Sep 13, 2021
Château Siran is an historic and
innovative estate on the Left Bank of Bordeaux, in the commune
of Margaux. Once owned by the
painter Toulouse-Lautrec’s great-grandmother, in the
mid-1800s Siran was purchased by ancestor of Édouard Miailhe’s
family and today he is the 6th generation to run Siran.
Miailhe, like many of the most interesting people in the wine industry, had an entire career doing something other than wine (in his case finance and real estate in the Philippines) until his mother and father retired about 15 years ago and he decided to move back to France to run the Château. He likes to stay busy (and take on challenges) because in addition to being the leader of Château Siran in 2018, he took the difficult job of running the winegrowers association of Margaux, a post that was held by his predecessor for decades!
In this show Édouard does double duty – telling us first about
Margaux and then about the spectacular, very classic wines of
Château
Siran, which are an insane value and should be sitting in your
cellar to age right now!
- We discuss the Margaux AOC: the location, the climate, the
(slight) elevation, the soil and the typical style of Margaux, plus
how it differs from its close neighbors like Pauillac, St-Julien,
Listrac, Moulis, and parts of the Haut-Médoc
- Édouard shares a bit of the political landscape of the Margaux
appellation, its long history (he is amazingly and refreshingly
honest about this – Margaux hasn’t always been fancy, glitzy and
glamorous!) and talks about how Bordeaux was a very different place
35 years ago.
- We talk about the grapes in Margaux and what each brings to the
blends in the appellation (with special attention given to
Petit Verdot).
Then we discuss Château Siran …
- We learn the history of the château and how the property wound
up in the Miailhe family’s hands in 1859.
- Édouard tells us about the fine gravels and subsoils of the region, the proximity of Siran to the river and its unique place in the Labade commune.
- The blend and the role of
Petit Verdot is featured -- they use up to up to 11% of the
grape in some years. We also discuss Merlot and Cabernet
Sauvignon.
- We discuss the importance of sustainability – Édouard’s father
never sprayed chemicals in the vineyard so it has been free of
pesticides for more than 40 years. His vines are old, healthy and
full of character.
- We talk about the Grand Vin – Château
Siran – the blending, vinification, and aging. Then we discuss
the other wines:
- S de Siran, the second wine
- Château Bel Air de Siran (Haut-Médoc)
- Château Saint-Jacques (Bordeaux Superieur)
- We really get into the limitations of classifications and why
Siran originally opted out of the 1855 Classification and why they
recently decided to opt out of the Cru Bourgeois
classification.
- We close talking about how Château Siran is one of the few estates in the Médoc that people can visit. Let’s visit!!!
Other notes...
- Chateaux mentioned: Château Giscours, Château
Dauzac, Château Prieure-Lichine, Château Pichon-Lalande, Château
Palmer, Château Margaux
- Édouard also mentions Professor Denis Dubourdieu as wine
consultant from St.-Émilion
- Here’s a link to the video of Marjolaine Defrance, the enologist at Chateau Siran
_____________________________________________________
Thanks for our sponsors this week:
Wine Access: Access to the best wines for the best prices! For 15% off your next order, go to www.wineaccess.com/normal
To become a member of Patreon go to www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople
To register for an AWESOME, LIVE WFNP class with Elizabeth go to: www.winefornormalpeople.com/classes