Author Topic: Chateau Cazenove  (Read 1633 times)

CommuteTooFar

  • Inadequate Randonneur
Chateau Cazenove
« on: 02 April, 2021, 08:42:41 pm »
I bought a case of 12 bottles of 2010 Chateau Cazenove.

I was surprised that it was labeled Bordeaux Superior.  The address of this Winery would normally allow the use of AOC Margaux or AOC Haut Medoc both designations that I would say are more prestigious than AOC Bordeaux. When I looked into it a realised that the wine was a Merlot / Cabernet Sauvignon blend rather that Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot + others that normally make the grand wines of Margaux and the Medoc. Is this right bank formulation why the wine is AOC Bordeaux.

As for the taste it is lovely to drink by itself but was far to sweet to go with the steak I cooked this evening.   

CommuteTooFar

  • Inadequate Randonneur
Re: Chateau Cazenove
« Reply #1 on: 04 April, 2021, 09:44:59 pm »
The second bottle was less sweet. It had a slight trace of vegetables but still fine. It worked very well lamb sunday lunch.

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Chateau Cazenove
« Reply #2 on: 04 April, 2021, 10:43:35 pm »
Is this right bank formulation why the wine is AOC Bordeaux.

Could be. They’re a bit prissy about that kind of thing.

It’s a relatively new chateau, which may also have something to do with it.

It’s probably better drinking than most ‘genuine’ Margaux.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Chateau Cazenove
« Reply #3 on: 04 April, 2021, 11:12:58 pm »
Also...

The address of this Winery would normally allow the use of AOC Margaux or AOC Haut Medoc

Even if the farmhouse is inside the AOC area, the actual vineyards might not be (either partially or wholly). This is the most likely reason, I would say.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

CommuteTooFar

  • Inadequate Randonneur
Re: Chateau Cazenove
« Reply #4 on: 06 April, 2021, 06:45:19 pm »
When I looked at the map I saw Chatetau Dauzac directly south of Cazenove so I assumed the address was Margaux. Not all areas are square.  Ch. Dauzac (A 5th class Margaux) address is the town of Labarde which makes it AOC Margaux.  Despite being closer to Labarde than Ch. Dauzac, Ch. Cazenove's address is Macau.  Macau is an AOC Haut Medoc town.  My favourite wine from Macau is Ch. Belle Vue. Someone else agrees with me Ch. Belle Vue is Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel now.
           

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Chateau Cazenove
« Reply #5 on: 06 April, 2021, 07:38:10 pm »
Well, it's a subject I find interesting but I can't claim to have any expertise so anything I say is best treated as half-baked speculation, but I know there's more to it than postcode alone, and there could be all sorts of reasons why it is a mere Bordeaux Superieur rather than a Haut-Médoc or Margaux.

But does it matter anyway? It doesn't surprise me at all that a bunch of upstarts who have only been in the business for 30 years, probably with progressive ideas about viticulture, would find it hard to get recognition from the Bordeaux wine establishment. Very much a closed shop. So much snobbery and politics involved. If it's good drinking, that's all that really matters.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

CommuteTooFar

  • Inadequate Randonneur
Re: Chateau Cazenove
« Reply #6 on: 08 April, 2021, 10:52:57 am »
I have never been someone to choose a wine just because it has a grand address. I like cab/merlot blends so I am drawn to the medoc.  I like quality classifications so I like Cru Bourgeois now it is unbroken again.  It is sad to say that commercial interests fight against quality marks.  The old Cru Bourgeois ended in the early 2000's when a few billionaires bought a wine chateau massively and expensively updated the winery to best modern practice and found they could not sell is wine for very much because it was not cru bourgeois.  The Cru Bourgeois committee told him there will be a new assessment in four years time you will probably be classified then.  So the billionaire went to court and got the Cru Bourgeois classification system suspended.  A new essentially useless your in the Medoc you can be Cru Bourgeois was launched.  The old exceptionnels decided they had a good enough reputation.  In the case of Labagorce Zede it ceased to exist. It was broken up the less good terroir was given to Ch. Labagorce and the better terroir to improve Ch. Marquis de Alesme (A 1855 3rd growth). Any way the  Cru Bourgeois classification system is back with new Superiors and Exceptionnels.

This is not the only bordeaux classification scandal.  St Emilion has a two level system Cru Classe 1 and Cru Classe 2.  There is also Cru Classe which just means the vineyard is over a certain size.  A few years ago a £200 a bottle wine Ch. Pavie was adjudged to underachieve the quality that Cru Class 1 required. Obviously if you are £200 a bottle business you would not be happy to become a £100 a bottle chateau. So Pavie sued the St Emilion classification committee and now Class 1 and Class 2 are fixed regardless of quality with Tranmere Rovers at the bottom of the Premier League.