After a seventy year hiatus, reintroducing a “Cuvee hermitagee”
What do you call a Bordeaux merlot blended with some syrah? Alexandre Sirech calls it a cuvée hermitagée. The French authorities also call it a vin de table.
Sirech says that in the 17th and 18th centuries, some of the top wines of Bordeaux had some syrah from Hermitage in the Rhone added to them. With the rise of the appellation system in the early 20th century, this practice became forbidden if the wine was to be labeled with any of the Bordeaux appellations since 100 percent of the wine must come from the appellation.
He’s launching a new wine called “Les Deux Terroirs” that revives this tradition. (Chateau Palmer in Margaux has also experimented with the idea.) Since it is outside the appellation system it is thus labeled as a vin de table, theoretically the lowest rung on the French system. That means the wine cannot state on the label the place where it comes from (other than France) or the vintage.
Sirech, 40, has been in the wine and spirits business for almost 20 years. He’s had two long stints at Pernod Ricard interrupted by starting his own online wine retailer, ChateauNet, which he sold in 1999. Most recently he ran Havana Club rum for Pernod Ricard out of Havana.
I asked him via email how he saw a need for the wine through the marketplace or the terroir(s). Here’s his reply:
Quite frankly I had been thinking for a long time that the AOC decrees were too limiting. The AOC system has plenty of advantages but one big inconvenience: it prevents innovation. We need the AOCs but I think we also need a modern/free/hedonistic wine like “Les Deux Terroirs”.
Also, I had been selling a lot of Jacob’s Creek for Pernod Ricard in the UK and I had seen the merit of blending Syrah with Merlot or Cabernet, something that was unthinkable in France at that time (early nineties). When I had the idea back in Cuba, I did not know about the cuvées hermitagées. It is only when I started working on a formulation with the Rolland team in Catusseau that I found out about the whole story and I must say it confirmed my intention. I remember thinking that if they were doing this in the 17th, 18th and 19th century at a time when getting Syrah from Hermitage was surely a logistic nightmare, it had to be good for the blend!
Sirech is the buyer and blender of the wine and is advised by Jean-Philippe Fort of Michel Rolland’s winemaking team.
I haven’t tried the 80-20 merlot-syrah blend yet but it will be available in New York, Florida, and Illinois soon (search for this wine). Sirech wrote me that he bypasses the Bordeaux negociant system and maintains Southern Wine & Spirits as both importer and distributor to deliver greater value to the consumer. The wine will retail for $20 and is sold in wood case six packs.
More on French innovation:
“Is Chamarré still trop francais?”
“Yellow jersey, Beaujolais in tin – new products from Boisset“
On July 9th, 2007 at 2:18 pm ,Dr.Debs wrote:
Thanks for bringing this to my attention. It looks so interesting, and I love drinking something historic! Wish they were coming soon to California, too. Will have to keep my eyes peeled.
On July 10th, 2007 at 7:16 am ,Isaac Rivera wrote:
I would really like to try this wine. Karen McNeil points out the Hermitage-Bordeaux connection in her book “The Wine Bible” and I have been curious since I read about it. Unfortunately, the wine search does not return any results for me in NY as described in the post. Can someone suggest stores to get it at?
On July 10th, 2007 at 9:00 am ,Dr. Vino wrote:
Hi Isaac,
I just called the importer/distributor, Southern (516-921-9005 FYI). The representative said, without checking in the database, that the wine was not in yet. Then he said to order it through a retail store and they would deliver it the next day to the store. So there you go! Clear as mud.
Best,
On July 10th, 2007 at 10:42 am ,Isaac Rivera wrote:
Thanks!
Oh, do you have an idea how much we should expect to pay for a bottle of Les Deux Terroirs?
On July 10th, 2007 at 10:43 am ,Dr. Vino wrote:
List price is $19.99.
On July 12th, 2007 at 12:09 am ,Jay Miller wrote:
Blending Rhone wine with Burgundy is not that far in the past. When I was getting interested in wine in the early ’70s, I bought some 1959 Bichot Musigny. Perhaps there was some Musigny in there (or at least Pinot Noir) but to this day it rates as one of the best Chateauneuf du Papes I’ve ever consumed.