By The Glass

THE surreal Le Dome Saint-Émilion Grand Cru 2016

BACK IN 2014, I got an exclusive interview (care of Romy Sia at the former Wine Story hub in Serendra Taguig City) with Jonathan Maltus, one of Bordeaux’s key characters during the 1990s explosion of the garagistes wines or vins de garage — meaning “wines from the garage.” The inspiration behind the garagiste movement probably came from the tiny, less than two-hectare Château Le Pin from nearby Pomerol, known for some of the best, as well as most expensive Bordeaux right bank wines. The term garagistes, created by French writer Michel Bettane, refers to winemakers laboriously and primitively making low-crop wines in a garage or garage-like size area, due primarily to lack of funding and no big wine making facilities.

The garagistes were mostly in the Saint-Émilion wine region, and led by JeanLuc Thunevin (I also interviewed him for a story before) of Château Valandraud, now a certified Premier Grand Cru Classé B. Other bigger wine names from the garagistes movement included Château La Mondotte (another Premier Grand Cru Classé B), Château Quinault l’Enclos (now a Grand Cru Classé), and wines coming from Jonathan Maltus’ Château Teyssier, namely Le Dôme, Vieux Château Mazerat, Les Asteries and Le Carré. None of the Saint-Émilion wines from the JCP Maltus, Jonathan’s holding company, are classified in the Grand Cru Classé — the magic word  being classé, but that might change for JCP Maltus soon. Under the latest Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classification, there are only 18 Premier Grand Crus, divided into A and B, and 64 Grand Cru Classé, while there are hundreds of chateaux donning the Saint-Émilion Grand Cru name, without the “classé” in their labels. Note that “Saint-Émilion Grand Cru” is apparently considered in this region as an appellation and not a classification.

Without repeating myself on something I wrote before, in my previous interview with Jonathan Maltus, I wanted to be better acquainted with the Saint-Émilion grand cru classification, which, unlike its sacred 1855 Medoc counterpart, started a century later in 1955, and changes (supposedly) every 10 years, the last one being honored at present being the 2012 classification. I had a very candid and in-depth talk with Jonathan, part of which was off the record. But the gist was that the process is quite tedious and that criteria includes Wine Quality which is decided from tasting of wines, including verticals, on vintages from past 10 years for  Grand Cru Classé, and even longer verticals for Premier Grand Cru. Other criteria are Reputation, which includes how wines are priced in the market, Terroir, and, finally, Winemaking Practices. There is also a volume angle to this based on the total production of the chateau.

JCP Maltus’ Le Dome could have made the 2012 Grand Cru classification easily given its incredible reputation, buoyed up by high prices and critical acclaim. After all, Le Dome, as Jonathan mentioned, is the most expensive Cabernet Franc wine in the world. Le Dome uses up to 80% Cabernet Franc in their Saint-Émilion blend, much higher than the usual 55-60% Cabernet Franc of Saint-Émilion legend and truly the sole AA+ Premier Grand Cru, Château Cheval Blanc. Most of the other Saint-Émilion wines traditionally use dominant Merlot blends. Le Dome is not the only present non-Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé wine that is fetching high value in the market, another one is Château Tertre Roteboeuf (another “sure in” candidate for Grand Cru Classé). These two Saint-Émilion Grand Cru wines are far pricier and more reputable than most of the 64 Grand Cru Classé wines, and are pretty close, if not even higher priced than some from the Premier Cru Classé B level.       

AWAY FROM NEGOCIANT SYSTEM
Just like Château Tertre Roteboeuf, JCP Maltus very recently, just in 2017, left the traditional négociant system (basically through La Place de Bordeaux) and opted to sell its wines directly to importers — including the top prized Saint-Émilion wines Le Dome, Vieux Château Mazerat, Les Asteries, Le Carre, and flagship Château Teyssier. According to Xiao Li, JCP Maltus regional export manager for East and Southeast Asia, owner Jonathan decided to junk the négociant system because they struggled to control and protect prices in the external markets, which created a lot of tensions with their direct customers. Most Bordeaux chateaux, especially the big names, only sell through negociants. JCP Maltus on the other hand previously sold portions of its wines through a select pool of negociants since the 2009 vintage, but has, since 2017, moved out of this system. Instead, Jonathan expanded his sales team. Xiao is one of five export managers based in Bordeaux but selling to over 65 countries in the world.

As Xiao mentioned, the direct selling helped the company not only establish a strong relationship with all its clients, but also to have better control over pricing, and, equally important, avoid the huge problem of parallel imports. And it surely worked. JCP Maltus’ business grew every year since going direct with its own sales force.

Ironically, this move came at a time when this négociant system, La Place de Bordeaux, started doing more non-Bordeaux wines and international wines from Super Tuscans like Masseto to Napa icons like Opus One.

LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT SAINT-ÉMILION GRAND CRU CLASSIFICATION IN 2022
JCP Maltus has been busy priming up for the Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classification in 2022. While there was some controversy in the classification in the past, including the now notorious 2006 classification, the most updated version, being the 2012 classification, seemed to be universally accepted. JCP Maltus’ Le Dome is poised to make a run at the Grand Cru Classé classification in 2022, and a new Le Dome winery, located just across Chateau Angelus, the Premier Grand Cru Classé A, is already being built and is expected to be finished by April 2021 despite the pandemic. JCP Maltus also employed the services of Thomas Duclos, who also worked with Chateau Cheval Blanc, as its wine consultant, to improve further the wine quality of the company. All is set for Le Dome’s next chapter!

Tasting Notes of current release 2016 Vintage:

• Château Teyssier 2016 – a blend of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc; “fresh, black currant, licorice, eucalyptus, subtle notes of leather, cedary, but after minutes in the glass, mocha fragrance, medium texture, sour cherry acidity, good minerality, lingering blueberry flavors with dry cocoa aftertaste”

• Le Dome 2016 – blend of 80% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot; “vibrant in color and nose, luscious, alluring, with flavors of tobacco leaves, mint, dark cocoa, black cherries, full-bodied, coffee tart, butter toast and violets at the end; so much happening with ever-evolving flavor nuances”; it is really hard to put this glass down once you start drinking, and this wine can really keep for ages given its incredible structure and depth at this very early stage.

I have no doubt given the quality of Le Dome that this wine will easily make the 2022 Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé classification, and 10 years later, will have another good shot at being part of the elite Premier Grand Cru club. But do expect prices to go higher so this 2016 vintage should be snatched up when one sees it available in the shop, or even online. Château Teyssier on the other hand exemplifies a good Saint-Émilion wine, and is extremely hard to beat on its value for money. Château Teyssier is a special wine at an “everyday wine” price.

Aside from wines from Bordeaux, JCP Malthus also produces wines from the famed Napa Valley in California, under the World’s End brand. The Napa wines are named after famous old classic songs that owner Jonathan Maltus enjoyed listening to during the old days, including: “Good Times Bad Times” (Led Zepellin), “If Six was Nine” (Jimi Hendrix), “Against the Wind” (Bob Seger), and “Crossfire” (Stevie Ray Vaughan).

JCP Maltus is looking for an exclusive wine importer in the Philippines for its top Bordeaux and Napa Valley wines. If interested, contact Xiao Qi at xiao@maltus.com or mobile +33-6-10995465, and visit the website at www.maltus.com.

The author is a member of the UK-based Circle of Wine Writers. For comments, inquiries, wine event coverage, wine consultancy and other wine related concerns, e-mail the author at protegeinc@yahoo.com or via Twitter at www.twitter.com/sherwinlao.