For our wine-tasting today Master of Wine, David Allen – Wine-Searcher’s Wine Director talks both about the history and the fictional future of a fairly well-respected Saint Estephe property before going on to taste what is a rather appealing wine from the 2019 vintage. The wine in question is Chateau Picard Saint Estephe 2019.
N.B. the fictional Chateau Picard is located somewhere called La Barre, it is unclear if La Barre is intended to directly represent Saint Estephe or not.
Rated as Cru Bourgeois in the initial classification of 1932, Château Picard’s cellars lie in the middle of the village of Saint-Estèphe The 8-hectare estate has always had a good reputation within the appellation.
The estate’s potential saw it acquired by the negociant firm Mähler-Besse in 1997. Mähler-Besse renovated the Napoleon III-style cellars, re-equipping them with the latest equipment and setting them up so the harvest can be moved round the facility entirely by gravity. The estate’s exceptional terroir is predominantly clay which is characteristic of Saint-Estèphe, the soils are full of calcified cockle and sea-urchin fossils. Good sunlight exposure and an average vine age of 30 years ensures excellent ripeness can be achieved.
This vineyard has a high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon (90%) with the balance of the plantings being Merlot.
Star Trek fans will recognize this as the place where in 2305 Jean Luc Picard will be born and will live until he leaves to join Starfleet aged 18. He will return home to visit in both 2347 and 2367. In 2371 his brother Robert, who will be running the estate, and his nephew Rene will die there tragically in a fire – and in 2385 he will return here to retire and make wine.
To find out more about this wine and where to buy it go to the Wine-Searcher website: https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/mahler+besse+picard+st+estephe+medoc+bordeaux+france/2019
To see Jean-Luc Picard in his vineyard follow this link (N.B. This was not filmed on location, the vineyards seen is clearly not filmed in France, the vine rows are too far apart, that is New World vine spacing!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ7YaDxidbk
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2 Comments
Ha! thought there’d be notes of ‘earl grey, hot’. 😆 . A fascinating review, must seek this out 🖖🏻
St. Estephe seems to offer many excellent value wines outside of the classified growths and for a Medoc appellation, a sheer high number of wines to choose from. I love that you can find well structured wines that can age here without needing to spend $60+ a bottle. An appellation I find is growing in popularity within my cellar.