Egri Bikavér

Egri Bikavér the famous red wine from Hungary is actually a blend of potentially many grape varieties. (In this sense it's similar to Châteauneuf-du-Pape which also allows 13 grapes in the blend.) Here is a summary of regulations for producing Egri Bikavér and Egri Bikavér Superior after the last modifications in 2009:

	Egri Bikavér	Egri Bikavér Superior
Allowed villages	Andornaktálya, Demjén, Eger, Egerbakta, Egerszalók, Egerszólát, Felsőtárkány, Kerecsend, Maklár, Nagytálya, Noszvaj, Novaj, Ostoros, Szomolya, Verpelét (some vineyards)	same as for Egri Bikavér but the grapes should come from class I or II/1 vineyards (similar to Burgundy’s grand cru and premier cru designations)
Maximum yield	90 hl/ha	60 hl/ha
Allowed grape varieties  (as from the 2010 harvest 13 grape varieties are allowed in the blend)	kékfrankos (blaufränkisch), kékoportó (blauer portugieser), kadarka, blauburger, zweigelt, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, pinot noir, kékmedoc (menoire or aleatico), turán, bíborkadarka, syrah
Minimum number of grape varieties in the blend	3	5
Maximum proportion of any grape variety in the blend	50% (kékfrankos (blaufränkisch) has to have the highest proportion)	30% ( with the exception of kékfrankos (blaufränkisch) which has to be between 30-50%)
Minimum proportion of the varieties in the blend	5% (at least 3 varieties have to exceed that proportion)	5% (at least 5 varieties have to exceed that proportion and kékfrankos (blaufränkisch) has to be at least 30% )
Other restrictions on blending	maximum 10% of turán and bíborkadarka (together)	maximum 5% of the turán grape
		maximum 30% of cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon (together)
Minimum alcohol	10.6% (kékfrankos, kékoportó, kadarka, blauburger, turán, bíborkadarka, zweigelt) 12.08% (cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, pinot noir, menoire és syrah)	12.83%
Minimum maceration on skins	8 days	14 days
Minimum ageing in wooden barrels	6 months	12 months
Minimum ageing in bottle	6 months	6 months
Labeling restrictions	Grape varieties with less than 5% in the blend cannot be mentioned on the label

Château Figeac and Thierry Manoncourt

Château Figeac 1969

Let me start this post with a photo which speaks for itself... ok, so it's a 42 years old Bordeaux, right? To be more precise it's a Château Figeac.
Château Figeac is a unique château in Bordeaux or even in the whole world in a sense that it was run by one single person for 63 years. Thierry Manoncourt took over the neglected estate in 1947, bought by his parents back in 1892. When he arrived there he found that unlike elsewhere in St-Emilion the soil there had high proportion of gravel - ideal for Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. So he uprooted some existing Malbec plantings and replaced those with Cabernet. Since that Figeac uses a somewhat atypical St-Emilion blend with 35% CS, 35% CF and only 30% Merlot.
Yet another curious story started when they planted some vine around a nearby horse stable. There the soil was less gravely and the wines from there were sold under the name "Vin de Figeac". In 1832 however that part of Figeac (some 15 hectares) was sold to M. Laussac-Fourcaud and the story of "Cheval Blanc" had started... and today - after the reclassification in 1955 - Cheval Blanc together with Ausone are the only two Premier Grand Cru Classé A wines in St-Emilion, while Figeac - despite all of Manoncourt's efforts - is still a class B. Strangely his petitions was rejected not on grounds of quality but of price. (His wine was considered to be too cheap. For example now a bottle of Ch Figeac 2005 is around EUR 80 while Cheval Blanc 2005 is EUR 500).

Let me list here some remarkable achivements of Thierry Manoncourt during his 63 years long career in the wine world:

• He was able to master the important second, softening malolactic fermentation right from his very first vintage in 1947. It was only in the 1970s that the method was finally used throughout the Bordelais.
• He was one of the first chateau owners in the Bordeaux region to open his estate to non-professionals, by offering free tastings to visitors from the 1980s
• He was one of the pioneers to introduce stainless steel tanks in Bordeaux
• In 1970 he was one of only three producers in Bordeaux to put the entire harvest into brand new oak barrels
• He had important role in the setting up of the Saint Emilion classification in the 1950s
• He was the president of Jurade of Saint Emilion from 1964 to 1987
• Losing faith in the Parker scoring system he stopped sending samples to him since 2006

Thierry Manoncourt

Thierry Manoncourt died in August 2010, aged 92. May he rest in peace.

42 years old label

Tasting note of this 1969 bottle is to follow...

Sources: Oz Clarke: Bordeaux, Jancis Robinson's Purple Pages, The World Atlas of Wine, Decanter.com, Wikipedia.org, wine-searcher.com

LVMH - Part 2: Château d'Yquem

Château d'Yquem quick facts:
Vineyards: 113 ha in Sauternes, France (100 ha is in use, the rest is always new plantation)
Grape varieties: Sémillon (80%), Sauvignon Blanc (20%) but due to the higher vigour of SB the harvested grape proportions are approximately 50-50%

Oak barrel aging for around 36 months

TOTAL production: ~65 000 bottles

LVMH share: 38% (1996-), 64% (present day)

LVMH - Part 1: Numanthia

LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy) is the biggest fish in the wine and spirit industry. They own among others the Champagne houses Dom Perignon, Veuve Clicquot, Moët-Chandon, Krug the Scotch brands Ardberg and Glenmorangie, the Belvedere vodka and of course the Hennessy cognac.


In this series I will have a closer look at LVMH's still wine brands:

1. Numanthia (Spain)
2. Château d'Yquem (France)
3. Cloudy Bay (New Zealand)
4. Cheval des Andes (Argentina)
5. Terrazas de los Andes (Argentina)
6. Newton (California)
7. Cape Mentelle (Australia)
8. Domaine Chandon (California, Australia)
9. Bodegas Chandon (Argentina)

Numanthia quick facts:
Vineyards: 49 ha in Toro, Spain
Altitude: 650 - 850 m
Soil: sandy rock surface, clay subsoil layers
Rain: 350 - 400 mm / year
Sunshine: 2600 - 3000 hours / year
Grape: Tinta de Toro

100% new French oak 18-20 months

TOTAL: ~132 000 bottles

LVMH share : 100% (2008)

Talking about Numanthia it has to be noted that it has probably the lowest vine density and certainly the lowest yields on Earth. Among wine producing countries Spain has the lowest average yields of around 30hl/ha but Termanthia's 7.2hl/ha is really something special. In this area they need to keep vine density very low to be able to produce enough juice without irrigation. (High density plantings have around 7400 vines per hectare while low density plantings have around 1850/ha...)

Termes 
Yield: 23hl/ha 
Vineyards: 24 ha 
Vine density: 1100/ha (552hl)
Density: 3x3.5m

Vine age: 50yrs avg

2006: EUR 40

Numanthia 
Yield: 20hl/ha 
Vineyards: 20ha  
Vine density: 1100/ha (400hl)

(estimates)

Vine age: 50yrs+

2006: EUR 40

Termanthia 
Yield: 7.2hl/ha 
Vineyards: 4.78ha 
Vine density: 900/ha (34.42hl)

Vine age: 120yrs+

2006: EUR 130


Market overview:

Estimated value of the 2006 vintage: ~EUR 5.69 million

Pretax profit rate in the fine wine industry (2008): 9.5%

Excise, VAT, etc: ~40%

Retailer margin: ~30%