EXPRESSIONS OF VINTAGE AND QUALITY IN BORDEAUX

TUESDAY OCTOBER 6TH FROM 1:00PM TO 4:00 PM

SESSION DESCRIPTION: 

Every winemaker has to deal with the weather conditions throughout the growing year—that’s what vintage is all about. In a region as large as Bordeaux conditions can be quite dissimilar from Left Bank to Right Bank and also produce disparate results in the different grape varieties. Still another element in the mix are the available resources a property has to bring out the best in a vintage.

This presentation looks at these variables and how they fine expression in a wine through tastings of three consecutive vintages—2007, a difficult year; 2008, a good, average vintage; and 2009, a “Vintage of the Century”—from châteaux across the Bordeaux region and at different production levels ranging from small family estate to classed growth châteaux.

SPEAKER BIO: DEWEY MARKHAM JR., BORDEAUX MASTER-LEVEL LEAD INSTRUCTOR

Dewey Markham, Jr. has a Bachelor’s degree in English and a Master’s degree in Cinema from New York University. He is also a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. Post-graduation, he received a fellowship as an editorial assistant engaged in research and writing for the school’s textbook, The New Professional Chef. From 1986 to 1989 Markham lived in Paris, where he was a director of the French cooking school L’Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne where he introduced a wine studies program to the curriculum. He has worked for two of New York’s leading wine shops, Morrell and Company and Sherry-Lehmann Wines and Spirits.

In addition, he has authored Wine Basics (published in the United States by John Wiley and Sons), an introductory book for the beginning wine drinker that has gone through seventeen printings to date. Since 1993 Markham has lived and worked in Bordeaux, where he wrote 1855: A History of the Bordeaux Classification, published in 1997 to critical and professional acclaim.

It was winner of the James Beard award for wine book of the year. He holds a degree in wine tasting from the School of Oenology at Bordeaux University and is an accomplished lecturer on the Bordeaux region and its wines.

WINES FEATURED FOR THIS MASTER TASTING:

• Château Les Trois Croix, Fronsac, 2007, 2008, 2009
• Château Mazeyres, Pomerol, 2007, 2008, 2009
• Château Pontet-Fumet, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru, 2007, 2008, 2009
• Château Canon, 1er Grand cru classé de Saint-Emilion, 2007, 2008, 2009
• Château Fougas, Côtes de Bourg, 2007, 2008, 2009
• Château de Lauga, Cru Artisan Haut Médoc, 2007, 2008, 2009
• Château Paloumey, Haut-Médoc Cru Bourgeois, 2007, 2008, 2009
• Château Cantemerle, Grand Cru Classé du Haut-Médoc, 2007, 2008, 2009

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