World London
Château Maison Noble
tasting in london
After Paris, Geneva and Southampton, Château Maison Noble fixed an appointment with the sommeliers of the Academy of Food and Wine Service in London to present them their wines. As from the morning, pre-eminent sommeliers who practise in Greater London met up at Jumeirah Carlton Tower to comments and opinions about the house’s cuvées.
Gérard Basset, Best Sommelier of the World Château Maison Noble is a 75-hectare wine estate―65 of red and 10 of white―in the heart of the Entre-Deux-Mers region, in the AOC Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur and Entre-Deux-Mers. Recently acquired by a family with a passion for Bordeaux and its wines, the chateau faced this year a real development and strove to promote its wine accross the world thanks to professional trade fairs, but also private tastings in prestigious places.
On last September, estate manager Bertrand Gonzalez and Patricia Orazio Carnelos, in charge of communication, met a college of pre-eminent sommeliers, led by Nick Scade, chairman of the Academy of Food and Wine Service (AFWS), at Jumeirah Carlton Tower in Londres. Among the expert tasters, Gérard Basset, Best Sommelier of the World, and Kathrine Larsen, 2014 UK Sommelier of the Year.
First wine to be tasted: the 2013 Entre-Deux-Mers. With a beautiful pale yellow colour, its delicate nose, pleasantly floral like Stephan Neumann (Mandarin Oriental) underlined, is enhanced by notes of ripe fruits, preserved lemon. As for Gérard Basset he noticed notes of stone fruits, peach, citrus. The wine is not too much marked by Sauvignon, nor by the acid side of the variety according to Nicolas Clerc (Fields, Morris & Verdin). Gérard Basset also underlined the crisp side, the citrus and the lovely structure. The wine, interesting for its mineral side, will be perfect with seafood or a sole meuniere with white asparagus.
The 2013 Bordeaux rosé with its salmon-pink colour and onion peel tinges has been appreciated for its intensity, the expression of the terroir and fruitiness. It has a nice acidity and notes of red fruits on the palate, a fresh finish with a good length. Kathrine Larsen even evoked aromas of fresh herbs and a mineral hint. It is a rosé that can be paired with many dishes, from terrines to salad, from charcuterie to fish.
After this fresh and thirst-quenching start, the red wines of the chateau were presented to the sommeliers.
The red Bordeaux Château Jean de Bel Air 2012 exudes intense and elegant scents of candied red fruits, cherries and plums. The palate is spicy with lovely notes of terroir and an animal side, a hint of rosemary, wild flowers. With a velvety texture, the palate is juicy, vivid, with the right acidity and liquorice in retro-olfaction. Unanimously praised for its good quality-price ratio in front of wines from the New World, it has been described by Michael Jenni (restaurant Orrery) as an approachable, appetizing wine, perfect for a meal. Gérard Basset proposed a rack of lamb and Mediterranean vegetables.
The tasting finished with the red Bordeaux Supérieur 2012. It remains one more year in barrels than the Jean de Bel Air, and John Croft, AFWS director, notes that the wine thus becomes rounder, more elegant, with refined tannins. Michael Jenni agrees about the balance which makes it an easy-to-drink and particularly pleasurable wine. It is advised to enjoy it for instance with a rib of beef with marrow and chanterelles.
All the experts, joined by Loic Avril from the Fat Duck, then gathered at the Rib Room, iconic restaurant of London, within the Jumeirah. The establishment was celebrating its 40th anniversary and the menu served was composed of traditional dishes, revisited for the occasion: prawn cocktail, Marie Rose sauce, cos lettuce; chargrilled sirloin steak with Béarnaise sauce; Black Forest Delice with Kirsch cream. This lunch ended in a convivial way this professional and constructive tasting.
Sylvia van der Velden
The attending sommeliers:
Gérard Basset, Master Sommelier, Master of Wine, Best Sommelier of the World
Kathrine Larsen, 2014 UK Best Sommelier of the Year, Master Sommelier
Nick Scade, president AFWS
Paul Breach, vice-president AFWS
John Croft, director AFWS
Elvis Ziakos, assistant Head Sommelier, The Greenhouse
Loic Avril, Sommelier, The Fat Duck
Nicolas Clerc, Master Sommelier, consultant at Fields, Morris & Verdin
Stephan Neumann, Sommelier, Mandarin Oriental
Michael Jenni, Head Sommelier, Orrery.
Château Maison Noble
1 Maison Noble
33540 Saint Martin du Puy - France
Tél: 00 33 (0)5 56 71 86 53
www.chateaumaisonnoble.com
1. Bertrand Gonzalez.
2. Stefan Neumann, Kathrine Larsen and Nicolas Clerc.
3. Gérard Basset.
4. Loic Avril. Kathrine Larsen,
UK Best Sommelier of the Year 2014, Master Sommelier
Château Maison Noble
white, Entre-deux-Mers, 2013Service: 8°C. Ageing: 2-5 years.
Visual aspect: straw-yellow colour, silvery, with silver tinges.
Nose: young, fresh, appealing. Aromas of yellow apple, pear, white flowers, a hint of spices, caramel, preserved lemon peel.
Palate: fresh with a smooth structure.
Match with food: langoustine ceviche and apple brunoise.
Comments: a lovely white wine, fresh, with a young expression, complemented with a good minerality and soft notes of beeswax and hawthorn. A very good structure.
Château Maison Noble
rosé, Bordeaux, 2013
Service: 8-9°C.
Visual aspect: salmon-pink with pink tinges.
Nose: young, with scents of wild strawberry and raspberry, fresh herbs and minerality.
Palate: velvety structure, a soft freshness. Aromas of red apples and pink grapefruit.
Match with food: roasted foie gras and apple compote.
Château Jean de Bel Air,
red, Bordeaux, 2012
Service: 15°C. Ageing: 5 years.
Visual aspect: ruby-red.
Nose: averagely ripe, with aromas of blackcurrant and plums, scents of cured meat, notes of terroir, spices, vanilla, cloves, cigar box, cedar.
Palate: velvety structure, a lovely freshness.
Match with food: fillet of veal with red wine sauce, pan-fried Portobello mushrooms and shallots.
Comments: a lovely soft structure, easy-to-drink.
Château Maison Noble, red,
Bordeaux Supérieur, 2012
Service: 15°C. Ageing: 5 years.
Visual aspect: ruby red.
Nose: vivid, with notes of plums and blackberries, of cured meat, of dried herbs, of oak and spices, of terroir.
Palate: velvety structure, softness, a vivid fruitiness, the same aromas than the nose; the spices dominate.
Match with food: risotto with mushrooms.
Comments: a beautiful complexity with a present fruitiness.
Kathrine Larsen
