Gift of wine

[jtheb]

I received a bottle of Chateau Verdignan Haut Medoc 1995 from a friend who sent it from Paris. Can anyone tell me more about this wine?

[Bucko]

The Haut-Medoc appellation covers designated viticultural land in the southern half of the Medoc peninsula that does not include the six communal appellations of Margaux, Listrac, Moulis, St-Julien, Pauillac and St-Estephe. The soils are predominantly gravel. The area has the potential to produce red wines of Classed Growth standard, as demonstrated by Chateau Sociando-Mallet. The bulk of the production from the 10,000+ acres of vineyard land is Crus Bourgeois, e.g. your bottle.

Haut-Medoc producers of note include a few that you may recognize: Belgrave, Cantemerle, Citran, La Lagune, Sociando-Mallet, Verdignan.

One wine writer described the 95 as such: Chateau Verdignan Haut Medoc - Very good color, a little extra dimension, nice concentrattion of blackcurrant fruit, silky tannins, and very good for the appelation.

In other words, probably a good, solid B wine.

[yclim]

Hi Bucko,

I recently had a bottle of Haut-Medoc by C. La Dame Blanche, '97 Cru Bourgeois. When I first opened it, I quite like it but after keeping the wine in the fridge, 5 hrs later it was extremely sour. (I did put a wine stopper) We poured the rest away. Is this suppose to happen??

[Bucko]

I'm not familiar with this wine, but it sounds like the acidity became more apparent with aeration???

[yclim]

aeration?? Care to enlighten me?

[Innkeeper]

Aeration comes from air, specifically oxygen in air, when it comes into contact with wine. When half the bottle is filled with air, you get aeration. Over a short time this can cause small changes in the wine such as accentuating the acid. Over longer periods, it ruins the wine.

[This message has been edited by Innkeeper (edited 01-13-2002).]