Is the wine worth the money?

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Chateau Le Crock 2001

By Adam Neustadter

Issue of May 8, 2009 / 14 Iyar 5769

Never does a week pass without someone asking me to recommend a wine. Don’t get me wrong, I love to do it. The hardest question I get though, is, “What would you drink?” Never does that conversation come than before the Passover Seder. As I am a “last minute” type of guy, I usually don’t decide until right before. So, to everyone who will ask me next year, take note now. This past Pesach I drank the Chateau Le Crock, St Estephe 2001. Yes, that’s the name. If you don’t like it, blame the French.

This wine requires a little bit of factual knowledge. The Chateau is owned by the same owners who produce Chateau Léoville-Poyferré, a world class wine at many times the price (worth the money, by the way). The Le Crock is truly an elegant wine, having the depth and complexity that it should. I allowed the wine to sit for two hours before I drank the first cup. While I did finish the whole cup, I admit to doing it slowly and enjoying the wine, as opposed to the chugging that often occurs.

Surprisingly, the wine opened up even further with soft fruit as well the common earthy flavors and velvety textures which much of the wine producing world, unsuccessfully, tries to achieve.

The complexity of the wine continued to develop even at the third cup. While it may have continued until the forth, I must report, with bitter sweetness, the wine did not make it that far.

Rather than digress to a lengthy discussion of my drinking habits, I will get straight to the point. Is the wine worth the money? At $50 or less, yes.

However, 2001 is becoming hard to find. Furthermore the life of the wine really begins to be determined by proper storage. As it is a 2001, it is difficult to know where it has been kept and for how long.

Disclaimer: This should be taken as an indicator for all of their vintages. Each one needs to be tasted. It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it. Once again, you guys are lucky I’m here for you.

Adam Neustadter teaches about wine at the Jerusalem Culinary Institute in Mesilat Zion, Israel. He was a sales executive for the Royal Wine Corporation for 15 years until his aliyah in 2006. He and his family live in Modiin.