2003 CH. Faizeau, AC Montagne Saint-Emilion

This is another wine that I've tasted before, that really fascinates me. Now, I've heard of many people call this a value-driven wine. Let's be perfectly clear and honest here - whoever says that is full of shit.

This is a $32.70 bottle of wine. Now, unless you're of certain tax-bracket, this is not a good value. But, this is a good bottle of wine - not great, but still quite interesting.

The wine is I believe, 100% merlot, or close to it. This area, on the right bank of Bordeaux, is after all, the birthplace of merlot. The appellation is called Montagne Saint-Emilion, quite an obscure area. I tried the 2001 vintage of this wine. At the time, I didn't have a good idea of the area, or the producer, and I was just curious. It turned out to be one of those times where my curiosity led to something good.

Of the 2001, I remember deep, plush fruit, really great structure, and this complexity that makes you have to work to identify all the components. The 2003 didn't turn out to be so transcendant, but nevertheless, I enjoyed it very much.

In the glass, this wine is deep, deep purple. This is extremely concentrated. The colour stays saturated all the way to the rim, as to give an indication of how young this wine still is. On the nose, which is very powerful by the way, you get impressions of cherries and ripe red fruits, and some toastiness to it. Again, this reflects on the palate, with very ripe, albeit monstrous tannins. This is a heavyweight, a 14% wine, that isn't necessarily overripe and fruit-driven, but it is still very tight. I wanted to see how it would react after a day, so after about 24 hours, I thought it improved. A very noticeable blackcurrant jam on the nose, but the tannins are still very very firm. Clearly, this wine isn't going to soften up for another 5-10 years, but I can only see it improving.

What's interesting is that this wine is offered as futures. The 2005 futures cost $23.80 a bottle, and the 2006 a bit more expensive. Is this a good investment for the cellar? I don't know. It's not an overly complex wine, nor does it have a spectacular finish, two things that I look for when I want to put something away. I havn't purchased any. I would love to have seen how this wine shows as it ages. To me, this wine is a question mark for the cellar.