Francois Mitjavile
My happy collaboration with this charming genius dates from his debut at Tertre Rôteboeuf in the late ‘70s and I have been richly rewarded with an unbroken succession of over 40 vintages, each of them a perfect expression of both the vineyard and the vintage. There are no secrets to his success beyond the minute attention to detail at every stage and a willingness to devote more man hours per vine than any other Bordeaux vineyard I know in order to produce fruit with perfect physiological maturity by the time of harvest. His obvious passion is backed up by his profound understanding of his own ‘terroir’ and the ‘savoir faire’ needed to realise its full potential. I have learnt more from him than anyone about the things that can turn a good wine into a great one. Most importantly, in his efforts to exaggerate the character of the vineyard and the individual vintage, he manages to achieve spectacularly successful results without recourse to the fashion for over-extraction that has in my view blighted so much modern winemaking by destroying the subtle nuances of character that distinguish the wine of one ‘cru’ from another. As a result, his wines never lose their sense of originality and they have the balance and structure that allow them proper longevity. He appears to me to be particularly adept at dealing with the more difficult vintages and it is often in such years that his wine stands out from the field. 1997 was a good example and remains a special favourite. An accurate tasting note from Michael Schuster for the 2005 vintage of Tertre Rôteboeuf sums up the wine very well, and not just in that vintage when even the less talented producers had to be seriously incompetent not to succeed. “…complex, refined, ripe and subtle nose; very rich and concentrated, but exceptionally silky in texture – nothing to “get in the way” of the drinker’s pleasure. Long, sweetly ripe, intensely flavoured, all the while remaining graceful and fresh; a wine of great purity, racy complexity, mouth-coating scent and splendid length. For all its intensity and presence, this impresses with a feeling of being absolutely “natural”. Wonderful. First Growth quality.” As for his other vineyard on the finest ‘terroir’ of Bourg, Roc de Cambes, and its somewhat lighter sibling vineyard at the foot of the slope, Domaine de Cambes, this has set a new standard for the Cotes de Bourg appellation during the 25+ years of the Mitjavile ownership and the wine fully merits comparison with the greatest growths of the Bordeaux winefield. As such it still represents something of a bargain for the true enthusiast. These wines are offered ‘en primeur’ each year in the spring following the vintage and our generous allocation is usually oversubscribed. We keep a small library of back vintages in order to be able to offer limited quantities of these wines after bottling. If you are interested, please ask for details of prices and availability.
Domaine de Cambes
