Foreign fling

Cathy van Zyl MW looks at foreign wines available in South Africa

Index to previous columns

Listing of local distributors and importers of non-SA wines

Listing of retailers carrying non-SA wines

France up to bat 12 January 2007

Château Yon-Figeac 2000
Available from Wine Cellar; R3648 for 12 or R340 for 1

Bordeaux’s most famous classification system, governing Médoc and Graves, seems to be carved in stone, so resistant to change is it: with the exception of the 1973 promotion of Chateau Mouton-Rothschild to First Growth status, it has stood unchanged since 1855. By contrast, St-Emilion’s classification, initially drawn up in 1955, was modified in 1969, 1985, 1996 and again as recently as September last year.

At the top of the St-Emilion heap are Châteaux Cheval Blanc and Ausone, together making up the Premier Grand Cru Classé A group. They are followed by Premier Grand Cru Classé B, a group of some 13 properties (up from the 11 named in the 1996 classification).

Below the Premier Grand Cru Classés groups are 46 properties (55 in the 1996 classification) permitted to call themselves Grand Cru Classés. Finally, the rank of Grand Cru (that is, without the word  Classé) is awarded to wines from properties not fortunate enough to achieve Classés status. This ‘Grand Cru’ status is awarded each vintage after the wines have been tasted and rated by the powers that be.

The 2006 modification demoted Chateau Yon-Figeac – along with Chx Bellevue, Cadet Bon, Faurie de Souchard, Guadet St-Julien, La Marzelle, La Tour du Pin Figeac (Giraud-Bélivier), La Tour du Pin Figeac (Moueix), Petit Faurie de Soutard, Tertre Daugay and Villemaurine – from the Grand Cru Classés.

Nevertheless, the wine in my glass was from the blockbuster 2000 vintage, and the words ‘Grand Cru Classé’ features – as it should – very prominently on its label.

The 25 hectare estate is one of the largest in St-Emilion, with a diverse mixture of clay, chalk and gravel soils, which should give the wine complexity. The blend, too, should provide diversity: it is typically 85% nerlot, 10% cabernet franc and 5% petit verdot. The wine is fermented in stainless steel, where it undergoes malolactic fermentation, and is then matured in French oak, around a third new, for 14 months.

In the glass, the wine has a wonderful crimson hue with no sign of bricking at the rim. In fact, the only gradation of colour is a bright Bollywood pink just on its edge. Its nose is ripe and opulent, as it should be given the richness and intensity of the harvest. There’s black plums, mint, a hint of vanilla and cinnamon, and an underlying meatiness or bloodiness.

These meat and iron – or blood – flavours are also present on the palate. Here, the tannins are firm and grippy, but not puckeringly so, and are more than a match for the abundant fruit. There’s a tiny touch of bitter austerity to the finish that is a distinct change from New World merlot blends which tend to show a little fruit sweetness or residual sugar as they say goodbye.

Time in the glass accentuates the sanguine character of the wine and allows it to settle comfortably into its tight tannin/acid structure. Over the evening I tried it, the slight bitterness changed from being a pleasant sensation to a slightly disturbing one, and back again.

Writing to his clients about the wine, The Wine Cellar’s David Brice highlights that Jancis Robinson rated it 18/20 and Robert Parker 89/100. My score would be around 17.