Dîner de l’Académie, à l’occasion de la semaine des Primeurs 2009
Discours de Monsieur Nicolas de Bailliencourt dit Courcol,
Grand Chancelier de l’Académie du Vin de Bordeaux
Monsieur le Préfet de la Région Aquitaine,
Monsieur le Président, cher François,
Mesdames Messieurs et chers Amis,
Comme l’a fait remarquer avec humour un de nos convives de ce soir –Monsieur John Avery, que je salue au passage- c’est bien la première fois qu’une banque est … réellement populaire.
C’est une manière assez juste de remercier Monsieur François de la Giroday pour l’accueil qu’il a réservé à l’Académie en mettant à notre disposition ce superbe bâtiment construit par Monsieur Jean-Michel Wilmotte, dont je salue la présence ce soir, invitation qui nous permet de présenter une belle série de millésimes des décennies de Bordeaux.
Si toutes les banques se transformaient en site convivial destiné à la dégustation de grands vins ne doutons pas qu’elles seraient toutes populaires. C’est grâce à vous, cher François, que l’Académie peut accueillir les connaisseurs de toutes les parties du monde : Etats-Unis, Chine, Irlande, Pays-Bas, Russie, Emirats Arabes Unis, Irlande, Belgique, Suisse, Allemagne. J’espère que ceux que j’ai pu oublier voudront bien me pardonner.
Merci Monsieur le Président car vous nous permettez également d’admirer Bordeaux dans toute sa splendeur 18ème. Il n’est pas de lieu, dans cette ville, mieux placé que la Banque Populaire du Sud Ouest pour profiter dans toute sa splendeur de ce panorama unique, à la fois sobre et grandiose.
Je veux saluer nos invités qui ont fait un long voyage pour venir goûter nos vins. Ils viennent de fort loin avec, pour certains d’entre eux, une régularité exemplaire ; je pense à Monsieur Michael Aaron qui a dirigé pendant longtemps la Maison Sherry Lehmann, à New York, et qui vient à Bordeaux depuis… 19 59, soit plus de 50 années de fidélité à nos vins. Cher Michael, merci de votre fidélité. Je veux également féliciter Monsieur Stephen Winfield, de Liquid Link, un des importateurs de nos vins aux Etats-Unis qui fête ses 50 ans. Bon anniversaire Cher Steve.
Enfin je remercie Monsieur Dominique Schmitt, Préfet de la Région Aquitaine, qui nous fait l’honneur d’être parmi nous ce soir ainsi que son épouse, Madame Schmitt. Monsieur le Préfet j’aurai le plaisir de vous remettre, dans quelques instants, le diplôme d’Honneur de l ’Académie.
Merci à tous. Bonne dégustation de nos millésimes 1920, 1940, 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990 et 2000, offerts par nos membres, collectés et préparés par Monsieur Olivier Bernard, Vice Chancelier de L’Académie.
Qui plus est, bonne dégustation également pendant ces journées de présentation du millésime 2009, millésime qui s’annonce déjà comme une belle réussite.
Monsieur le Préfet de Région, Monsieur le Président, Chers amis, bienvenue à Bordeaux, bienvenue à l’Académie et excellente soirée à tous.
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BUFFET DE VINS
offerts par les Châteaux membres de l’Académie du Vin de Bordeaux
GRAVES BLANCS
Château de Fieuzal 2000
Château Larrivet-Haut-Brion 2000
Château Latour-Martillac 2000
Château Malartic-Lagravière 2000
Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte 2000
Domaine de Chevalier 1980
Château La Louvière 1970
GRAVES – MEDOC – POMEROL – SAINT-EMILION
Château Latour-Martillac 2000
Château Malartic-Lagravière 2000
Château Fonréaud 2000
Château Fourcas-Hosten 2000
Château Giscours 2000
Château Gloria 2000
Château Kirwan 2000
Château Lafon-Rochet 2000
Château La Lagune 2000
Château Léoville Barton 2000
Château de Pez 2000
Château du Tertre 2000
Château Beauregard 2000
Château La Conseillante 2000
Vieux Château Certan 2000
Château Cadet Bon 2000
Château Cap de Mourlin 2000
Château Dassault 2000
Château de Fieuzal 1990
Château Larrivet-Haut-Brion 1990
Château Olivier 1990
Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte 1990
Château d’Armailhac 1990
Château Brane-Cantenac 1990
Château Clerc-Milon 1990
Château d’Issan 1990
Château Maucaillou 1990
Château Phélan Ségur 1990
Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 1990
Château Pontet Canet 1990
Château Poujeaux 1990
Château Gazin 1990
Château Clos Fourtet 1990
Château Corbin-Michotte 1990
Château Beychevelle 1980
Château Haut-Bailly 1980
Château Carbonnieux 1970
Château Chasse-Spleen 1970
Château Cos d’Estournel 1970
Château Cos Labory 1970
Château Lanessan 1970
Château Figeac 1970
Château Larcis-Ducasse 1970
Château Beychevelle 1960
Château Montrose 1960
Château La Fleur-Pétrus 1950
Château Canon-La Gaffelière 1950
Domaine de Chevalier 1940
Château Montrose 1920
SAUTERNES-BARSAC
Château Guiraud 2000
Château Rieussec 2000
Château d’Arche 1990
Château Nairac 1990
Château Doisy-Daëne 1970
Château Filhot 1970
Château La Tour Blanche 1960
Château de Fargues 1950
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Menu préparé par Marc Demund
CHAMPAGNE LOUIS ROEDERER BRUT MILLESIME 2000
Amuse-Bouches
Tourne-Dos de Homard en Aigre doux
Magret et Foie gras de Canard à la Crème de Fruits rouges
Fromages
CHATEAU D’YQUEM 2000
Premier Cru Classé Supérieur, Sauternes
Acidulé de Litchis, Agrumes et Vanille Bourbon
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Commentaires de dégustation
CHÂTEAU D’YQUEM 2000
Stephan von NEIPPERG:
This is a very special evening. Now, the people from the right bank and the people who have come from immigration – the first generation – are now presenting the first exceptional growth of the town. If we talk about Yquem, I think that you know much more about its history than I do. I would like to speak a little about the most important gentlemen and ladies in Yquem. The terroir is always part of the mystery, but a second thing is certainly the people who are there. We have the sauvage and the family at that time. The family was very important and it was about a lady – the lady of Yquem. She lived at the time of the Revolution and was twice in jail and she resisted a lot of things that she thought were not good. Importantly, she created Yquem and at that time a lot of people started to drink the wine and it was a very important time for Yquem. It was the first time that Yquem became well known throughout the whole world.
Jean-Guillaume PRATS:
What I would like to add is that drinking Yquem is a privilege. We all know what the great wines of the world are and there is no more difficult wine to make than the great [inaudible] wines of Sauternes and Barsac. As you know, it is handmade – it is cellar made – like haute couture, but it is more than a privilege for one very simple reason. All around the room you are drinking red wines from Burgundy, Champagne, California and great parts of the world, but wherever you are in the world there is always a wine which is better than its neighbours, which has more fame, depth, history and prestige than its immediate neighbours – and that is Yquem. It is a great privilege to taste it. We owe that to Alexandre de Lur Saluces and now, today, to Pierre Lurton and while we are overlooking the beauty of Bordeaux today in this extraordinary city, there was nothing more exceptional to celebrate the magic of this 2009 vintage than drinking the most absolute perfection of the greatest wines of Bordeaux being here.
Stephan von NEIPPERG:
I would like to say a brief word about Alexandre. I remember him as a small boy, so high. We were from the immigration side – first generation, mind you – and [inaudible] to Bordeaux and Alexandre was one of those outstanding and well known personalities who really received us very nicely. He was also responsible for a large investment in Yquem and if Yquem is now so outstanding and well known, I think that we can say, ‘Thank you, Alexandre’.
Jean-Guillaume PRATS:
I was told a story recently while I was visiting the United States. During the war, in Bordeaux there was a doctor who was known as being the best blind taster in Bordeaux. He could perceive and discover any wines that came from Bordeaux blind. Very early one morning in 1945 – which was a very cold morning – he was riding his bicycle in the heart of Bordeaux and fell heavily to the street, bleeding and unconscious. Fortunately for him, he was passing through one of the négociants on the Quai des Chartrons and someone rushed up to him with a bottle of Yquem, which had been opened the night before. It was the famous 1921, which was lying in the bottle. That very good négociant, whose name I will not give, started to pour some 1921 Yquem into the mouth of the good doctor. Suddenly, he eyes opened and he said, ‘Gosh. This is Iquem 1921.’ He therefore confirmed that he was a great blind taster. He then said that he could not possibly die this morning as the wine was not ready to drink. Apparently, he died in the 1970s. Therefore, if you drink Iquem, you will live long and happily. It is one of the greatest wines on earth and it is a great privilege to share it with you.
Stephan von NEIPPERG:
Jean Guillaume, I think that we will speak about the 2000.
Jean Guillaume PRATS:
Yes. That is a good idea.
Stephan von NEIPPERG:
Everyone knows about the red 2000, but Sauterne is a very different story. If we go back, we had an outstanding summer, but there was a lot of rain, which started on 10 October, I think. At Yquem, they make 80% second wine, or ‘Y’ and only 20% outstanding wine. If you look at the Yquem in your glass, you have freshness, deepness, an extremely minty taste, and which I think is a very important thing for an outstanding Sauterne – the harmony of powerful and integrated fruit.
Jean-Guillaume PRATS:
2000 is one of the vintages that you can assess easily from the outside, not being a Bordelais. A great vintage in Bordeaux is either a vintage where mother nature had an accident, as in 1961 with [inaudible], which leads to lower yield, or as in 2003, with the heat wave, or it is a vintage where mother nature had a sense of perfection and harmony all throughout the cycles of the acquisition of the ripeness in the grapes, and that was in 2000. I remember Alexandre de Lur Saluces telling me that they were going to produce almost 1,000 barrels of Yquem in 2000 and I could see that there was something very unique and magic in his eyes. A great vintage in Bordeaux is therefore perfection, harmony and volume, and that is what the 2000 is all about.
Thank you.
Stephan von NEIPPERG:
We will now to do the whole translation in German. Thank you. Wunderschoen and guten abend.
