Happy Eclipse Day, everyone!!! Hopefully you have some snazzy eye protection for this afternoon!
I had the great fortune to sample the 2015 Château Val Beylie Plaisir, which is the Eclipse Day Wine available at @casemateswine!
I was really surpised to see a 2015 Left Bank Bordeaux!! The label shows this as 75% Merlot, 25% CabFranc. I tasted this wine at room temp.
The color is a robust red. I did not see any real bricking around the edges.
In the glass, this wine initially has a lot of earthy notes, with a little residual red berry echoes. After the bottle was open for 30 minutes, there were leather and tobacco aromas to complement the rich soil aromas.
On the palate, this wine was initially really astringent. The flavors of sour cherry and unripe raspberry competed with the general soil characteristic of the merlot. Once the wine had some time to air, the astringent notes faced away, leaving a solid merlot profile, along with some tart plum.
This wine definitely benefits from breathing time, as well as being served with a meal – even if it’s a simple pizza Margherita. I do think that decanting or aerating would be too much, though.
I’m eager to see the price point for this bottle. I think it still has some shelf life left.
Thank you, @casemateswine, for the tasting opportunity! It was a real pleasure!
Now – back to your regularly scheduled astronomical events…
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
2015 Château Val Beylie “Plaisir” Bordeaux - $20 = 16.66%
BTW… someone probably needs to do some update to the description. The back of the bottle says this is 75% Merlot; 25% CF. Not the 100% Merlot as stated in the description box.
Has anyone else run into bad bottles in this offer? I opened two flawed bottles in a row tonight… the third one was finally OK. I’ve had another good bottle, so that’s 50% bad… so far.
@klezman Indeed! I should have added a little more. I always struggle to clearly define scents and flavors, though. This is definitely not vinegar; it’s more of been a few years, but I think I’ve smelled something like this before. It’s a little airy, maybe a little musty, maybe almost astringent in a way.
It’s been a few years, but I’ve smelled something like this on other bottles, which I’d had for several months or even a couple years. I’ve always assumed those were damaged by poor storage, or got too hot. But at least in the few weeks this has been in my possession, this hasn’t seen heat, or arid air, or anything like that. I dunno if I could identify cork taint, but now I’m wondering if this is it.
@klezman That “airiness” my brain comes up with is why I’m not sure about cork taint, since I don’t think “wet dog” or “wet newspaper,” but there is a bit of mustiness here, I think.
@worbx musty can be corked or other microbial issues. I’m mostly interested in whether it’s something from the winery, age related, or from transportation. This one sounds like it’s from the winery.
2015 Château Val Beylie “Plaisir”, Bordeaux Rouge AOC
Tasting Notes
‘Plaisir’ means “pleasure” in English. The wine presents a deep purple color with a clean, fruit-forward nose, smooth in the mouth with red berry candied fruit with hints of smoke and good acidity, nice and balanced on the finish. While Christophe’s first vintages were aged in barrique, his new “sans chêne” approach creates a naked example of Merlot where you can smell and taste the dense clay soil that makes Beylie’s terroir special. This is an amazing wine full of freshness and elegance.
Specs
Varietal: 75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc
Appellation: Bordeaux Rouge AOC, France
Organically grown grapes from estate vineyards owned by Christophe Pont.
Elaboration: Grapes are hand-picked in small boxes for delivery to the winery. Grapes are fermented with native yeast in stainless steel tanks and left on the skins for two weeks then topped up and conserved.
Conservation: Unoaked, aged in stainless steel for the winter and spring then bottled before the next harvest.
Alcohol: 14.1%
Residual Sugar: <2 g/l
TA: 3.25 g/l
pH: 3.58
Production: 500 cases
Winemaker: Christophe Pont
What’s Included
6-bottles:
6x 2015 Château Val Beylie “Plaisir”, Bordeaux Rouge AOC Case:
12x 2015 Château Val Beylie “Plaisir”, Bordeaux Rouge AOC
Price Comparison
Not for sale online, $216/case MSRP
About The Winery
Château Val Beylie
This small hillside estate is situated in Merignas, just across the Dordogne river from the Saint Emilion appellation boundary. While the soil and climate here are essentially the same as Merignas’ famous neighbor to the North, the culture cannot be different. Upon pulling up to the Chateau entrance expect to see children jumping on a trampoline, wooden swings cleverly wedged between Acacia trees, hand-sewn clothes drying in the sun, and pets of all shapes and sizes bounding about. The vines here may not be perfectly manicured, but they are pulsing with life – The air is loud with insect calls and flowers of all colors shoot up from the wild grass below the estate’s organically farmed vines. Christophe Pont runs all aspects of this operation with his own bare hands. The ten acre spread of Val Beylie is large enough to feed the family and small enough to avoid the need for employees – Just the right size for a man driven to keep life simple and fulfilling.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Happy Eclipse Day, everyone!!! Hopefully you have some snazzy eye protection for this afternoon!
I had the great fortune to sample the 2015 Château Val Beylie Plaisir, which is the Eclipse Day Wine available at @casemateswine!
I was really surpised to see a 2015 Left Bank Bordeaux!! The label shows this as 75% Merlot, 25% CabFranc. I tasted this wine at room temp.
The color is a robust red. I did not see any real bricking around the edges.
In the glass, this wine initially has a lot of earthy notes, with a little residual red berry echoes. After the bottle was open for 30 minutes, there were leather and tobacco aromas to complement the rich soil aromas.
On the palate, this wine was initially really astringent. The flavors of sour cherry and unripe raspberry competed with the general soil characteristic of the merlot. Once the wine had some time to air, the astringent notes faced away, leaving a solid merlot profile, along with some tart plum.
This wine definitely benefits from breathing time, as well as being served with a meal – even if it’s a simple pizza Margherita. I do think that decanting or aerating would be too much, though.
I’m eager to see the price point for this bottle. I think it still has some shelf life left.
Thank you, @casemateswine, for the tasting opportunity! It was a real pleasure!
Now – back to your regularly scheduled astronomical events…
2015 Château Val Beylie “Plaisir” Bordeaux
6 bottles for $59.99 $10/bottle + $1.33/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $99.99 $8.33/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
2015 Château Val Beylie “Plaisir” Bordeaux - $20 = 16.66%
BTW… someone probably needs to do some update to the description. The back of the bottle says this is 75% Merlot; 25% CF. Not the 100% Merlot as stated in the description box.
@cjsiege working on it…
and now all fixed
$8.33/ bottle (12) is quite the price for a 2015 bottle of Merlot/Cab Franc…very tempting…
Can’t resist that price.
/giphy berserk-sopping-airplane
@spiffchili Agreed.
/giphy fair-legible-faucet
@spiffchili @worbx double agreed!
/giphy proverbial-foxy-finger
Has anyone else run into bad bottles in this offer? I opened two flawed bottles in a row tonight… the third one was finally OK. I’ve had another good bottle, so that’s 50% bad… so far.
@worbx bad how? Corked is different from vinegar is different from oxidized.
@klezman Indeed! I should have added a little more. I always struggle to clearly define scents and flavors, though. This is definitely not vinegar; it’s more of been a few years, but I think I’ve smelled something like this before. It’s a little airy, maybe a little musty, maybe almost astringent in a way.
It’s been a few years, but I’ve smelled something like this on other bottles, which I’d had for several months or even a couple years. I’ve always assumed those were damaged by poor storage, or got too hot. But at least in the few weeks this has been in my possession, this hasn’t seen heat, or arid air, or anything like that. I dunno if I could identify cork taint, but now I’m wondering if this is it.
@klezman That “airiness” my brain comes up with is why I’m not sure about cork taint, since I don’t think “wet dog” or “wet newspaper,” but there is a bit of mustiness here, I think.
@worbx musty can be corked or other microbial issues. I’m mostly interested in whether it’s something from the winery, age related, or from transportation. This one sounds like it’s from the winery.
2015 Château Val Beylie “Plaisir”, Bordeaux Rouge AOC
Tasting Notes
Specs
What’s Included
6-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
Not for sale online, $216/case MSRP
About The Winery
Château Val Beylie
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Apr 29 - Tuesday, Apr 30