Taking a break from writing about Italy to follow up on a tasting I did in April with the Chateau Trianon wines when they were in New York as part of the Grand Cercle tasting at Grand Central on April 20. The winery has 10 hectares and is part of the Saint Emilion Grand Cru appellation. The wines were made from a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenere. According to their materials, the name Trianon is derived from Marie Antoinette’s private retreat at Versailles. Apparently, the chateau was built by a secretary of King Louis XIV in the 17th century. I met Dominique Hebrard at the tasting. A fascinating man, he was lovely and very welcoming and willing to answer all of my questions. The wines were beautiful and a really lovely expression of the terroir of that part of Bordeaux. The winery pays careful attention to their practices both in the vineyard and in the winery. As I am studying for a particular exam, he was very patient with numerous questions that I asked and invited me to the winery. I think I will most certainly take him up on that.

The winery has undergone many changes in the past two years as reported in a press release:

“In January 2014, Dominique Hébrard, shareholder and General Manager of Château Trianon announced a major change in the property’s vision for the future as two new partners invested in the estate: An Enda the owner of Inner Mongolia Jin Sha Ecological Group Co., the winery Château Kinschab and Jin Sha Winery Co. Ltd. in Inner Mongolia, who will be majority shareholder, and Marc Castagnet, a business man residing in Hong Kong and his wife Karin, who are developing private luxury hotel projects, in particular with http://www.villalatosca.com. The change heralds a new chapter in the history of this property with ambitious investments announced in the vineyard and to renovate the chateau building.”

I tried the 2010 and the 2014 barrel sample. Both were exquisite, beautiful expressions of Merlot dominated wines with a long finish and silky supple tannins. Truly lovely and worth buying in my view.

At the same tasting I worked for the De Mour group wineries, La Croizille and Tour Baladoz. As I never write about wines that I work with, I won’t write my thoughts but do suggest that you check out these wineries as well.

I wish I were going to VinExpo this year but other obligations call. Those who are going, I hope you have extra time to visit some estates.