I sure do love Bordeaux, but I’d like to retire at some point–hopefully within the next 25-30 years. I really cringe at spending more than $40 retail on a bottle. That means many of the famous Bordeaux producers are a no-go, except for a small taste here or there.
Lately, I’ve been really into second wines. In Bordeaux lingo, each estate (or “Château”) makes a main wine (“grand vin”). The main wine is the flag-bearer, the vanguard of the fleet. This bottle represents the estate’s signature style–which can stretch back decades or centuries–and is supposed to contain the very best grapes that the property has managed to grow in any given vintage.
But as I have recently been happy to learn, many Châteaux also produce a second wine. (Or even a third wine!) These are estate-bottled wines that don’t have the prestige of the producer’s main wine.
They may contain grapes from less-favored vineyard sites, come from younger vines, have less time in expensive new oak, or all of the above. The blend also typically contains a higher percentage of Merlot, which ripens more reliably in Bordeaux’s unpredictable Atlantic climate.
But second wines are far from bargain-rack swill. The prestigious estate still puts their name on them, after all. I love the thrill of finding an over-performing second wine. It’s like finding a pair of brand-name jeans at TJ Maxx while everone else is overpaying at the Galleria.
Quality second wines have much of Bordeaux’s complexity and food-friendliness, with fewer poky edges. They tend to be less tannic with more approachable fruit flavors. Plus, you don’t have to wait as long to enjoy them. And although there’s no rush–good second wines can generally age for a decade or two–collecting them and re-selling them is not the point. Drinking them is.
Best of all, you can get Bordeaux second wines for extremely fair prices. Due to their earlier readiness for drinking, young second wines tend to stand up extremely well next to recent main wines of the same vintage/producer. (I mean, second wines are terrible! Nobody start buying them, please. 😇)
The “Dame de Gaffelière” was my birthday Bordeaux at The Capital Grille. Cab Sauv is my favorite steak wine, of course–but I was feeling red fruit. I tried to mess with the somm a bit by telling him I was dead-set on having both the ribeye and a bottle of Pinot Noir, and he very gallantly manuevered me out of that obvious blunder.
I wasn’t being a troll–I want to learn. I am fascinated with this delicate situation: How, in a service role, do you tell someone that they’re wrong without telling them they’re wrong? The customer’s preference matters most, of course–but if they botch their own order, they’ll still blame you.
It seems the best way is to show them, if you can. This pro said “of course” and returned a moment later with a taste of one of the by-the-glass Pinots, a whisper-soft Sta. Rita Hills single-vineyard with aromas of strawberry and basil. “How would it go with your ribeye?” he gently asked. Not well, duh. But it’s my birthday and I want to mix it up! Please don’t bring me a basic Cab!
The somm came back with three other alternatives to taste: An Aussie Syrah-Cab blend (too minty), a Grenache-based red from the Côtes Catalanes (delicious, but with an ugly modern label–I drink with my eyes, too!) and a popular Super Tuscan that was young and thin and just not up to the challenge of tangling with beef fat.
Finally, I just admitted that steak all but requires Bordeaux grapes, and gave in. We all had a laugh about it, and I ended up with a great bottle.
“Dame de Gaffelière” is a third wine from Château La Gaffelière, on the Right Bank. Gaffe is a walking stick, and gaffets is the medieval French word for lepers, who used them. Now an elegant Grand Cru vineyard, La Gaffelière was built on the site of a leprosarium, or plague hospital, that festered outside the walls of Saint-Emilion in the 11th century.
Tragic medieval history aside, I drank this wine with massive pleasure, and it is a massively pleasureable wine. It is mostly Merlot–a luscious and powerful Merlot that tastes of berries and incense.
It poured up as a scintillating ruby red, almost neon-bright in the dim steakhouse booth. Youthful and concentrated, it throws out enticing aromas of raspberry compote, red plum, and baking chocolate. The palate is loaded with ripe, tangy raspberry and blackberry barely seasoned with green pepper and cut celery. Soft, smooth tannins that don’t build up like silt, but instead subside into a clean, short, and lightly spicy finish.
I let it decant for an hour between courses and it developed some dried cherry and a pronounced, exotic sandalwood note. (“Like a stash box full of fruit leather,” Sarah exclaimed, and as usual she was spot-on.) It went equally well with my ribeye and birthday cheesecake.
The “Dame de Gaffelière” was a wonderful treat, and a tasty sojourn across the river to Saint-Emilion. I will keep combing the wine list for “Super Seconds” (and Thrilling Thirds!) and let you all know when I find them.
Bottle: Château La Gaffelière “Dame de Gaffelière” Saint-Émilion (2020)
Variety: Merlot (90%), Cabernet Franc (10%)
ABV: 14.5%
Suggested retail: $39.99
My rating: 8.6 (out of 10)
Review disclosure: I was not compensated or provided any free products for this review. Opinions expressed on The Wine Fairy blog are entirely my own.
#MerlotThursday
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