Last Friday I took part in a very useful blind tasting of the 70 top left bank 1996 red bordeaux on which I will be reporting in detail later this month. There were many disappointments, but the one wine that really stood out for both quality and value was this one. It’s pretty difficult to find a decent mature red Bordeaux for under £250 a case but this wine shone out of the Margaux flight for its lovely, sumptuous layered ruby colour, its seductive Margaux perfumed – almost floral in tone – and the fact that it now tastes fully evolved in terms of maturity but has, unlike many of its peers, no shortage of ripe fruit in evidence with ripe tannins well in retreat. I found it a very complete, attractive wine, although it is, like virtually all 1996s, for classicists rather than those in search of blockbusters.
This property was officially ranked a third growth in the 1855 classification but was virtually abandoned during the first world war. The vineyards, which extend to barely 10 ha, began to be revived in the 1960s by Alexis Lichine but it took the Merlaut family, now owners of Ch Gruaud Larose, to put it back on the map and marketplace. Today, Jean Merlaut’s niece Claude Villars-Lurton runs it, alongside Chx la Gurgue and Haut-Bages-Libéral. Looking at my notes for other vintages of Ferrière via the tasting notes search, I see that the 2001 also stood out in a similar way for me – and this was another vintage, like 1996, in which the Cabernets had difficulty ripening in the Médoc, but clearly the Cabernet Sauvignon which dominates the encepagement here has some ingredient X – gentle winemaking? – which makes it shine in such vintages.
This tasting was held at Farr Vintners in London. Stephen Browett had the frustration of having spent almost a year organising this event only to find that on the day, thanks to an unusually persistent head cold, he couldn’t smell a thing. He made up for it by disappearing while we all tasted the next flight, some rather good Graves, and cornering the market in Ferrière 1996.
The wonderfully named Madame France Chauvin of Maison Descaves who was at the tasting, had already done the same on behalf of her own business in Bordeaux. So the result is that you can pick up a case of this great-value wine chez Farr at £240 a dozen, or you can buy it by the bottle at £34 including VAT from Four Walls Wine of Chilgrove, the eclectic wine company of Barry Phillips who was also at the tasting. Whether Bill Baker of Reid Wines, the only other UK retailer at the tasting, has snaffled any, I know not.
According to winesearcher.com, this wine is also available widely, in Switzerland at best prices and also as I write in France, Germany, the US (Sokolin), Australia and Holland. Happy hunting!
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