L'Arrivet Haut-Brion Bordeaux And Other Wines

August 27, 2015

     As I don't tolerate alcohol very well, I drink non-alcoholic wines and beers I find in the "big box" stores at the Pont Rouge shopping center.  My first two years here, that meant a trip to Intermarche, now it's Carrefour.  The Carrefour store is considerably larger than its predecessor in terms of floor space, and the selection of products is also much greater, and, it seems, of better quality, in most areas, but especially in the wine section.

     That section has all the top-flight French wines, whether champagnes or Bordeaux or Burgundies, along with a wide selection of local wines.  I can drink rose at lunch without too much risk of becoming ill, so I bought a few bottles of rose d'Anjou the last time I was at Carrefour.  Also, almost no one here ever turns down the suggestion of a glass of rose --it's what chardonnay is in the United States.

     Now roses can be made in many different styles --those of Provence tend to be dark pink with a strong perfume, those of Bordeaux dry and crisp.  Then there are "fruit and wine" mixes (the bottom of the barrel, really): mediocre rose is made salable by the infusion of citrus fruit flavors, a sort of light-weight sangria without the pieces of fruit.  A classic rose is rose d'Anjou, from the Loire Valley, with hints of strawberry and gooseberry.

     So I buy a few bottles of rose d'Anjou and a few more of a Bordeaux rose made under Philippe de Rothschild's name.  I think I cannot go wrong with either choice, but the Rothschild rose is being offered at 3 for the price of 2, an additional incentive.

     Across the way, I see a section devoted to the most famous red wines by region: Medoc, Pauillac, Saint Estephe, Saint Emillion and Haut Brion.  I catch sight of a single box of Haut Brion, only four bottles left.  Haut Brion is grown in the village of Pessac-Leognan in a region called Graves, on the left bank of the Garonne River, southeast of Bordeaux.   Haut Brion is famous for being the only wine from that area that was of high enough quality to make it into the classification of the finest Bordeaux growths in 1855, which remains the standard. I remember that when Bill and I were in Bordeaux we came back with a second growth of Chateau Dillon Haut Brion, which is made by the same family that produced Eisenhower's Secretary of the Treasury, C. Douglas Dillon.  (You will still find notes with his signature as Secretary in circulation.)  The wine cost about $45 dollars, I remember. We could not afford the first growth, so bought the second, which used to be called Chateau Bahans Haut-Brion, but beginning with the 2007 vintage, was renamed Le Clarence de Haut Brion, in honor of the Dillon family member who ran the investment house of Dillon Read when he was not growing wine.  The family are of Irish descent and lived in France as "Wild Geese" (the term for the Irish who fled to France) and survived the Revolution.

   The Haut Brion I am looking at however, L'Arrivet Haut Brion, is not in that league.  It is unfamiliar to me, but I bet that in this price range (about $25USD), this is probably a very good Bordeaux.  So I take the bottles (and the wooden box) home.

     On arriving at the house I look up the producer on the Internet.  A review from Le Figaro --a national newspaper that is an institution in France-- tells me all I need to know:

Le nez est complexe avec des arômes de fruits noirs et des notes torréfiées et toastées. Le vin est dense, riche et savoureux. La finale est longue et harmonieuse.

Les progrès constants accomplis, comme en attestent les excellentes appréciations données au millésime 2009, sont la juste récompense du travail réalisé pour faire revivre le domaine. Non classé en 1959, alors qu’il était encore en reconstruction, le vin se rapproche pas à pas  de ses grands voisins et offre encore à l’amateur de bonnes perspectives en termes de rapport qualité/prix.

La production annuelle moyenne est 150.000 bouteilles.

 Complex nose with aromas of black fruits with roasted and toasted notes.  The wine is dense, rich and flavorful.  The final note is long and harmonious.  The constant progress [in the development of the wine] achieved, as attested the excellent reviews given to the 2009 vintage, are just recompense for the revival of the brand.  Unclassified in 1959, the [formal] classification still a work in progress, the wine approaches, step by step its great neighbors and continues to offer the wine lover a good perspective in terms of the relationship between quality and price.  Average annual production is 150,000 bottles.

    For all the challenges life in France presents, there are rewards, as the foregoing review attests.  Some lucky guest of mine is going to enjoy a very good wine and I'll be able to serve it without flinching at the sticker price.