On the Road with the Grape Guy

Bordeaux 2025 : The Derenoncourt Consultants Tasting

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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

(Jan. 22, 2025) … Continuing with my Bordeaux visit and tastings from January 2025. This is the second last of the Consultant tastings. This is a tasting that had over 70 wines. We were well into tasting at this point, having been in Bordeaux for almost 20 days. I determined that the Derenoncourt style was not my favourite of all the consultant tasting this is the one that had the most wines I “passed” on giving a score to. I am sure they make and consult on some great wines, but it just wasn’t for me.

To clarify, I used my three-star system again: Good/Better/Best – one wine got a best ranking here, which is on-par for most of the consultant tastings we did – but this one got more one-star nods than most.

LES VINS ROUGE

THREE star wines ...
Chateau Rol Valentin 2022 Saint Emilion Grand Cru 
elegant and effective, nice dark fruit and a little bit of spice - a really pleasant glass of wine: upfront fruit with nice acidity to lift the finish    

TWO star wines
                    
Chateau Cadet Bon 2022 Saint Emilion Grand Cru        
Bon? - I would say - this is a delightful glass with lots of dark fruit, namely cherry, with blackberry and a little vanilla mixed in    

Chateau Capet Guillier 2022 Saint Emilion Grand Cru        
pretty, floral with some violet notes, cherry fruit, a little raspberry and even a hint of strawberry - good acidity    

Chateau de Candale 2022 Saint Emilion Grand Cru        
well-structure - cocoa, mocha, chocolate - black cherry, smooth and sippable with good acid backbone    

Chateau Garraud 2022 Lalande-de-Pomerol
bright cherry fruit, lively with nice clean mouthfeel and acidity - tannins are silky    

Chateau Haut Selve 2022 Graves
there is a nice minerality here with some dark fruit, pencil shavings and smoke - but it is always the fruit here. big bold black fruit    

Chateau La Croix Lartigue 2022 Castillon - Cotes de Bordeaux
nice red fruit, red licorice, and good acidity - nice cherry kirsch like finish    

Chateau Moulinet 2022 Pomerol
bright and fruity, acidity kicks in and cleans up - decent tannin bite - but that upfront fruit kicks serious ass    

Chateau Prieure-Lichine 2022 Margaux
cassis, blackberry, coffee bean and chocolate - deep and dark with a delicious mouthfeel and some spicy-smoky notes     

Chateau Tour de Capet 2022 Saint Emilion Grand Cru        
nice dark fruit with a bright dark cherry note and some really  good acidity    

ONE star wines ...

 Chateau Boutisse 2022 Saint Emilion Grand Cru
Chateau Callac 2022 Graves - prestige
Chateau Claud Bellevue 2022 Castillon - Cotes de Bordeaux
Chateau D'Agassac 2022 Haut-Medoc - Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel
Chateau de Malleret 2022 Haut-Medoc - Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel
Chateau La France Delhomme 2022 Medoc - Cru Bourgeois
Chateau La Rousselle 2022 Fronsac
Chateau la Tour Figeac 2022 Saint Emilion Grand Cru
Chateau le Chatelet 2022 Saint Emilion Grand Cru
Chateau Les Dames de la Renardiere 2022 Bordeaux Superieur
Chateau Lestruelle 2022 Medoc - Cru Bourgeois
Chateau Louis 2022 Saint Emilion Grand Cru
Chateau Paveil de Luze 2022 Margaux - Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel
Chateau Preuillac 2022 Medoc - Cru Bourgeois Superieur
Chateau Puygueraud 2022 Francs Cotes de Bordeaux
Chateau Sanctus 2022 La Bienfaisance du Chateau Sanctus
Chateau Seguin 2022 Pessac-Leognan
Chateau Teyssier 2022 Montagne Saint Emilion
Chateau Trigant 2022 Pessac-Leognan
Chateau Villa Bel Air 2022 Graves
Clos Vieux Taillefer 2022 Pomerol
Domaine Simon Blanchard 2022 Au Champ de la Fenetre
Loudenne le Chateau 2022 Medoc - Cru Bourgeois

LES VINS BLANC

ONE star wines

Chateau Hostens Picant 2022 Cuvee des Demoiselles
Chateau les Charmes Godard 2022 Franc Cotes de Bordeaux
Vignobles Fraigneau 2022 Dupin
Vignobles Fraigneau 2021 Dupin

Montefalco Trebbiano Spoletino (2025 Tasting)

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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

The next wines from Umbria, A Montefalco, the Anteprima for the Sagrantino area, are a real favourite. I learned about these white wines a few years agao and I am still learning about them and loving them more and more. So let's take a look at some of my favourite versions of Trebbiano Spoletino, including some bubbly.

This year I added a little "personal aside" to my notes. These are spur of the moment comments that I wrote at the time of the tasting, after going through all the wines in that category.

Spoleto Trebbiano Spoletino Doc

Better
Arnaldo Caprai 2024 "Le Molacce" 
Benedetti&Grigi 2024 "Ermes"
Bocale 2024 Trebbiano Spoletino
Terre Di San Felice 2024 Trebbiano Spoletino

Good Plus
Ninni 2024 "Poggio Del Vescovo" 
Perticaia 2023 "Del Posto" 
Valdangius 2024 "Campo De Pico" 

Good
Antonelli 2024 "Trebium"
Antonelli 2022 "Vigna Tonda"
Cocco Ilaria 2022 "Avventata"
Colle Ciocco 2023 "Tempestivo"
Colle Uncinano 2022 Trebbiano Spoletino Superiore Doc  

Personal Aside: Spoletino is best when it is fresh and not fucked with. Lees is ok, but the tendency to over oak is great and the grape seems way too delicate to do that to.    

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Spoleto Trebbiano Spoletino Spumante Doc

Better
Antonelli 2021 Trebbiano Spoletino Spumante 

Good Plus
Scacciadiavoli 2020 Trebbiano Spoletino Spumante

Good
Colle Uncinano 2022 Trebbiano Spoletino Spumante

Personal Aside: Spoletino seems the perfect grape for this kind of wine and when winemakers hit it, they hit it hard. Look for these and a few others in the area; acidity is truly on-point with these.