2015 Chateau Lamothe de Haux Bordeaux Blanc 750 ml

What They’re Pouring at Private Events at the MOMA

We don’t often get invitations to private previews of highly anticipated exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC, but if we’re on the list, it’s a good bet our buddy Michael Madrigale is to blame. The #1 Sommelier in America gets invited to all kinds of high-society functions we wouldn’t ordinarily know about, and so it was at MOMA back in March.

An invitation-only preview of rare works by Degas had gathered a crowd of well-heeled collectors and art critics. While the VIPs were locked in on the rare monotypes of dancers in motion, electric lights, and female models hanging on the walls, we were more interested in the white wine in the oversized Riedel glasses that kept disappearing from silver trays.

We observed as a few of the invited guests broke away from the Degas to ask Michael about the wine we were all enjoying.

“This is the exclusive white wine poured during all of the MOMA’s private art showings,” Madrigale whispered to us.

Swirling the golden shimmering white wine, we caught glimpses of green hues and gorgeous lilting floral and fruit aromas. The wine stealing the spotlight was the 2015 Château Lamothe de Haux Bordeaux Blanc, the Chombarts family’s chiseled blend of quince-like Sémillon, citrusy Sauvignon Blanc, and white floral Muscadelle.

At its finest, the marriage of barrel-aged Sémillon and Sauvignon produces some of the greatest whites in France — with the kind of dazzling minerality and bracing acidity hard to come by in New World regions, coupled with an often rounder mouthfeel and weight, the result of partial aging in well-used oak barrels.

While several of the Bordeaux classified Growths put out Bordeaux Blanc bottlings, most fetch prices well above $100. But as Antonio Galloni had written in his stirring report titled “Bordeaux’s Radiant 2015s,” the “real Bordeaux” is something altogether different — “a region that produces a truly remarkable, seemingly endless number of fabulous wines that the consumer can still afford.”

That’s hardly a concern for the millionaires at the MOMA, but for the rest of us bargain-hunters, the 2015 Château Lamothe de Haux Bordeaux Blanc’s price — under $15 bottle! — is a show-stopper.

The beautifully clean, tight-skinned grapes that comprise this blend — 40% Sémillon, 40% Sauvignon Blanc, and 20% Muscadelle — are sourced from steep hillside slopes just over the Garonne River from Pessac-Léognan. The result is a positively gorgeous Bordeaux Blanc that shimmers golden with emerald flecks. Lofty white-floral notes and vibrant, lilting fresh-fruit aromas. On the attack, radiant citrus fruit and spice notes are met with a generous mouthfeel from aging on its lees in concrete and stainless steel tanks — all braced by mouthwatering acidity. Half of the grapes are left in contact with the skins during cold fermentations, giving a sleek texture to the wine and subtle tannin lift. You can absolutely enjoy this now, or lay it down for 5+ years as fresh fruit evolves into more baked fruit and spice.

Thanks to the #1 Sommelier in America, WineAccess members have the opportunity to drink like the VIPs at the MOMA, but from the comforts of home. Only $14.50 today, direct from Château Lamothe’s cellars. A MUST-case-buy. Shipping included on 12.