Recap of our Pressoir.wine Right Bank Bordeaux Dinner

December 8, 2021
by Edouard Bourgeois

As a Burgundy lover, I always felt particularly charmed by the round and polished style of the wines from the Libournais, also known as the right bank of the Bordeaux region. With Merlot starring as a soloist or at the very least as the main actor in the blend, the wines typically have fewer sharp edges than the more herbaceous Cabernet Sauvignon of the left bank, particularly those of the famous Médoc.

Last Thursday, we were honored to host our Bordeaux dinner at Francie. The Brooklyn restaurant, opened not even a year ago and already a foodie destination, put together a feast focused on meat dishes, including their signature aged duck and one of the best côte de boeuf a carnivore could imagine. The lineup of twelve wines, evenly split between the Pomerol and Saint-Emilion appellations, delivered an impressive performance, despite their age. The oldest wine was a superb 1964 Château Beauséjour from the Saint-Emilion appellation, whose eponymous town and surrounding vineyards was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Other highlights for me were the Chateau La Conseillante Pomerol from the challenging 1979 vintage. A suave and graceful wine in which Merlot was spiced up with just enough Cabernet Franc to reach impeccable balance. Still in the Pomerol vicinity, I really enjoyed the side-by-side comparison of Châteaux Trotanoy and Vieux Château Certan from the same 1985 vintage. The former displayed a slight austerity at first while the latter VCC held your hand to enter a wonderful world, filled with scents of ripe plums and dark chocolate, with earthy notes of tobacco swirling in the air.

In Saint-Emilion, the exquisite bottle of Cheval Blanc 1988 certainly won my heart. Perfection comes to mind when trying to describe it. A wine at its peak, mature but lively and proud. We closed that impressive tasting with a bottle of Pavie from the same 1988 vintage, now ranked alongside Figeac, Cheval Blanc and Ausone in the top “A” category of the Saint-Emilion classification. I still can’t believe how youthful this wine was. Despite decanting the wine a couple hours prior, it was still gasping for oxygen to develop its full, impressive potential.

The gorgeous lineup, decanted and awaiting under the careful eye of “Francie”