did not waste a good Riesling on it. At the time I was half congratulating myself on choosing the above although I did remark to Germaine that it would only please a hardened Loire CabFranc lover.
However when we substituted cheddar for the uneatable choucroute, it was revealed that the salty mess had by contrast sweetened the wine’s fruit, rounded out its body and blunted its sharp edges. Here is the TN with the cheddar.
C: Quite deep and dark
N: Fresh and sharp with minerals
P: Undernourished sharp tasting red fruit with strong acidity and minerals, little “gras” and a raw finish with drying tannins; 10/20.
I could not understand how I had managed to choose this wine after a tasting in the grower's presence a couple of years ago, so I looked up the estate in the RVF’s Classement des Meilleurs Vins de France 2007 and read this (probably written in the Spring of 2006). “The 2004 reds remain fresh, peppery and well made but their initial fruit is disappearing rather quickly. Proof that this estate can go further in preserving the integrity of its grapes.” This journalist’s insight can be praised!