Sediment

[ocpitmaster]

Found a bottle of Chateau la Baugerelle 2001 Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence; has a lot of suspended sediment. .?......best way to decant / would like any info about this wine
Thanks

[ocpitmaster]

Thanks to all for the replies & advice
I will properly decant, enjoy and share my thoughts

[Bill Hunt]

I agree with Brad, almost 100%. If I read your description of the suspended sediment, I might extend the up-right storage, in the cellar, for even longer. Before bringing the wine up, to be decanted, be gentle - very gentle, so as to not "stir up" that sediment.

Good luck, and enjoy,

Hunt

[ocpitmaster]

Bill & all......Thanks for the info. I'm gonna purchase a wine decanter/strainer. Now, not be frugal, just curious - would a paper filter, as a coffee, work?
Need the education-thanks!

[Brad Ballinger]

Two potential problems with the coffee filter: 1) it may impart some flavors into the wine that you don't want, and 2) it will take much longer (increasing the leeching of the flavors you don't want).

The only coffee filter I would consider using would be one of those gold mesh ones. Even then, I'd use a brand new one that you've washed rather than one that has been already used for coffee.

You can purchase a decanting funnel for $20 more or less.

[ocpitmaster]

Brad - good advice, purchasing a decanting funnel this afternoon. Now, just trying to decide what to have with the soon-to-be-decanted wine. Thanks

[collioure1]

A great Provençal recipe to go with the Provençal wine

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

Monsieur Henny was Patty Wells' butcher (in Provence?).

[Bill Hunt]

Brad,

I have not tried the gold-mesh ones, but do *think* that I can taste the paper.

Hunt

[zin1953]

NO!!!

It's not only flavors that you leech from the paper filter, but paper is made from wood pulp, and wood pulp has tannin -- you add a large amount of tannins to the wine . . .

[ocpitmaster]

Thanks
Good information for a novice like myself

[Bill Hunt]

I have several wine funnels with strainers, so I use those.

I have tasted wines, run through "coffee filters," both the bleached and "natural," and believed that I could taste those in the wines - maybe I knew, and was seeking some "problem?"

A good point-source light, and a medium-fine metal filter, do a good job for me.

Hunt

[zin1953]

Sure you can -- they ADD tannins to the wine!

[Bill Hunt]

Oh yes. Think of the folk, who add "oak" by chips...

Hunt

[sunshine842]

Results of the histories of the Concours des Vignerons Independents (the trade association for small independent vintners in France -- very large, and holds a very large judging every spring)

This house won a Bronze Medal in 1999 for the Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence Red
2002 -- Bronze for the C d'A-e-P *white*
2003 -- Gold for the white
2004 -- Bronze for the rosé
2004 -- Gold for the white

Lack of a medal doesn't necessarily mean anything -- it could mean simply that they didn't submit that year.

they did win a gold at the Brignoles competition for the 2001 red.

In short, looks like a pretty dependably good small producer.

Here's their website: http://chateaulabougerelle.free.fr/we...

Looks like it should be at least quite drinkable, assuming it hasn't been abused; decanting as Brad detailed above should clear out the sediment.

[collioure1]

Not a true Cabernet lover, I do enjoy Rhone/Cabernet blends - esp the wine from Dom de Trévallon. They make some down here (Cabardès), but I haven't yet found one I really like yet.

[FrankJBN]

I would add that winning a medal doesn't necessarily mean anything either.

[collioure1]

Chateau la BOugerelle 2001

Cabernet-Grenache - these wines go great with lamb in my experience

Ch Vignelaure and Dom Trévallon are the names I know.

(I see that Trévallon was declassified when they revised the appellation in the 90s, and Trévallon was unwilling to reduce the percentage of Cabernet to comply with the new encepagement rule.)

Now a Vin de Pays des Bouches-du-Rhône. Well it's a wonderful VdP now.

[Brad Ballinger]

Have not had the wine. But it's probably ready to drink. You would be decanting only to keep the sediment out, not necessarily to aerate the wine.

Stand the bottle upright for 24-48 hours. After opening, slowly pour the wine into a decanter with a lit candle underneath the neck of the bottle. When you start to see turgidity (sediment) in the stream of wine as it passes through the neck, stop pouring.

Alternatively, purchase a decanting funnel, which has a mesh screen to keep the sediment from the decanted wine.