Yes, yet another red b******x, I’m afraid, but one that is highly distinctive, keenly priced, and sold direct from the property, outside the usual distribution systems.
Joep and Mireille Bakx were looking for a new life and an interesting wine farm in Bordeaux because she is Bordelaise; he is Dutch. In 2000 they ended up buying this tiny property (1.5 ha) in Verac 8 miles north west of Fronsac on Bordeaux’s right bank in pretty green hilly country. (I know, you will read the word ‘tiny’ and think that it signals sky-high prices, but in this case, it doesn’t.) They bought Clos Monicord from an elderly couple who had already farmed there for 30 years, with minimal use of fertilisers and pesticides. Some of the vines were 80 years old with the following encepagement: Merlot (70%), Cabernet Franc (20%) and Malbec (10%). Soils are predominantly limestone and clay and over the last few years the major changes have been in the vineyard, notably reducing vine height and opening up the canopy and planting cover crops. Although vintages 2000 and 2001 are available, the Bakxs reckon 2002 was the first vintage they feel represents the direction they want to go in. (And the price of the 2001 is almost suspiciously low.)
They are trying to make the whole thing work by selling direct rather than having the Bordeaux trade gobble up their margins. So you can buy from their website www.closmonicord.com at the following prices in euros per bottle, which include French VAT but exclude transport:
2000 Clos Monicord Red €7.95
2001 Clos Monicord Red €3.50
2002 Clos Monicord Red €9.95
2003 Clos Monicord Red €11.95
2004 Clos Monicord Red €10.25
2005 Clos Monicord Red €10.75
2004 Clos Monicord Clairet €4.50
I have tasted the 2002, 2003 and 2005 (neither the 2004 nor the 2005 has been bottled) and was most impressed. They all have a really zesty freshness about them (I don’t mean herbaceousness or any hint of underripeness) but also great fruit concentration, without any excess of alcohol or extraction. Even Clos Monicord 2003 is a lively wine that I would firmly recommend for consumption any time over the next two or three years, and Clos Monicord 2002 is extremely respectable, a good buy for current drinking, while Clos Monicord 2005 is mighty promising. The Bakx have also set up a Dutch distribution company:
Wijnkoperij Breukelen
Griftenstein 50
3621 XL Breukelen
Netherlands
tel +31 346 25 09 23
fax +31 346 25 11 73
Griftenstein 50
3621 XL Breukelen
Netherlands
tel +31 346 25 09 23
fax +31 346 25 11 73
While I admire those producers trying to sell globally direct from small properties, many of you will feel reluctant to go to the trouble of ordering wine in the sort of quantity that will justify the transport costs. There is absolutely no shortage of interesting red bordeaux at good prices while the fine wine market chases the expensive stuff. Brits can benefit from the connections between Castel and Oddbins by heading for Ch Fantin 2003 Bordeaux Supérieur at £6.99 from Oddbins. This fully evolved wine from Entre-Deiux-Mers is super fruity, slightly earthy and absolutely ready to drink – definitely more evolved than the Clos Monicord 2003. Substantially better, and with at least another three years’ life in it is Les Chevaliers des Templiers 2003 Pessac-Léognan, well worth the supplement at £9.99 from Oddbins. This opulent wine comes, I'm told, from Ch Larrivet Haut Brion, the property owned by the Bonne Maman jam family. (The 1999 Larrivet Haut Brion tasted curiously tough on Sunday, incidentally.)
Or, from practically next door to Verac where Clos Monicord is made, there is always Ch Grand Village made by the owners of Ch Lafleur in Pomerol. The luscious Ch Grand Village 2003 is £99.60 a case from Armit.
A lifestyle away from Armit, I was quite agreeably surprised by Tesco Vintage Claret 2004 from Yvon Mau. It looks a bit worryingly old and has a terrible label but the wine is pretty good for £4.99, as is Tesco Vintage St-Emilion 2004 at £7.99, also from Yvon Mau and also aged in oak that is predominantly American – a sign of the times? See Old World v New World – thing of the past?
