This is a continuation of my posts about my November 2023 France Trip with my good reind David Raccah of Kosher Wine Musings. Once we finished with the incredible tasting at IDS, we walked down the block to meet Christophe Bardeau of Domaine Roses Camile (and its associated properties) and Ben Sitruk of Wine Symphony, who is the French distributor of all of Christophe’s wines, among many others. France consistently confuses me. Tiny little alleyway streets that barely appear in Google Maps, the crazy arrondissement system, etc. – and so, we often found ourselves a little lost when trying to make our way from point a to point b for the first time – and Ben has a habit of arranging a new place to meet each and every year. But we got there, and it was worth the wait.

Besides the finished wines we tasted, we also tasted a couple samples, including the 2016 Marquise de Binet Cuvee Abel that we have been waiting for a while, and a new parcel of land that I have written about before, whose wine is in the final stages of barrel aging – specifically the 2020 Domaine Roses Louise! Spoiler, the wine is epic. But as those are samples – and Christophe has been known to hold wines at whim for another year or two regardless of release schedules (with the Abel we are still talking about a 2016 tank sample!), I will not include notes here – but suffice to say that I am excited about both releases.

Lastly, we tasted a number of wines that Ben of Wine Symphony also distributes, and I have included those here as well.

Two asides: First – the tasting area was a bit cramped, as Ben laid out a very generous spread of food for us to enjoy after the tasting. As a result, there were a couple of pictures that I neglected to take. Second – as part of the food, we were asked to try a Tunisian delicacy called Bottarga. It is some sort of fossilized fish roe covered in wax. As David is of Tunisian descent, he was familiar with this delicacy and knew what was coming – I was not. I am now familiar. I will not be getting to know this food any better than I already do. I know that every culture has its foods – and I am all for good Tunisian,  Moroccan, Algerian, and Syrian food. Really – I am up to trying whatever! But this is not that. First, I was IMMEDIATELY thankful that we had finished the tasting prior to any food being eaten. The smell of this stuff brought tears to my eyes. The taste brought rumblings to my stomach. There were four different kinds, and to be polite, I tried all of them. If there are more than four varieties of this stuff, I don’t want to know. I can say that it took hours for the taste to leave my mouth. Thank the Lord we did IDS BEFORE this and not after! Again, this is not to disparage Ben’s hospitality (he didn’t bring the stuff, another guest did); he is an excellent host. This is just to serve as warning- if someone offers you Bottarga – RUN.

Here are my notes from the tasting (you can find David’s notes here):

Wines of Christophe Bardeau

2018 Chateau Marquisat de Binet, La Folie D’Elie, Montagne Saint-Emilion – This is wine that I have written about before. We started with this as an appetizer – and it accomplished its goal!  No change at all in previous notes. Tastes as young and fresh as it did on release two years ago. This wine is a QPR superstar. 92

2020 Chateau Les Graves de Lavaud, Lalande de Pomerol – This is a new release from the Lavaud line – same property as Clos Lavaud, different parcel). The wine saw only concrete – no oak.  The wine was bottled just a few months ago (approximately July 2023). Overall, on the nose, the wine is very floral and mineral driven (though the food in the room really was interfering with getting a good read here). In the mouth, this is a bright vibrant red fruit wine with raspberry and sour cherry, followed by some excellent minerality and clear expressions of the clay soil that runs through the property. The tannin is super assertive with the expected excellent acidity, providing an excellent core. The finish is mineral driven primarily with some nice bright red fruit. I would say that this will go until 2030 and is another QPR winner at about 30 Euro a bottle in France. 92

2020 Clos Lavaud, Lalande de Pomerol – Raspberry, cherry, and oak on the nose, though again, between the food in the room and the wine being pretty closed, writing notes on the nose was difficult.  In the mouth, you have more of the same – though this wine is SUPER young and closed, and the tannin is so assertive here that the wine is downright difficult to taste at first. It does eventually open up a little though (I made a mess by trying to aggressively aerate this) and is very black, balanced, with not much more to say. The acid is screaming. The fruit, when it does poke its head out, is clear and with black plum and dark cherry for the most part with nice mineral and dense clay. The finish is dark and a little smokey even with more mineral and dense fruit. But let me reiterate this wine is YOUNG! Ultimately don’t touch this wine for another three years at LEAST. 91+ (with great potential)

2019 Clos Lavaud, Lalande de Pomerol – What a difference a year makes! This wine is MUCH more open on the nose – You have rich smokey red and black fruit that just hits you when you put your nose in the glass. In the mouth you get the crazy acidity, graphite, mineral, blackberry, raspberry, dark plum, dark cherry, and lovely herbs.  This is a very layered and complex wine. On the finish, the wonderful dense rich earth, full of clay and mineral, comes out with more of those beautiful dark berry flavors. This wine was pure joy for me. 94  

2016 Domaine Roses Camille, Pomerol – This wine was impossibly closed at the tasting – and quite honestly the smells in the room just made it too difficult for either of us to write proper notes and give this wine the due it deserves. So, we took it back to the hotel and let it play out over a few days. Let me say – when this fully opens, the wine is a POWERHOUSE. The nose just screams mushroom, followed by black and red fruit and some nice graphite. In the mouth, this wine is umami heaven with mushroom and soy sauce taking the lead, followed by blackberry raspberry, graphite, and some smoke. The acid is of course off the charts and keeps the ripe fruit in check. The tannin feels mature yet coats the mouth pleasantly. The finish is long and rich with earth, clay, graphite, mineral, more mushroom, and some really nice deep coffee grounds.  94.5

Other Wine Symphony Wines

2022 Claudio Quarta Vignaiolo, Greco di Tufo – I have tasted every released vintage of this wine. For me, it is always the same. Mostly apple juice with some balancing acidity – some years more, some years less. Occasionally you get some bonus salinity thrown in. It is NEVER complex. This is pretty much what you get here, though I think this is one of the better vintages, as the acid DOES come through and there is that nice salinity. If you are looking for a simple white for people who may be afraid of whites, this might do the trick. 88

2021 Chateau Peyroutas, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – The nose here is nice with red fruit, nice herbs, and some smoke. In the mouth, you get more of the same with red cherry, raspberry, herbs, and some nice mineral. The finish is long with good herbs, red fruit, and mineral. It’s a simple wine, but it gets the job done – and for a ’21, shows well. 90.5

My thanks to Christophe Bardeau and Ben Sitruk for giving us so much of their time and sharing these wines. It’s always interesting and pleasure!