1 MATTHEWJUKES.COM BORDEAUX EN PRIMEUR REPORT 2013 PUBLISHED APRIL 2014 VINTAGE REPORT My tour of the top Bordeaux Châteaux and Union des Grands Crus tastings this year has been surprisingly enjoyable. Notably less crowded than of late, the 2013 en primeur campaign has been, and still is, a strange one. Early reports circulated regarding the dire quality of the wines were misjudged. It strikes me as ignorant to right off an entire vintage when one hasn’t tasted all of the wines. I always reserve my judgements until I am in the thick of it and while this is not by any means a great Bordeaux vintage (both 2009 and 2010 set the bar very high and are too fresh in the memory to allow any misjudgements here) it is a very enjoyable one. Granted the weather conditions throughout the growing season were appalling. The only reason why there are so many decent wines is thanks to modern knowhow and deep pockets. That being said, I am very keen on the shape and timbre of many of the wines and I will explain why. I cannot remember tasting a wine with more than 13.5% alcohol. This fact alone is fascinating. The weather was simply not hot enough nor the hang time long enough to raise the levels higher. There was a brief heat spike in July which accelerated ripening and this provided the stakeholders with some much-wanted cheer but that was the only positive moment in the year. The beginning of the season was a shocker with cool, wet weather and late flowering. Rainy conditions (nearly double the annual average for the last thirty years) affected fruit set and this resulted in aborted flowers, uneven grape sizes and much lower potential yields. By the end of June the vines were two weeks behind the 2012 vintage, itself a late one, and three weeks behind the 15 year average! Lower yields are not a massive problem normally - winemakers rarely admit to this but it often focuses the flavours and gives them rich, lusty wines. They always try to make up for lower production with higher prices – we have all fallen foul of this trick. In 2013 though the grapes looked fine in July (the hottest since 1991) and August and it is thought that this warm weather knocked out some of the harsher green elements which may have marked all of the wines. I certainly detected a number of wines with strident green characters but this was due to bad management further down the line rather than anything else. With the winemakers breathing a collective, but guarded, sigh of relief in the summer, in early September all that they needed was a long, warm period to finish off the ripening the bunches and allow unhurried picking. On 15 th September the heavens opened and the doom-mongers started to sharpen their pencils. Rot affected many of the bunches by the end of the month and judicious sorting and painful sacrifice was essential in order to make clean bright wines. Harvesting took place in the first two weeks of October amid inclement weather and the ever-present, rampaging rot. The success of the best wines in 2013 depended on calibre of your terroir, the critical viticultural skills of your team and speed with which you could bring in your harvest. It also relied upon the innate skill and intelligence of those in charge with regard to hitting the gaps between the storms – basically playing a very challenging game of risk. In the winery selection was more critical than ever. Tiny quantities of Grands Vins were made by many and second wines were often lacking in depth and they, not surprisingly, often show harsher elements than they should. A lot of wine will not even be bottled and be sold off in bulk. These calculated and financially painful decisions made or broke the final wines. On the Left Bank, Merlot suffered dreadfully from Coulure and Millerandage earlier in the season on account of the delayed budbreak. The percentages of Merlot used in most blends is, accordingly, slight. On the Right Bank, Cabernet Franc was problematic. Some estates managed to ripen it, others failed. The rain and cold temperatures meant that judgement calls were being made on an hourly basis come harvest.
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MATTHEWJUKES.COM BORDEAUX EN PRIMEUR REPORT 2013
PUBLISHED APRIL 2014
VINTAGE REPORT
My tour of the top Bordeaux Châteaux and Union des Grands Crus tastings this year has been surprisingly enjoyable. Notably less crowded than of late, the 2013 en primeur campaign has been, and still is, a strange one. Early reports circulated regarding the dire quality of the wines were misjudged. It strikes me as ignorant to right off an entire vintage when one hasn’t tasted all of the wines. I always reserve my judgements until I am in the thick of it and while this is not by any means a great Bordeaux vintage (both 2009 and 2010 set the bar very high and are too fresh in the memory to allow any misjudgements here) it is a very enjoyable one. Granted the weather conditions throughout the growing season were appalling. The only reason why there are so many decent wines is thanks to modern knowhow and deep pockets. That being said, I am very keen on the shape and timbre of many of the wines and I will explain why. I cannot remember tasting a wine with more than 13.5% alcohol. This fact alone is fascinating. The weather was simply not hot enough nor the hang time long enough to raise the levels higher. There was a brief heat spike in July which accelerated ripening and this provided the stakeholders with some much-wanted cheer but that was the only positive moment in the year. The beginning of the season was a shocker with cool, wet weather and late flowering. Rainy conditions (nearly double the annual average for the last thirty years) affected fruit set and this resulted in aborted flowers, uneven grape sizes and much lower potential yields. By the end of June the vines were two weeks behind the 2012 vintage, itself a late one, and three weeks behind the 15 year average! Lower yields are not a massive problem normally - winemakers rarely admit to this but it often focuses the flavours and gives them rich, lusty wines. They always try to make up for lower production with higher prices – we have all fallen foul of this trick. In 2013 though the grapes looked fine in July (the hottest since 1991) and August and it is thought that this warm weather knocked out some of the harsher green elements which may have marked all of the wines. I certainly detected a number of wines with strident green characters but this was due to bad management further down the line rather than anything else. With the winemakers breathing a collective, but guarded, sigh of relief in the summer, in early September all that they needed was a long, warm period to finish off the ripening the bunches and allow unhurried picking. On 15th September the heavens opened and the doom-mongers started to sharpen their pencils. Rot affected many of the bunches by the end of the month and judicious sorting and painful sacrifice was essential in order to make clean bright wines. Harvesting took place in the first two weeks of October amid inclement weather and the ever-present, rampaging rot. The success of the best wines in 2013 depended on calibre of your terroir, the critical viticultural skills of your team and speed with which you could bring in your harvest. It also relied upon the innate skill and intelligence of those in charge with regard to hitting the gaps between the storms – basically playing a very challenging game of risk. In the winery selection was more critical than ever. Tiny quantities of Grands Vins were made by many and second wines were often lacking in depth and they, not surprisingly, often show harsher elements than they should. A lot of wine will not even be bottled and be sold off in bulk. These calculated and financially painful decisions made or broke the final wines. On the Left Bank, Merlot suffered dreadfully from Coulure and Millerandage earlier in the season on account of the delayed budbreak. The percentages of Merlot used in most blends is, accordingly, slight. On the Right Bank, Cabernet Franc was problematic. Some estates managed to ripen it, others failed. The rain and cold temperatures meant that judgement calls were being made on an hourly basis come harvest.
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So with lower potential alcohol levels and the need for gentle extraction and careful oaking to avoid putting the wines out of balance, the vinification process started. It’s a travesty that some winemakers just don’t understand that a gentle touch is needed in vintages like this. There are far too many wines with unripe fruit notes layered with harsh tannins and raw oak. These wines will never come into balance. There are also a host of Châteaux who got it exactly right. Slim, calm wines with bright fruit notes, sensitive oak, refreshing acidity and allure we haven’t seen for decades. These are wines which hark back to a bygone era - an era which I am incredibly keen on. This was a time before massive oak, extraction and high alcohol, when slender clarets aged gracefully and confidently as opposed to starting off like a steroid-soaked sprinter who simply got so old he couldn’t run any more. Pumped-up wines never gain balance, elegance or grace and great red Bordeaux should have all three of these traits. In short, if this vintage had occurred thirty or forty years ago then no decent wine would have resulted. Today, if you are talented and are the guardian of stunning soils and settings there is no excuse not to make a delightful, refreshing, forward-drinking and distinguished wine. They might not score massive points but they will make lots of friends in due course. Dry whites, which were picked early, worked nicely as long as they are not overoaked. You cannot put a massive suit of oak armour on a skinny little wine and expect it to fit. The best wines are lithe and tangy and the worst are hard and sour. Sauternes are, not surprisingly, a qualified success. However, there are still a number of wines which dropped the ball. Botrytis obviously occurred, as it did (sadly) on the reds grapes, but because of the timing of the rainstorms it happened on bunches with much higher acid as opposed to later-ripened, fat, sweet grapes. This gives the best wines incredible sweetness balanced by thrilling, natural acidity. But there is a caveat. It is clear to me that many estates misjudged their picking times. There were clear corridors in early October when you had to mobilise the troops. If you missed these then you were bound to make dilute, sloppy, seemingly pretty, but ultimately flawed wines - I found more of the latter than I expected to. In the final analysis, the conversation will not be about the quality or lack or of in the wines (sadly). I wish it were so because this is the reason why I travel out every year, flying solo and seeing every single great Château, in order to sniff out the finest wines. It will only be about price. A lot less wine was made this year than last. The Bordelais want us to know this – they drummed the yields into me and I have noted them in many of my tasting notes for your perusal. They want us to recognise that this shouldn’t lead to the prices being slashed. This is categorically incorrect. Whether they have made a lot or a little wine the quality is not, on the whole, as good as the 2012 vintage wines and the campaign last year was a damp squib. There needs to be realistic pricing set for all wines this year and I would suggest that these prices need to be 30% lower than the equivalent 2012 levels. This will allow us commentators and you buyers to reconnect (thanks to Tim Atkin for this word - I cannot better it) with the region. The first flurries of prices have already come out. Pontet-Canet launched at the same price as last year - this is crazy. Pichon-Baron came out at 17% lower than 2012 - a valiant gesture but not brave or deep enough. Others will follow and few seem to be thinking clearly about the implications of another failed campaign. I, for one, adore Cabernets (and Merlots) from all over the world, and I cannot tell you the number of times I use over-inflated Bordeaux prices in order to recommend awesome Margaret River or Coonawarra Cabernet. The posturing arrogance with which the Bordelais routinely dismisses their audience is untenable. I know that some will get the price right, but I will not be buying en primeur this year. I will wait for a few years, let the market settle, and then go shopping both for my own cellar and for the restaurants whose lists I write. There will be a dearth of stock and you can see from my report that there is plenty of terrific wine to choose from. I just won’t be playing the en primeur game with the Bordelais this year because the cards are already marked.
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Notes on my notes 1. Many of my tasting notes below are not complete sentences - they are pure tasting notes, spellchecked but unedited, showing my immediate reactions to the wines which I tasted. I typed these 17500 words into my iPad, one-handed, in four days, so please forgive the slightly stilted nature of the descriptions and any random typos! The scores are out of twenty. I have noted the blend percentages for some of the wines as well as the percentage of new oak used and some yields, too, when I thought that it would be of interest. This is the first year when I have published my notes in this manner. Normally I publish ‘one-liner’ notes for my top forty wines and top ten best value wines only, but this year I have compiled these tables but also included notes for every single wine. I very much hope that you find this helpful. 2. I have listed the wines from the Left Bank in commune order and then from highest to lowest score and within each score group alphabetically. The wines from the Right Bank are listed in the same way. There are separate sections for ‘Second Wines’, ‘Other Wines from Various Regions’, ‘Dry Whites outside of Pessac-Léognan and Graves’ and also the reds and whites from Pessac-Léognan and Graves proper. 3. No ‘+’ indicates a wine which is in perfect balance and can be drunk relatively young thanks to its precocity and charm. One ‘+’ indicates a wine that will benefit from medium-term ageing (in accordance to the style of the wine), while two ‘++’ indicates a wine that should manage to make the long haul, softening and evolving as it goes. 4. ‘n/t’ means not tasted
LEFT BANK SAINT-ESTÈPHE Château Calon Ségur (3ème Cru Saint-Estèphe) (92 Cabernet Sauvignon, 6 Merlot, 2 Petit Verdot) Nice power, discreet, reserved and tender, too. The oak has been completely absorbed by the wine and the result is a very elegant, pristine Cabernet. It is reminiscent of an old-fashioned Calon but with the brightest, slimmest Cabernet fruit imaginable. There is a crisp, tangy finish but no dry tannins and the fruit theme is plum-soaked and not too dark. Production is down 20% and the selection to make a wine of this calibre was very severe. Apparently the price will be ‘decreased to show goodwill’ – let’s see how far! 17.5+ Château Cos d’Estournel (2ème Cru Saint-Estèphe) (78 Cabernet Sauvignon, 20 Merlot, 2 Cabernet Franc) 71 IPT. Wow a ‘feminine’, beautiful, fragrant Cos. A rare beast indeed with incredible delicacy and charm. Purists might miss the point here, but taken as a standalone wine this is a beauty. Pure, bright and an extraordinary expression from this Château perhaps more famous for making hefty, pumped-up wines! I love the perfume – it is exotic, haunting and magnetic. The team never believed, in early September when the heavens opened, that they could make something as lip-smacking as this wine. Strangely, they had to learn ‘how to make a lower alcohol wine’. The warm spells in July and August saved the vintage. It could have been disastrous without this lift in the ripeness. Yields are one third down at 26hl/ha. They could have picked later but, on reflection, they would have made an overbalanced wine and so in 2013 Cos has made a rare and wonderful addition to its family. 17.5
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Château Le Crock (Saint-Estèphe - in the Léoville Poyferré portfolio) (53 Cabernet Sauvignon, 36 Merlot, 7 Petit Verdot, 4 Cabernet Franc) This is a very nice wine indeed. Good density and decent backbone. Slim but velvety and well proportioned. Great lift aromatically. Dusty tannins, but not too dry or too oaky (25% new). Worthy of a commendable score in this vintage and will be great value! 16.5 Château Lafon-Rochet (4ème Cru Saint-Estèphe) (70 Cabernet Sauvignon, 30 Merlot) 13% alcohol, 50% new oak. Lovely sloe and wild berry notes and a slate-y coolness to this wine which is intriguing. The oak is spot on and there is no greenness. Not flamboyant, just calm, centred and refreshing. Delightful wine for the medium term. 16.5 Château Montrose (2ème Cru Saint-Estèphe) (68 Cabernet Sauvignon, 29 Merlot, 3 Petit Verdot) Stern with a curious red fruit core. Not very expressive. Blunt, blocky and rather dense, this is a closed and quite short Montrose with no real happiness let alone a charming welcome. Too short and a little too cramped. Interestingly, they avoided the massive rains on 4th October, but this clearly didn’t improve the friendliness of the final wine! It will evolve though, albeit slowly and no doubt find harmony in due course. 16.5+ Château Le Boscq (Saint-Estèphe) (61 Merlot, 34 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2 Cabernet Franc, 3 Petit Verdot) Structured, upright and cassis-driven. Not too dusty but quite tense and closed. Tannins are lovely and the fruit is classy. Surprisingly skilful. 16 Château Capbern Gasqueton (Saint-Estèphe – in the Calon Ségur portfolio) (91 Cabernet Sauvignon, 6 Merlot, 3 Petit Verdot) 13% alcohol, 36 hl/ha. According to winemaker, Vincent Millet, there was much less rain in Saint-Estèphe than in the rest of the northern Médoc. They started picking on 3 October with Merlot and then the 10th for Cabernet Sauvignon. This is the largest Cabernet percentage ever in this wine. No rot, nice balancing acidity, too. Only a touch of Merlot was used from the oldest blocks. This is a juicy, forward and exciting Capbern Gasqueton. It will drink well for a decade and it looks attractive already. 16 Château Meyney (Saint-Estèphe) Very hard attack of intense dark fruit but not bad style and while dry and raw on the finish this is a decent wine with some real energy and heart. Needs four or five years to settle down. 15.5+ Château Ormes de Pez (Saint-Estèphe) (46 Cabernet Sauvignon, 42 Merlot, 10 Cabernet Franc, 2 Petit Verdot) 45% new oak. Pretty good balance and in spite of the very dry tannins there is some brightness of fruit. Merlot is evident. Not bad at all. 15.5 Château de Pez (Saint-Estèphe) (74 Cabernet Sauvignon, 26 Merlot) 40% new oak. Pretty firm, punchy and not that complex but the obvious briary theme is well judged and it shows style and commitment. A little clunky but honest and not forced. 15.5 Château Phélan Ségur (Saint-Estèphe) (60 Cabernet Sauvignon, 40 Merlot) 50% new oak, 12.7% alcohol, 26hl/ha. Nice, honest and yet sadly a little sour on the finish. Good, open Phélan style but lacking drama and too abrupt and raw. 15.5
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Château Cos Labory (5ème Cru Saint-Estèphe) (68 Cabernet Sauvignon, 32 Merlot) 39hl/ha 50% new oak. There is a slightly rustic edge to this wine and it seems not to have been selected perfectly and/or picked on time. This is an older style of wine with some fading charm but not enough modern knowhow has been employed and 50% new oak is far too much in this vintage. The sourness is too dominant. 15 Château Tronquoy-Lalande (Saint-Estèphe - in the Montrose portfolio) (54 Merlot, 46 Cabernet 11% of production. Sour and dark and not the weight to carry it. A little austere and lean with Italianate tannins and grip. Rather feisty and a little resinous. Not bad but pretty tense. 15+ Château Haut-Marbuzet (Saint-Estèphe) Nice nose, but sour metallic palate and a very thin finish. Not remotely balanced. 14.5 PAUILLAC Château Lafite Rothschild (1er Cru Pauillac) (98 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2 Merlot) Exceptional depth of flavour for a wine that it medium-weight and also only 12.7% alc. They had to select around the botrytis in order to try to get more and more depth of flavour without any botrytis notes creeping in. Incredible, weightless and epic graphite and cassis fruit. This wine is an anomaly – fine, old style weight and yet with modern, bright fruit. Acidity and tannins are incredibly ripe and very pure. One of the most centred, elegant and clean wines of the vintage. Heroic weight (or lack of, I suppose!). Only half the normal yields. Charles Chevallier agreed with me that while he won’t want to make vintages like this every year it is like going back to the seventies only with cleaner, more pinpoint accurate fruit. For this reason and because I think it will age with grace and charm this wine merits the same score as last year’s wine and this makes it one of the wines of the vintage! 18.5+ Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste (5ème Cru Pauillac) (80 Cabernet Sauvignon, 20 Merlot) 13.2% alcohol. Yields were down 15% at 31 hl/ha. More exotic on the nose than expected in this vintage and initially beautifully velvety on the palate. The tannins are strict but not out of balance – this is a wine which will age well. There is clever balance here and the wine is finely tuned. Just the right amount of press wine has been added (10%) after very careful assessment of the stock. The feeling was that the more structured elements must be chosen to suit the character of the vintage. This careful addition has broadened the flavour without adding any of the harshness or sour notes of many of the other wines. This is a terrific, lighter-styled GPL with all of their own classic hallmarks and a really clean finish. A masterful piece of winemaking in a very difficult vintage hence the big score. 18+ Château Latour (1er Cru Pauillac) (95.3 Cabernet Sauvignon, 4.3 Merlot. 0.4 Petit Verdot). Only a small amount of Merlot was used from the oldest plot on clay soils. Seems to be unusually precocious for Latour. Will be 90% new oak when it is finished. Really quite focussed and fine. Good length and dark fruit but quite fresh and light. Interesting and quirky for Latour. No trace of greenness (pyroxenes) because of the short hot spell which knocked them out of the wine. Overall a relatively forward, unusual Latour, but one which will provide us with delicious drinking within the two decade mark. 18+ Château Pontet-Canet (5ème Cru Pauillac) (65 Cabernet Sauvignon, 30 Merlot, 4 Cabernet Franc, 1 Petit Verdot) 35% amphora, 50% new oak, 15% older oak, 13% alcohol. Floral nose with stunning violet notes, beautifully attractive and perfumed. A darker attack than many with buoyant fruit and a nice melodic finish. This is a
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superbly bright, moderately exotic and sensually textured wine. Only 15hl/ha makes is half of last year’s crop. Behind the delicacy of the nose there is some power all topped off with supple, juicy tannins. Another triumph for this stellar property. 18+ Château Mouton Rothschild (1er Cru Pauillac) (89 Cabernet Sauvignon, 7 Merlot, 4 Cabernet Franc) Very attractive nose with some density and a hint of richness on the palate. Smart oak detail and it’s controlled, too. The overall package on the palate is quite tense and focussed but there is some power hidden here. Not exclusively black fruited, there are lighter red notes, too – all rather suave. The nose is superb and it rather masks the lack of action on the palate at the moment. I trust it will develop further on the palate. 17.5+ Château Pichon Longueville, Comtesse de Lalande (2ème Cru Pauillac) (100 Cabernet Sauvignon) It’s no secret that I haven’t really enjoyed Pichon-Lalande for a long while. Granted occasional old bottles are impressive but in recent vintages the wines have lost focus. Not so in 2013. Because of the peculiarities of the vintage they decided to ditch the Merlot in favour of an incredible, mono-varietal wine. In spite of this it is still layered and fine. There is pencil lead and cassis throughout with gorgeous aromatic lift and well-judged balance. Clean, long and lithe and cleverly only utilising only 50% new oak this is a wine that kept me going back to the glass. At only 13% alcohol this is a fascinating and (surely?) collectible wine! 17.5 Château Lynch Bages (5ème Cru Pauillac) (72 Cabernet Sauvignon, 20 Merlot, 6 Cabernet Franc, 2 Petit Verdot) 75% new oak. A typically lovely, hedonistic, black cherry nose kicks off proceedings well. The palate tries to be rich and it just about succeeds. Initially structured and imposing it, however, runs out of steam on the back palate and ends a little épuisée (exhausted). This is an impressive story with a gripping first half and a predictable ending. Disappointingly short from this Château, but nice while it lasts. 17+ Château Pichon-Longueville-Baron (2ème Cru Pauillac) (82 Cabernet Sauvignon, 18 Merlot) This wine was made from a single plot of vines on a plateau overlooking Château Latour. This was by far the finest grapes that they harvested so it because a single vineyard wine. The terroir here really asserted itself. They have toned everything down in 2013 – using around 60% new oak rather than 80%. It is the smallest amount of wine made here ever. In the 90s they made around 30000 cases. Between 2000 and 2011 they concentrated the yields (and regained a lot of their lost street cred in making some superb wines) and averaged 15000 cases. 2012 was only 12000 cases. In 2013 Pichon-Baron made only 10000 cases thanks to the appalling coulure and millerandage from the awful weather earlier in the season. This is a discreetly macho Pichon with very nice, silky fruit and a lovely blackcurrant theme. The big slug of Cabernet has added some bravado without the usual accompanying weight and tannin. This is a rare style of wine and I like it. 17 Château d’Armailhac (5ème Cru Pauillac) (59 Cabernet Sauvignon, 28 Merlot, 12 Cabernet Franc, 1 Petit Verdot) Quite sharp and spicy on the finish more akin to a new-wave Barbera on account of the high acidity. Good, juicy black fruit initially but quite light and rather lean on the finish. The oak sits on top which is a little strange but it is not dominant. Overall this is a lighter, shorter and leaner wine than normal. It is balanced but not riveting. 16.5
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Château Duhart-Milon (4ème Cru Pauillac) (80 Cabernet Sauvignon, 20 Merlot) Quite sour, hard and compact but it seems balanced. The whole package is lighter than expected but there is harmony here and the tannins are fit and refreshing. Good, classy, red fruit finish. The wine fades from black to red gently. 16.5+ Château Haut-Batailley (5ème Cru Pauillac) (76 Cabernet Sauvignon, 26 Merlot) François-Xavier Borie explained that this is ‘not a motorway vintage like 2010’ as he whooshed his hand thought the air. In 2013 he said that they ‘have to be careful where we are going’. Quite right. With less fruit and class than Grand-Puy-Lacoste this wine has a more classical Pauillac nose with more upright fruit and a linear feel. Less plump and more sinewy with prickly tannins and dusty, plum fruit this is a nice wine but you would have to be a Pauillac purist to appreciate its character. For many this would be too much to ask. There is a cool, graphite, stony underbelly which suits the regal Cabernet berries, but the lack of flair ultimately lets is down. 16.5+ Château Clerc-Milon (5ème Cru Pauillac) (58 Cabernet Sauvignon, 27 Merlot, 12 Cabernet Franc, 2 Petit Verdot, 1 Carmenère) This is a lot more interesting on the nose than its stablemate d’Armailhac and this is probably down to the full brochure of five grapes. Red fruit dominates and there is spice, brightness and lift. It is well balanced, quite succulent and red wine gummy. The acidity is delicious and the overall feel is of an older style wine but with very clean and refreshing red fruit. Will age fast, but that’s no bad thing. 16 Château Haut-Bages Libéral (5ème Cru Pauillac) (70 Cabernet Sauvignon, 30 Merlot) Fruit-driven, with a cassis nose, HBL is a little one-dimensional and lacking in clarity and there are touches of greenness, but this is a commendable stab at a tricky vintage. I would prefer it if there was more clearly defined core fruit and less harsh extraction on the finish. 16 Château Pibran (Pauillac) (52 Cabernet Sauvignon, 48 Merlot) 13% alcohol. They made a tiny production in 2013. 35% of fruit was left on the ground. This has resulted in a very calm, complete, focussed and bright wine. There is a nice and touch of spice here and the Merlot element has worked quite well. Good luck and judgement left them with decent Merlot and it makes this wine intriguing in a vintage bereft of this grape in this commune! 16 Château Batailley (5ème Cru Pauillac) (94 Cabernet Sauvignon, 4 Merlot, 2 Petit Verdot) Rather green and a little too dusty and dry throughout. The nose is hard and oaky and the fruit is forced and blunt. There is a decent core right in the centre but I can’t see it breaking out or ever gaining true balance. This is an example of an old-fashioned wine which hasn’t responded very well to this vintage’s challenges. 15.5+ Château Pédesclaux (5ème Cru Pauillac) Decent fruit intensity and while not completely ripe there is some good weight and nice balance. The tannins are a little hard but these will even out leaving a fairly simple wine. 15 Château Croizet-Bages (5ème Cru Pauillac) (58 Cabernet Sauvignon, 42 Merlot) Blunt, green and very tannic, this is a horribly sour wine with little redeeming fruit or features. 14
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Château Grand-Puy Ducasse (5ème Cru Pauillac) (60 Cabernet Sauvignon, 40 Merlot) Grubby, rather short and green and too dry throughout and vegetal. Sadly, there is little class here and there is a notable absence of bright fruit. 14 Château Lynch-Moussas (5ème Cru Pauillac) (94 Cabernet Sauvignon, 4 Merlot) Weedy and grubby with light red fruit throughout and a fizzy finish. No discernible Cabernet in the mix which is odd – seems too washed out and mouldy. 14 SAINT-JULIEN Château Ducru-Beaucaillou (2ème Cru Saint-Julien) (90 Cabernet Sauvignon, 10 Merlot) This is an incredibly exciting wine with a luscious core of fruit and a moresih finish. Superbly suave and sexy and not too strict or tannic thanks to careful extraction there are no sour notes whatsoever on the finish. If you tried to overcompensate for lack of structure and extracted too much brawn in this vintage you made a grave error. Ducru has nailed the balance here with very sensitive winemaking. Only 7.5% press wine was added and this has resulted in a silky beast which grows on the mid-palate. Very smart and very polished, this is not a long-lived, contemplative D-B, but it is a stunning 2013 and it will drink early and this is something to celebrate. 18 Château Léoville Barton (2ème Cru Saint-Julien) (85 Cabernet Sauvignon, 15 Merlot) Yields were 35 hl/ha. New oak is a very controlled 60%. The fruit is strict, tight, focussed and dark. The tannins are firm and grainy but they are complemented by lovely, dark, cassis fruit. There is a touch of blackcurrant leaf and plum, too. The tannins are not too heavy on the finish and it will soften well in the short term. Impressive claret with very nice, classical lines. 17.5+ Château Léoville-Las Cases (2ème Cru Saint-Julien) (74 Cabernet Sauvignon, 14 Cabernet Franc, 12 Merlot) With 10% press wine and 85% new oak this is a powerful, dense spicy Las Cases. Pretty good balance but slimmer and more muscular than before. More of a cage fighter than a fencer! There are small flashes of greenness among the cassis fruit which are not off-putting, but they seem to tighten the tannins further making the whole wine seem a bit combative and dry. There is a huge difference in mood between this wine and the lush Clos du Marquis. 17.5++ Château Gruaud Larose (2ème Cru Saint-Julien) (77 Cabernet Sauvignon, 21 Merlot, 2 Cabernet Franc) 100% new oak, 12.75% alcohol. Pretty lively attack on the nose - interesting stats to say the least. I wondered if the wine would be too slim and too oaky but the Cabernet fruit has sucked up the oak and in spite of a dry, tannic palate this wine seems to be showing signs of decent balance. There is a hint of sweetness in the core and everything should fall into line in time. 17+ Château Léoville Poyferré (2ème Cru Saint-Julien) (65 Cabernet Sauvignon, 26 Merlot, 6 Petit Verdot, 3 Cabernet Franc) There is an unexpected and rather aggressive finish here. The dry, rasping tannins, which penetrate the cassis fruit throughout the taste, leave the wine tart and as the body is lighter overall it tends to make the whole wine taste rather sour. The nose is discreet and not unattractive, but it will need time to age in order to soften the grainy tannins. They will fade but will this happen when the bright cherry and mulberry fruit has lost its lustre? I think it will be ok, but it will be a close run thing. 17+
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Château Beychevelle (4ème Cru Saint-Julien) (55 Cabernet Sauvignon, 36 Merlot, 9 Petit Verdot) 50% new oak, 13% alcohol. A nice open red fruit nose with some purity and attack. A little dry and sour on account of the oak but a very good attempt and a lovely red cherry theme which drags out the finish well. Good wine considering I am not normally a fan. 16.5 Château Branaire-Ducru (4ème Cru Saint-Julien) (63 Cabernet Sauvignon, 31 Merlot, 5 Petit Verdot, 1 Cabernet Franc) 60% new oak. Quite silky and smooth and the fruit seems more focussed and also more expressive than many. The oak sits in the background and the fruit is layered and classy. It could do with more control because it drifts away a little on the finish. 16.5 Clos de Marquis (Saint-Julien - in the Léoville-Las Cases portfolio) (73 Cabernet Sauvignon, 18 Merlot, 9 Cabernet Franc) Very forward and seemingly complete. Superbly suave, genial and rounded. This is a delicious wine with none of the usual serious CdM furrowed brow, but a happy, open air and a fine flavour. 16.5 Château Langoa Barton (3ème Cru Saint-Julien) (65 Cabernet Sauvignon, 30 Merlot, 5 Cabernet Franc) Very pure with dusty cherry and raspberry notes. Totally charming and pretty impressive considering there is 60% new oak on board – you cannot sense this at all. Classy, medium weight, friendly and with nice potential for the medium term. 16.5 Château Saint-Pierre (4ème Cru Saint-Julien) (74 Cabernet Sauvignon, 18 Merlot, 8 Cabernet Franc) 50% new oak, 13% alcohol. Quite dry and masculine (as always) and there is some power here, too. The trademark, suave Saint-Pierre fruit is overtaken by the oak though and I can’t see this coming into true equilibrium. I rate this Château and I wish that they had calmed the oak down a bit. It’s an opportunity lost, but this is still an imposing wine. 16.5+ Château Talbot (4ème Cru Saint-Julien) (78 Cabernet Sauvignon, 18 Merlot, 4 Petit Verdot) 55% new oak, 13% alcohol. Quite plummy and bright with nicely judged fruit. Some minty notes but they are clean and not astringent. Oak is well balanced and juicy, too. Good, straightforward, classic St-Julien. 16.5 Château Lagrange (3ème Cru Saint-Julien) (75 Cabernet Sauvignon, 21 Merlot, 4 Petit Verdot) 60% new oak, 13.3% alcohol. This is a feisty wine and it has a classic cassis core with a suit of oak armour (as always). Shame it cannot be more subtle in a vintage like this. The oak heavy-handedness is better but surely in 2013 it could be tempered? It’s such a shame. The fruit is accordingly pristine but a little sappy. 16 Château Lalande-Borie (Saint-Julien - in the Ducru-Beaucaillou portfolio) (70 Cabernet Sauvignon, 26 Merlot, 4 Cabernet Franc) Very forward and juicy and some touches of oak, development and leather but pretty well knit already. Smooth, sultry and fragrant. A little tannic on the finish. 16 Château du Glana (Saint-Julien) Gentle cherry nose and a nice, balanced feel. Good length, weight, innocence and fruitiness. This is not overly complex but it is well made. 15.5
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Château Gloria (Saint-Julien) (68 Cabernet Sauvignon, 23 Merlot, 5 Petit Verdot, 4 Cabernet Franc) 45% new oak, 13% alcohol. Nice, open, cherry nose but slightly dull mid-palate and a grubby, disjointed finish. Oak is not great, bullying the slightly unclean fruit – it’s all a bit too short and raw. 15 MARGAUX Château Margaux (1er Cru Margaux) (94 Cabernet Sauvignon, 5 Cabernet Franc, 1 Petit Verdot) Floral and lovely graphite notes. All of the best plots were used and no Merlot made the grade. Super-fresh, superbly clean and tangy tannins. Nice rose petal and rosehip notes and much lighter and spicier than usual. Tight but not aggressive finish with a cool, calming Zen like feel. 22hl/ha for the reds compared to 39hl/ha in 2012. Supple and perhaps too subtle for a big score. This is a pretty easy wine to understand and it lacks the majesty of a more traditional Margaux offering. Thibault Pontallier indicated that there would be a ‘goodwill gesture’ regarding the pricing of their wines. Let’s hope so. 17.5 Château Rauzan-Ségla (2ème Cru Margaux) (58 Cabernet Sauvignon, 39 Merlot, 2 Petit Verdot, 1 Cabernet Franc) With 70% new oak this could be a bit of a beast but the fruit is very lush considering the frailties of many Margaux in 2013. The nose is stunning with layers of red fruit and the texture is flamboyant and the finish superbly long. There are feisty, boisterous tannins but these are highlighted by delicious red cherry notes. The oak is awesomely well-judged, too. A triumph in this difficult vintage. 17.5+ Château Palmer (3ème Cru Margaux) (51 Cabernet Sauvignon, 49 Merlot) There is much more volume and richness on the nose than the second wine Alter Ego (see below) but unfortunately its accompanied by dusty tannins and too many green notes! Granted the colour is dark and glossy thanks to the lower than normal fermentation temperatures but I can’t see it balancing out fully. They are using 60% new oak and reckon on only 16 months to retain freshness. There is very little production (3800 cases) this year. Aside from the velvety Burgundian texture and black cherry fruit this is not an overly complex wine but it is very pretty. 17 Château Angludet (Cantenac, Margaux) (32 Merlot, 56 Cabernet Sauvignon, 12 Petit Verdot) 31hl/ha. Lovely, plump and juicy with smooth fruit and a clean, fresh finish. Stunning weight and balance, with moments of refreshing mint this is a big, juicy hug of blackberry fruit – impressive, straightforward, not trying too hard and nailing it. Drinking already this is a cracking wine and one which everyone will adore! 16.5 Château Desmirail (3ème Cru Margaux) With an oaky, sexy nose and a red berry compote melange of flavours this is a pretty impressive wine. The whole package is pretty slick and the oak highlights the spicier elements in the fruit without pulverising them. This is a very well made wine considering the vintage. 16.5 Château Labégorce (Margaux) Quite serious intensity and very controlled oak integration and tannin management. Not overly layered but one loud message of velvety fruit. Good, professionally glossy wine. 16.5 Château Malescot St-Exupéry (3ème Cru Margaux) There is very attractive plum fruit on the nose and a silky palate without much intrusive oak or drying tannin. This is a clever and immediately appealing wine with a clear, bright message. There are a few darker notes hidden in the depths, too. Accomplished winemaking. 16.5
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Château Brane-Cantenac (2ème Cru Margaux) A more discreet, quieter nose of spicy juniper, plum and sloe. Nothing too impressive happening, but a quiet confidence seems to be present. Overall this is a touch too oaky for the sotto voce fruit, but it will even out, I expect, given time. 16+ Château Ferrière (3ème Cru Margaux) A decent example of a Margaux with nice, juicy, red fruit. There is a good texture, too, and nothing is too overblown. There is even succulence on the palate and even though it is more red than black in fruit tone this is a good effort - forward and stylish. 16 Château Dauzac (5ème Cru Margaux) Abrupt on account of the tannins, but a nice black fruit flavour while it lasts. Good nose and nice effort. Will need four or five years to soften though but it will be a chunky little fruit bomb in due course. 15.5 Château Durfort-Vivens (2ème Cru Margaux) Rather dry, hard and the fruit is a little too cooked, too. The palate is blunt and sour and the tannins are horribly out of shape. Even the core fruit is flat. Disappointing. 15.5 Château d’Issan (3ème Cru Margaux) Not bad fruit intensity but quite severe and pinched throughout when it could be juicier, more fruit-driven and relaxed. The core cassis fruit is ok but the oak and severity of extraction is off-putting. Too angular and lean. 15.5 Château Kirwan (3ème Cru Margaux) Dense, dark and oaky with a hard texture and joyless fruit. There is not much break in the oak or tannin. Brooding, possibly, and certainly requiring five plus years to soften, I worry that it is too dry and one-dimensional. 15.5 Château Lascombes (2ème Cru Margaux) More intense and much oakier than its own second wine but seemingly not much better. Too much carpentry and the fruit is far too forced and raw. It will not all soften out. Grainy and harsh. 15.5+ Château Marquis de Terme (4ème Cru Margaux) Very oaky and quite dense and chunky. There is a good core of pumped-up dark fruit but this is at the expense of length. Must have used very potent press wine? Bit too blocky and inelegant. 15.5 Château Monbrison (Margaux) Pretty classy nose, nice lift and oak detail. Fruit is lush but the finish disappointingly dry and raw. A game of two halves, having said this I bet that it will just about work out and I don’t say that very often. 15.5 Château Giscours (3ème Cru Margaux) Slightly hairy/pelty nose with sour, black fruit with an uneven, grainy finish. No harmony here at all, just coarse ingredients hastily assembled. Too raw throughout. 15 Château Prieuré-Lichine (4ème Cru Margaux) A little too quiet and restrained on the nose. Hollow palate, too sharp and the fruit dips. Decent flavour of black fruit towards the centre but awkward balance. 15
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Château Rauzan-Gassies (2ème Cru Margaux) Flat and lean and rather mean, too. The fruit is not fleshy or juicy just a little hollow and dank. Not on form. Tasted three times! 15 Château Cantenac Brown (3ème Cru Margaux) Very open, obvious, simple and dull. The oak seems smelly and there is nothing really happening on the palate. This wine is lacklustre throughout. 14.5 Château La Gurgue (Margaux) Raw, vegetal and far too much sour skin and over maceration flavours. Oak is hard as well. Not ripe enough and a little mouldy. 14.5 Château Siran (Margaux) Very oaky and rather forced with leathery, red fruit and odd balance. No juiciness at all with grainy tannins too. 14.5 Château du Tertre (5ème Cru Margaux) Very dull and almost smoky /peaty on the nose. Not ripe enough and the fruit is muted and lifeless. Not impressive. 14 Château Marquis d’Alesme Becker (3ème Cru Margaux) n/t Château Boyd-Cantenac (3ème Cru Margaux) n/t LISTRAC-EN-MÉDOC Château Ducluzeau (Listrac-Médoc) (50 Merlot, 50 Cabernet Franc) Lovely, forward, juicy, clean and tangy. Spot on. No trace of greenness and pretty impressive. 15.5 Château Fonréaud (Listrac-Médoc) Bright fruit with a jolly level of tannin. This is a simple wine but it’s rewarding and decent. Slightly cool finish but not unripe. 15.5 Château Clarke (Listrac-Médoc) Very raw on the finish and a little metallic and hard, too. The fruit seems to be open and ripe but this door is slammed shut by the strident tannins. It may even out but not to true balance. 15+ Château Fourcas Dupré (Listrac-Médoc) (63 Merlot, 30 Cabernet Sauvignon, 7 Petit Verdot) Sour and rustic and a distinct lack of charming fruit core. Dull finish, too. Needs more lift and the tannins are far too abrupt for this scale of wine. 14.5 Château Fourcas Hosten (Listrac-Médoc) Dull and metallic. Too tough and rather blunt. Oak is too coarse and this ruins the fruit, not that there is much on display. 14
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MOULIS-EN-MÉDOC Château Chasse-Spleen (Moulis-en-Médoc) Punchy, bright and firm with well-seasoned woodsmoke oak over quite bold, pumped-up fruit. Nice and brave and just about stays in balance. Dark cherry and spice. Needs 4+ years to settle down. 16.5+ Château Poujeaux (Moulis-en-Médoc) (50 Cabernet Sauvignon, 40 Merlot, 5 Cabernet Franc, 5 Petit Verdot) Quite oaky, powerful and dry but the fruit is very compact and dark so it seems to be able to manage it. Some nice forest fruits/Merlot notes underneath. 16+ Château Mauvesin Barton (Moulis-en-Médoc) (46 Merlot, 36 Cabernet Sauvignon, 16 Cabernet Franc, 2 Petit Verdot) Good, energetic, bright and quite light and red fruited. Not bad throughout with crunchy cherry fruit. Very forward. 15.5 Château Malmaison (Moulis-en-Médoc) Rather tangy and a little leathery and raw, this is a muscular, blunt wine. The nose is slightly too feral. A near miss. 14.5 Château Maucaillou (Moulis-en-Médoc) Tough oak, very over extracted and raw - not pleasant. Wild fruit and serious amounts of press wine here. Ugly. 14 HAUT-MÉDOC Château La Lagune (3ème Cru Ludon, Haut-Médoc) The finished blend for La Lagune was not assembled by Caroline Frey and her team in time for the en primeur week of tastings. But she very kindly showed me the four main constituent elements and I was mightily impressed. The bad news is that the harvest was down to a tiny 19hl/ha. Merlot suffered enormously, as it did everywhere on the Left Bank, and so the final wine will have a large proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon in the mix – perhaps as high as 95%. The four separate cuvées were all striking (an old vines selection was epic!), with incredible purity and delicious, lip-smacking tannins. They all looked beautifully balanced, too. Three of them were fine enough, in my opinion, to stand alone as separate finished wines – yes, they were that good! I am intrigued as to what the final wine will be and I look forward to tasting it in due course. Suffice to say that taking an average of the scores in my notes for the four cuvées is not the right way to go about assessing an unblended wine and so I will hold fire on an exact figure until I have seen the final blend. Having said this, I expect that it will be one of the top wines in its peer group. ? Château Sociando-Mallet (Haut-Médoc) Oak and power are evident here and there is some grip and dryness on the finish, but it is all in balance. Sturdy and dusty but with decent impact this is a characteristically well made wine and I trust that it will be good value on release. Not an investment in financial terms, but a good bet for your own cellar for classic Sunday lunch drinking. 16.5+ Château Belgrave (5ème Cru St.-Laurent, Haut-Médoc) (51 Merlot, 44 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2 Cabernet Franc, 3 Petit Verdot) There is a good attack of dusty cassis berries on the nose and palate. The texture is slick and it’s quite dark in colour. The tannins are very clean and crisp and while it is fairly slim and closed on the finish now I anticipate a fairly swift mellowing. Decent wine – a modern interpretation of a bygone era. 16
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Château Cantemerle (5ème Cru Macau, Haut-Médoc) Fragrant, delicious and lighter in frame than I have tasted in years this is a pretty, bright, primary-fruited wine with masses of red notes – almost Pinot Noir-like in texture. The acid and tannin levels are both refreshing if a little punchy, but this is a charming wine for medium-term pleasure. 16 Château de Lamarque (Lamarque, Haut-Médoc) A delicious wine. Terrific, dark, sooty fruit with a delicious core of plum and dark chocolate. Great spice and heart. Lovely and quite forward. Always a joy and will not cost the earth! 16 Château Citran (Haut-Médoc) Very aromatic and oaky, but the palate is bright, juicy, slightly herbal and decent. Acid is raw but it will soften. Well made considering. 15.5 Château de Camensac (5ème Cru St.-Laurent, Haut-Médoc) Very nice depth with some liquorice and spice here, too. Nice wine with balance and depth. Good effort in a difficult year. The tannins are a little raw at the finish but this is a decent wine. 15.5 Château Sénéjac (Haut-Médoc) Honest, a bit dry, but nice cassis fruit and a decent, medium-length finish. A little old-fashioned on the nose but forgivable. 15.5 Château Bernadotte (Haut-Médoc) Pretty dry and sour but there is some nice violet fruit underneath this and in spite of hard tannins there is some style here. 15 Château Reysson (Haut-Médoc) Quite bright, a strawberry-fruited wine with not bad length and nice tannins. A little oaky on the nose and a little clumsy but it will even out given a few years. 15 Château Beaumont (Haut-Médoc) Clean, bright, simple and immediate. Short and crunchy but no real class. Very forward, too, and quite vegetal on the finish. Only ok. 14.5 Château Clément-Pichon (Haut-Médoc) Rather too forced and muddy. Bit too dank, no lifted fruit notes and the oak is too spirity, too. 14.5 Château Lanessan (Haut-Médoc) Nice round nose but grainy oak and rather a grubby, dark, soupy finish. Should have lightened the whole thing up to achieve balance. 14.5 Château Larrivaux (Haut-Médoc) Short, rather too hollow and lacking in fruit density. Too flat and sharp on finish. 14.5 Château La Tour Carnet (4ème Cru St.-Laurent, Haut-Médoc) Dry, sour and pumped up and a usually dark but not bad aromatic lift. Sadly all too coarse on the palate. There are decent blackberry notes here but it is too short and stubby. Needs more length and it feels too manipulated and commercial. 14.5
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Château Coufran (Haut-Médoc) (85 Merlot, 15 Cabernet Sauvignon) Dry, weedy, red fruit. Poor texture, really sour and unripe. 14 MÉDOC Château Potensac (Médoc) (49 Cabernet Sauvignon, 20 Cabernet Franc, 30 Merlot, 1 Petit Verdot) Lot of flower shatter in the old Merlot. 1/3 new oak. Quite sexy and full and very focussed on the finish. Good sinew and more red than dark in fruit terms. Pretty pure as well. This is a good effort for Potensac and it will age well. 16.5+ Goulée (Médoc - in the Cos d’Estournel portfolio) (60 Merlot, 33 Cabernet, 7 Cabernet Franc) They lost a lot of crop with coulure and millerandage and had to harvest twice to get rid of unwanted berries. It was the warmest August in 60 years. Heat burned off the pyroxenes (which was weird but welcome according to Dominique Arangoits). This is a juicy, but low alcohol wine at 12.6%. It is old-fashioned but ripe – a stylistic anomaly. I am not usually a Goulée fan but this is a well made, classy, forward-drinking wine. 16 Château La Tour de By (Médoc) Fresh red fruit on the nose, gentle oak and well managed tannins mean this is a calm wine which embraces the vintage’s traits rather than fighting them. 15 GRAVES RED WINES Château Rahoul Rouge Good, bright, sleek fruit with dusty tannins and a nice black cherry finish. Not very long, but decent and correct. 15.5 Château de Chantegrive Rouge Pure and bright - classic Graves shape. Very forward and pretty, but a little one-dimensional. Nice clean fruit and gently oaked. 15 Château Ferrande Rouge A little too oaky and dry but decent fruit intensity and not at all heavy, just plump. Ok. 15 GRAVES WHITE WINES Château Rahoul Blanc More grip and verve and less obvious oak. Nicely balanced. 16.5 Château Ferrande Blanc Soft and forward but no more interest than a Sauvignon de Touraine with oak. Too simple. 15.5 Château de Chantegrive Blanc Quite aspiriny and lemony. Not pure enough for me and too oaky for the shape of the fruit. 15 PESSAC-LÉOGNAN RED WINES Château Haut-Brion (1er Cru Graves) (50 Merlot, 46 Cabernet Sauvignon, 4 Cabernet Franc) Only 28hl/ha instead of 44hl/ha in a normal vintage. There were only 5000 cases of Haut-Brion and 3000 cases of La Mission Haut-Brion made - these are the smallest yields since 1991 (and its brutal frost). You have to go back to 1969 to find a vintage with this much rain. Taste-wise, the nose is incredibly attractive, with
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hedgerow fruit (unusually in this vintage the Merlot shines through), woodsmoke, tobacco and bark. The palate is concentrated, classical, as always, balanced and polished with serious length, too. The wine is tannic though. Prince Robert of Luxembourg thinks it is a forward H-B, but I sense a hard edge here which will need to soften. As this noble creation can live for 70 years, perhaps he means it will drink well in 25 years! 18++ Château La Mission Haut-Brion Rouge (65 Merlot, 32 Cabernet Sauvignon, 3 Cabernet Franc) There is rather good balance here in spite of the very strict tannins. They are refreshing, not hard, which makes the wine grippingly exciting. A shorter 2 week maceration (as opposed to 3 week) meant that the fruit is tender and the palate shows more finesse. They only pumped-over at the beginning and decreased new oak by 10-20%. This has resulted in vibrant mulberry tones, luscious impact and tart acidity. It is so much livelier and musical than other leaden-footed Pessac-Léognan wines. 17.5+ Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion Strict, tart and lean with a really strong punch of fruit this seems far too dry to even out but I wouldn’t bet against it. There is a long finish and it’s layered with plum and prune fruit and dark chocolate, too. Interesting, but needs time to settle. 17+ Château Haut-Bailly Rouge Very oaky nose and quite sleek black fruit and seemingly balanced. Good power and length. Impressive, but it will only work if the oak calms down. 17+ Château Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge Oaky and pumped-up, there is a core of good fruit here with depth and blackberry purity. Good potential but tannins will hold it back for a while! 17+ Clos Marsalette Rouge (55 Merlot, 43 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2 Cabernet Franc) 50% new oak. Interesting balance and nice weight and stony freshness. Quite grippy and yet more than enough juiciness and touches of liquorice to keep me interested. 16.5 Château Malartic Lagravière Rouge Good depth of fruit and concentration, but the oak is huge and the fruit can only just handle it. This will need to settle down and I think it will need 5 years to do so, but this is a good wine. 16.5+ Domaine de Chevalier Rouge (63 Cabernet Sauvignon, 30 Merlot, 5 Petit Verdot, 2 Cabernet Franc) Dry, tart, lean and herbal and lacking in ripe fruit, this is a hard wine to enjoy at this stage. Slight pruney notes on finish give some hope but no matter how hard I look I cannot see this wine evening out. 16+ Château Pape Clément Rouge Oaky and charry and rather too extracted, there is a bit too much of every element for true balance and it doesn’t suit the vintage. 16+ Château Picque Caillou Rouge Not too oaky or dry, which is refreshing and welcome. The fruit is allowed to be heard which means that this is a forward, smooth, stylish wine. 16
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Château de Fieuzal Rouge Blunt and lacking in ripeness and overall the whole experience is a little too flat and solid. The oak is not at all well integrated in to the whole. 15.5 Château Larrivet Haut-Brion Rouge Nice oaky nose, but sour green fruit and this doesn’t meld well. Too out of balance and too resinous to be truly enjoyable. 15.5 Château Latour-Martillac Rouge Very hard tannins masking quite bright, but over-macerated, fruit. What a shame. There is some class under the carpentry but we will never see it clearly. 15.5 Château Olivier Rouge Not too oaky but the fruit is sour and there are green elements in there. Too harsh and raw – needs to be riper. 15 Château Bouscaut Rouge Too sour and over-extracted. The oak is too pungent and raw and there is no balance for the gravy-like fruit. 14.5 Château Carbonnieux Rouge Very dry and the fruit is completely overpowered by sour tannins and an unpleasant oaky finish. 14.5 Château La Louvière Rouge Sour oak and incredibly dry fruit with almost curranty flavours. Very dull and aggressive. 14.5 Château de France Rouge Too dull and boggy. Not clean enough and the oak is too sappy and resinous. 14 Château Haut-Bergey Rouge Too simple and clumsy and not demonstrably Bordeaux-like. 14 PESSAC-LÉOGNAN WHITE WINES Château Haut-Brion Blanc (66 Sauvignon Blanc, 34 Semillon) Very long and very detailed this is a dense and forceful wine with a much more masculine outlook than La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc. There are very pretty jasmine and mimosa notes here overlaying a full-bodied, but very long and balanced palate. The acidity and grip are both incredible. This is a seriously well-balanced wine with very pure oak notes and some attractive patisserie nuances, too. It continues its reign as one of France’s truly great white wines. 18.5+ Château La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc (76 Semillon, 24 Sauvignon Blanc) Exceptional class and depth here and the use of oak is beautiful. It has added serious class to the wine. Good length, with lemon balm and mint notes. The flavour intensity grows on the palate and there are mouth-watering herb and sweet spice notes which appear late in the finish. Superb style, lovely balance throughout and relatively forward, too. 18+
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Clos Marsalette Blanc (50 Sauvignon Blanc, 50 Semillon) 30% new oak. Only a 1ha vineyard! Very pretty style and really gentle and calm with light lemon tart fruit. Stunning and balletic. 17.5 La Clarté de Haut-Brion Blanc (second wine of Haut-Brion Blanc) (61 Semillon, 39 Sauvignon Blanc) Very bright and agrume-drenched. Crisp, tangy and bright with very keen acidity. This is a long wine with terrific control on the oak. 17+ Château Malartic Lagravière Blanc A markedly different style to many of the wines in this vintage with mineral notes and lemony, powder-puff fruit. Not bad impact right now but it will develop nicely. Sauvignon-marked with nice raspy acidity. 17 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc Structured, tense and lavishly oaked this seems like a keeper on first tasting but it will look smarter in its youth than when it broadens out and shows too much oily fruit and oak. Drink within the next four years. 17 Château Bouscaut Blanc Quite raw acidity and a nice enough lemon sherbet flavours on the palate. Primary fruited and not showing much complexity. 16.5 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc Rather dull and solid and somewhat grainy and hard. There is some nice fruit under the oak but not enough clarity for it to shine through yet. 16.5+ Château Larrivet Haut-Brion Blanc Pretty lime juice notes, bright energy and decent weight this is a touch oaky but at least it is relatively integrated. 16.5 Château Latour-Martillac Blanc Moderately oaky but the fruit is expressive and it can handle it. Not bad and decent depth – I think this is a nicely balanced and relatively forward wine. 16.5 Château Pape Clément Blanc Dense, oily, layered and oaky. There are not bad fruit characters here for this style of wine but it’s rather unusual and powerful. It certainly needs time to lose the resinous notes. 16.5+ Château Picque Caillou Blanc Juicy and lemony with a touch of honey, too, this is a straightforward but delicious wine to attack soon. 16.5 Château de Fieuzal Blanc Light and lemony but still tart enough to pierce the palate with its decent acidity. This is a nice, simple, modern style for de Fieuzal. 16 Château La Louvière Blanc Odd minty fruit and slightly soapy notes, but the clumsiness seems honest and it ought to age fairly well for a hefty style. I won’t be drinking it though. 16
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Château Olivier Blanc A little raw and stripped and it could do with more depth of fruit and purity. It’s all a bit too hard and joyless. 15 Château Carbonnieux Blanc Quite oily and histamine / beeswax style which I don’t enjoy at all. Not very pure or refreshing. Chunky and tough. 14.5 Château de France Blanc Oaky and a touch bloomy and feral. Seems a little fake like air freshener. 14.5 Château Haut-Bergey Blanc Very simple and dilute. Poor fruit quality. Dull finish and hot alcohol burn, too. 14 SAUTERNES & BARSAC Château d’Yquem (1er Cru, Supérieur Sauternes) (70 Semillon, 30 Sauvignon Blanc) 150gm/L sugar. Cool weather followed by hot weather and then muggy weather = perfect botrytis. Yquem has the benefit of maturing on the vine fairly early so they managed to get the grapes harvested in between each downpour and before the rain set in for good. This is a very typical botrytised style of Yquem but there is also very strident acidity on board thanks to the high acid and percentage of Sauvignon of it has incredible lime juice freshness and lift. While not as classic as ’09, ’10 or ’11 this is still a lovely wine with a very long future ahead of it. They declassified 60% of the harvest and only made 80000 bottles. This is a very good, but not exceptional Yquem with green pineapple, wild flower and barely sugar notes all infused into a lime chassis. This is certainly one of the wines of the vintage. 18.5+ Château Guiraud (1er Cru, Sauternes) (65 Semillon, 35 Sauvignon) Picked in five tries before the rain (the first three went into the Grand Vin) this is a terrific Guiraud. The colour is laser-beam green-gold and the nose is stunning. The greengage and mojito tang is sensational and there are croquant praliné details throughout. Delicious. 18+ Château Rieussec (1er Cru, Fargues) Much finer nose and far more detail than almost every other wine at the UGC tasting. Exotic, floral, orange zesty and caramel-kissed. Lovely balance and a long way to go, this is a sumptuous wine. 18+ Château Suduiraut (1er Cru, Preignac) Botrytis on much higher acid grapes than usual, as opposed to on fat sweet grapes – this gives the wine more lift, precision and brightness. Delicious pineapple notes and while there is 145 gm/L of residual sugar it is exquisitely balanced. 18+ Château La Tour Blanche (1er Cru, Bommes) Very intense, with great body and succulence. The theme is clean, creamy lemon tart nuances with a lovely viscous texture. 18+ Château Coutet (1er Cru, Barsac) Pretty, floral and lighter than many but underneath the surface there is a dense body of citrus tones and great acidity. 17.5+
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Château Doisy-Védrines (2ème Cru, Barsac) Very brûléed on the nose with superb honey and nut elements. Quite serious and nice depth of fruit but very closed at the moment. I think this will blossom beautifully given time. 17.5+ Château de Fargues (Fargues) More luscious and a darker in colour than many Sauternes, with more apricot than lemon tones. Some Demerara sugar nuances, too. Superb and quite exotic. 17.5 Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey (1er Cru, Bommes) Fresh, lighter than expected (given the fanfare surrounding the new owner cutting the production significantly) with lime leaf and white flower notes. Delicious if a little underpowered. 17.5+ Château Bastor-Lamontagne (Preignac) A tart citrus nose with high acid, lovely freshness and just a touch of waxiness. This is a clean, bright wine with some character and bite but not much complexity. 17+ Château Doisy Daëne (2ème Cru, Barsac) Pretty, primary and quite lightweight. This is a silkily textured wine but it is not complex and it seems to be rather lacking in balancing acidity. Forward-drinking and mildly diverting. 17 Château Filhot (2ème Cru, Sauternes) Interesting nose and complex message with slightly brave musky notes among the honey and floral aromas. Good acidity. A departure from the usual Filhot model. 17+ Château de Rayne Vigneau (1er Cru, Bommes) Refreshing and quite open, if a little simpler than some. Nice gentle fruit and a great balance of tart acidity. 17+ Château Siglas Rabaud (1er Cru, Bommes) Floral, butterscotchy and appealing but not overly complex. Initially closed but it opens in the glass and it will age well in the medium term. The acidity is refreshing and bright. 17+ Château d’Arche (2ème Cru, Sauternes) Quite tense and closed with creamy, honeyed, mildly tropical fruit. Not bad but a bit grainy and rasping. Should age quite well in the medium-term but not that elegant. 16.5+ Château Broustet (2ème Cru, Barsac) Green apple nose with nice freshness but a clumsy oily palate and little acid drive. Forward and will not develop much but a nice enough theme. 16.5 Château Lamothe Guignard (2ème Cru, Sauternes) A little bit waxy and closed but crystalline, with touches of ginger and honeysuckle. Balanced and quite luxurious. 16.5 Château Nairac (2ème Cru, Barsac) Pretty good, honeycomb and lemon-balm notes with hints of green tea and mint. Not that alluring but interesting and with more detail than some. 16.5
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Château de Malle (2ème Cru, Preignac) One message only and delivered with some verve – creamy, lemony fruit with some depth and quite forward considering the calibre of the vintage. 16 Château Romer (2ème Cru, Fargues) Rather one-dimensional and clumsy with mandarin and lemon fruit with just a lot of flab and a lack of racy acid. 16 Château de Myrat (2ème Cru, Barsac) Bright, orange blossom fruit but quite oily and solid. Bit too confected. 15.5 Château Clos Haut-Peyraguey (1er Cru, Bommes) I wonder if this sample was clean given my notes – I hope so! Weird, fly spray scent, not entirely clean, too much rot still in the glass. 14? Château Climens (1er Cru, Barsac) n/t Château Rabaud-Promis (1er Cru, Bommes) n/t
RIGHT BANK SAINT-EMILION PREMIERS GRANDS CRUS CLASSÉS A Château Angélus (62 Merlot, 38 Cabernet Franc) Dense and spicy with lovely fruit and fresh tannins, this is a superb, medium-weight wine with very well-judged balance. Terrific purity and superb lift of red fruit, this is a clever, long wine which is not too heady, just pure and focussed. The flavour lasted for minutes and the whole package reeks of class and determination. This is a fascinating Angélus with a welcome sleek frame and stunning depth of flavour. 18+ Château Ausone (55 Merlot, 45 Cabernet Franc) 85% new oak, 9000 bottles, 22 hl/ha. Quite marked by oak and while richer and fruitier than the second wine Chapelle this is a very tight and closed Ausone on the finish. It’s also a little greener and more sour and firm than expected in this vintage. When it all settles down this will be a delicate, long-lived Ausone with grace and slender, floral fruit as opposed to a powerhouse. Atypical but classical and composed. I like this shape of wine enormously and a committed collector should not swerve this vintage because it offers another facet in the glittering Ausone firmament. 18+ Château Cheval Blanc (53% Cabernet Franc, 47 Merlot) Only 20 hl/ha. After terrible flowering which affected both grapes they needed to do an enormous amount of work in the vineyard to retain freshness in the wine. This is a classically dimensioned wine and it certainly speaks genuinely of the terroir. Complex, long and slim this is a sleek Cheval Blanc which gains its complexity from the little berries which contribute to the concentration without adding any weight to the wine. Really bright on the nose and the acid is crunchy, too, the remarkable fact is that this is 100% new oak and it has been absorbed completely into the silky fruit. 17.5+ Château Pavie (65 Merlot, 25 Cabernet Franc, 10 Cabernet Sauvignon) 26 hl/ha, 80% new oak, 13.2 alc. Pavie has a very alluring nose where the fruit has thankfully overtaken the oak on the nose (the only
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wine in the Perse portfolio to show this). It is sour and tart from the oak on the palate but the fruit is stunning and it is hanging in there. Will it break through the oak one day? I wager it will, but this might take ten years. There is serious density here, but this is not a ‘heavy wine’ and thanks to the lower alcohol it might end up being a classic 17.5+ SAINT-EMILION PREMIERS GRANDS CRUS CLASSÉS B Château Bélair-Monange Very silky and buoyant on the nose and palate. Quite red-fruited and spicy and reminiscent of the older vintages of Bélair but with more depth, spicy plum and faint cinnamon notes. Very classy with lovely weight and succulence and relatively forward, too. 17.5+ Château Canon-La-Gaffelière (70 Merlot, 25 Cabernet Franc, 2 Cabernet Sauvignon) 70% new oak. Interesting nose - quite vegetal, beetrooty and dark with mulberry highlights. Not overtly fruity but not sour either. The oak is very dominant but it’s not drying. On the palate the blackberry theme shines through. Quite expressive in this vintage and certainly a wine to watch. 17.5+ Château La Gaffelière (80 Merlot, 20 Cabernet Franc) Lovely nose of beautiful fruit with lashings of liquorice and plum. Big, charry and bold and very punchy this wine balances the bravado with lovely purity and it’s built for the long run. Impressive if unusually tannic. I trust this will balance out so I am giving it the benefit of the doubt. 17.5+ Château Troplong Mondot A stunning nose dominated by fruit and not oak! The palate is tighter and more strictly controlled by the tannins but the mid-palate is sublime. Slimmer than usual, this is a very sexy wine with dark chocolate notes and very good layers of plum and oak. 17.5+ Château Valandraud Incredibly bright and fruit-stuffed, this is a rare Saint-Emilion which leads with fruit and not oak. A very promising wine with a mass of swirling black fruit and the oak is hidden discreetly within it. Delicious and very well made, if a little self-conscious and showy, this is a great effort in 2013. 17.5+ Château Beau-Séjour Bécot Pretty good core of ripe red fruit in the core and a nice, if masculine, oaky tang throughout. Good depth and impact and nice weight, too. It needs some time to settle down but will be a medium-weight charmer with blackberry and spice in due course. 17+ Château La Mondotte (85 Merlot, 15 Cabernet Franc) 100% new oak. Coming from the top of plateau with its clay soils, this is a powerful, black wine with tart acidity. It seems more structured than it should be in this calibre of vintage. It seems too forced and too clunky but it might settle down. Either way it will need time. 17++ Clos Fourtet Attractive, meaty nose and quite nice balance, but the finish is short and compact. Admittedly it is accurate and while not flashy this is a nice mid-term wine with a dusty, old style cola and cassis theme. 16.5+
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Château Pavie Macquin (85 Merlot, 13 Cabernet Franc, 2 Cabernet Sauvignon) More explosively fruity with more presence in the glass that I expected from this often elegant estate. The palate is fairly smooth and well balanced. The only let down is that it is a little short. 16.5 Château Beauséjour (Duffau-Lagarrosse) (88 Merlot, 12 Cabernet Franc) Rather strident oak and dense black fruit but not the ‘sweetness’ to carry it all. It is just too sinewy when all it needs is more flesh. 16+ Château Canon Earthy, blunt and not very charming. Blocky and granity, the fruit is masked by the oak and extraction. None of the pretty elements of the grapes have emerged but it is compact and might blossom one day. 16+ Château Figeac Heady and spicy with some odd vegetal notes like celery salt and chicory! A little too hard and tannic and the oak is absurd. There must have been some fruit in there once. 16+ Château Larcis Ducasse (84 Merlot, 16 Cabernet Franc) Some smoother fruit than many but a little too slender and simple to be of any real interest. 15.5 SAINT-EMILION GRANDS CRUS CLASSÉS Château la Dominique Smooth, bright red fruited and with nice depth, this is not a complex wine, just clean, red and fruity. The oak is well-judged and not too intrusive. 16.5 Château Larmande Smooth and creamy with perfectly judged oak and the whole wine tastes very sensitively put together. The palate is not overly complex but it is full of black cherry finesse. 16.5 Château La Serre This property always seems to come up trumps. In this tricky vintage La Serre has many yet another sexy wine with juicy oak and bright red fruit. Granted it’s a little bit tangy on the finish and the acidity makes the fruit a little cranberry-like but it really is well balanced and surprisingly long. It’s always great value, too. 16.5 Château Soutard Good depth and nice attack. A little more structured than expected but it’s nicely balance and the tannins don’t dominate the palate. 16.5 Château Balestard la Tonnelle Another wine with a smoky, Syrah-like nose, chewy tannins and a meaty palate which doesn’t really taste like anything from St-Emilion, but it’s a nice enough red wine. There are some green highlights over the red fruit, too. Unusual, but worthy of a fair score if only for the experience! 16 Clos de l’Oratoire (95 Merlot, 5 Cabernet Franc) 55% new oak. Structured and noble with a long finish and decent balance. There is a nice dusting of spice and even some peppery notes, too, which while unexpected are not unattractive. Dry on the finish but not harsh. 16+
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Château Haut Sarpe Dry and tannic right on the finish but pure and blackberry-driven up until that point. Good structure and well balanced. 16+ Château Villemaurine Very tough, tannic and earthy. The fruit cannot be seen at the moment, but it is dark and intense. Might work out one day though. 15.5+ Château Berliquet (70 Merlot, 25 Cabernet Franc, 5 Cabernet Sauvignon) Tangy, raw and sour, this wine needs to be much riper and smoother for true balance. 15+ Château Cadet-Bon (80 Merlot, 20 Cabernet Franc) Too forced and severe and lacking any true, core fruit. 15 Château la Couspaude With a spicy, meaty nose and slightly spirity fruit this is a confusing wine and there is far too much oak dry the palate out. The fruit seems too forced and overworked. 15+ Château Monbousquet (60 Merlot, 30 Cabernet Franc, 10 Cabernet Sauvignon) 29 hl/ha, 13.2% alc. Very herbal, tannic and forced. There is far too much extraction and brawn here and nowhere near enough juiciness. Brutally tannic, when it could have been so much better with softer handling! 15++ Château Pavie Decesse (90 Merlot, 10 Cabernet Franc) 8hl/ha, 80% new oak. More fruit-driven on the nose, but sadly the monstrous oak comes in and dries up any potential fruit available. Oak tannins are sour and sawdusty. Will take ages to calm down if ever. 15++ Château la Tour Figeac Dense and lacking in fruit brightness. The tannins are blunt and the oak is slightly dank. In addition there is no attractiveness on the nose or palate and I can’t see this changing. 15 Château Cap de Mourlin Clumsy hard and very sour, this wine is completely out of balance and far too oaky and charred. 14.5+ Château Franc Mayne Slightly feral and very oaky. Not great balance and a touch unclean and lacking in purity. 14+ Château Grand Mayne Herbal, green and sour, this is a clumsy wine with very unattractive finish and no real fruitiness. Blunt. 14 Château Dassault There was something very unusual going on here with grubby, fishy notes and some spicy, dirty flavours, too. Hard to assess. 13
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SAINT-EMILION GRANDS CRUS Le Dôme – in the JCP Maltus portfolio (80 Cabernet Franc, 20 Merlot) 12.9% alcohol. Great balance and exceptional freshness, this is a superb, dense, bold and impactful wine with considerable depth and pristine tannins. The remarkable thing is it is all so bright, lifted and refreshing. It will age gracefully showing us a different mood of the great Le Dôme. Apparently, 2013 is not a Cabernet Franc year – this wine is the exception which proves the rule. 18+ Tertre Roteboeuf (80 Merlot, 20 Cabernet Franc) 100% new oak. According to François Mitjaville, he ‘played games with the rot and the rain’ in 2013. Clearly these were games that he won. A three week maceration, use of all of the press wine, straight to barrels, racked two or three times et voilà. The nose is hedonistic. There is awe-inspiring purity followed by layers of velvety fruit and the oak is carefully woven into each and every molecule of wild cherry and mulberry fruitiness. There is the touch of TR meatiness and a smattering of savoury, gamey notes as always, but there is not one trace of greenness or bitterness in the whole experience. This is a stunningly balanced wine with pristine tannins. In 2013, this is a triumph of skill and sensitivity over the elements. 18+ Château Quintus - in the Domaine Clarence Dillon portfolio (80 Merlot, 20 Cabernet Franc) A plush nose, with stunning density, is followed but a controlled delivery of power and fruit. Nothing is forced or urgent. The whole package is long, smooth and even and there is a gradual crescendo of flavour throughout. Very careful use of oak, too. I even prefer this to the 2012 because it is so honed and elegant. 17.5+ Les Astéries – in the JCP Maltus portfolio (83 Merlot, 17 Cabernet Franc) This is a delicious wine with lovely juiciness initially but it then closes down and descends into impressive length and minerality. Certainly more buoyant and flirtatious than the other wines in the portfolio this is a long, sleek wine with a fascinating future. 17+ Vieux Château Mazerat – in the JCP Maltus portfolio (65 Merlot, 35 Cabernet Franc) 12.8% alcohol. Lovely, calm, earthy fruit with great purity and depth but, like its stablemate Le Dôme, the fruit and tannins are intense, bright and yet not ponderous or intrusive. I cannot see the 80% new oak on account of how well it is integrated into the whole. 17+ Le Carré – in the JCP Maltus portfolio (85 Merlot, 15 Cabernet Franc) The whole message is a little shorter, flatter and a bit greener than Vieux Château Mazerat and this lack of apparent flair and calmer delivery means that I have marked it down a little, but there is a fine wine in there. The tannins are certainly more severe, but they are not unattractive. It will work itself out when it decided what its destiny is. 16.5+ Clos Cantenac (100 Merlot) Pretty dense and more extracted than I expected. This is a very compact wine with blue/black fruit and a firm, non-nonsense finish. The oak and tannin are both under control but the fruit isn’t budging at all in the glass – this is a wine that will age slowly. Not giving anything away, I sense that it will unravel in due course to reveal a lovely melange of aromatic Merlot fruit, untroubled by oak. 16.5+
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Château Moulin Saint-Georges - in the Ausone portfolio (80 Merlot, 20 Cabernet Franc) 85% new oak, 14000 bottles. Quite tight and austere with touches of greenness but it’s not in any way sour. The oak seems too strident and dominant att the moment for the fruit which sits in the background. The fruit is foresty and dark but perhaps too demure for the sinew and power loaded into this wine? We shall see in a few years time. 16.5+ Château Bellevue Mondotte (90 Merlot, 5 Cabernet Sauvignon, 5 Cabernet Franc) 9hl/ha, 100% new oak. Very dense, dark and extracted – not surprising reading the stats! Stewed, oaky, very dry and tannic on the palate. Difficult to taste. There is fruit here and some superb blackcurrant coulis notes right in the centre but it is obliterated by oak. 16++ Château Le Castelot Good balance and nice crisp tannins. Not oaky, just bright and cherry like. Overall, fresh, clean and respectfully made. 16 Château de Fonbel - in the Ausone portfolio (65 Merlot, 25 Cabernet Sauvignon, 10 Petit Verdot) 30% new oak, 70000 bottles. More grip and structure than expected on the finish, but nice restraint on the mid-palate after a feisty aroma. Clean tannins and bright finish. A little lighter and less fruity than normal but perfectly balanced and will be forward drinking. 16 Château Grand Barrail Lamarzelle Figeac – in the Dourthe portfolio (75 Merlot, 25 Cabernet Franc) Ripe, jammy, plummy and smooth. Not complex but very well made for the price and rewarding, too. Nice dusty tannins balancing a buoyant fruit core. 16 Château Laforge – in the JCP Maltus portfolio (92 Merlot, 8 Cabernet Franc) 70% new oak. I am impressed here because this is an overtly fruity wine made from five distinct parcels of fruit but it is so well knit together I cannot see any joins at all – just a seamless, succulent Merlot with brilliant, medium-weight and masses of style. Drinking right now, this is a wine that will make a lot of friends. 16 Clos des Jacobins Sour and dry on the finish but the smoky oak which overlays very dark fruit seems in balance. I worry that there is no enough stuffing here, but it may fall into line. Ok. 15.5 Saintayme (also called Saintem) – in the Denis Durantou portfolio (100 Merlot) 30% new oak, 12000 bottles. Very dark, but clean, not too heavy and some nice sooty notes on the finish. Not complex but a good effort. 15.5 Château Teyssier - in the JCP Maltus portfolio (70 Merlot, 30 Cabernet Franc) 12.7% alcohol. There are 12000 cases of this wine made – which makes the flavour and score even more impressive. The pristine, juicy blackberry fruit and forward, attractive air makes this wine immediately appealing. It will evolve and age but it is in perfect equilibrium already. Great touches of oak and crunchy tannins enhance the juiciness. 15.5 Château Vieux Lartigue – in the Moueix portfolio Touch green and dusty, but not bad fruit intensity and nice, jolly, forward fruit. A classic, no-brainer claret. 15.5
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Château Lusseau (70 Merlot, 20 Cabernet Franc, 10 Cabernet Sauvignon) 13.2% alcohol, 50% new oak. Full nose and seemingly powerful initially, but the palate turns lean quickly and it is dominated by oak. Very tart but clean fruit is forceful and hard and this will need a long time to soften leaving a one-dimensional flavour. 15+ Château Rol Valentin (90 Merlot, 10 Cabernet Franc) Clean red fruit and drying tannins, this wine has a nice shape but it is a little light throughout and too hard on the finish to be truly balanced. 15 POMEROL Vieux Château Certan (92 Merlot, 8 Cabernet Franc) The selection was so severe here that only a fifth of the crop was made. In 2013, 1000 cases of VCC will be released compared to 5000 in a normal year. There were big problems at flowering here - they lost half the crop. After an average August the awful September came. They sorted the fruit on the vine but decided very early on that 2/3 would be made into the second wine Gravette. The Grand Vin, with its dominant Merlot theme, is truly magnificent. It is one of the most compelling wines of the vintage. The poise, balance and freshness are in a class of their own. There is nobility here and the counterpoint between darkness and levity is arresting. Sleek, controlled, polished and cool, the crunch of tannin is thrilling. The aromatic lift on the nose is sets the whole wine up. There are fleeting moments of exotic perfume tempered by restraint and calm. I love it. Nb Gravette will be around 50:50 this year. 18.5 Château Clinet (90 Merlot, 9 Cabernet Sauvignon, 1 Cabernet Franc). 13.2% alcohol. Ronan Laborde explained that they undertook some really serious work in the vineyard and this resulted in yields of 33hl/ha – so not too catastrophic. This is a very intense wine which shows surprisingly tender fruit. With a hefty 85 IPT this is one of the inkier-hued wines of the vintage but it is exotic and hedonistic. They suffered no hail at all here and only lost Merlot thanks to the poor flowering. The very warm period in July is to thank for the exotic fruit notes. I find this sort of wine very enticing and exciting given its sexy frame and lissom alcohol and this makes it one of the rare 2013s which I scored higher than their 2012. 18 Château La Conseillante (82 Merlot, 18 Cabernet Franc) 65% new oak. This is a wine which made a profound impact on me. The nose is terrific – abundant black fruit and no trace of macho oak and this leads to stunningly textured wine with incredible purity and life. The trick here was a gentle and not overly extractive cold, pre-fermentation maceration. It was the second vintage in their new cellar and the DG feels that this has made all of the difference. Having the ability to utilise a true, small batch winemaking facility in a difficult vintage like this separates the men from the boys! I was transfixed by the utterly brilliant balance. The whole wine left a gentle, spicy wake. Apparently the obsession at La Conseillante is ‘smooth fruit and no aggression’. They nailed it in 2013. 18 Pétrus 13.2% alcohol, 50% new oak. Very dark and brooding on the nose. They lost 35% of the crop because of the poor fruit set, but picked pristine fruit with no rot at all. Quite loose bunches allowed air to circulate and by bringing the crop in on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th October they missed the biggest rainstorms. They went back out on the 9th and saw no real dilution because the rain hadn’t made it up into the grapes from the roots according to the spokespeople. This is a
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classically dimensioned Pétrus, not a rich, lusty, showy style. It is compact, tightly-wound, stunningly aromatic and fairly deep. It is not heavy or powerful though, just long and very clean. In theory it will age quite fast, they reckon a decade, but I know it will roll on for double that. Dark purple notes, with flashes of blueberry make the mouth water. There is a pagan taste of the soil which is profound and calming. This is a succulent, cool Pétrus with not an ounce of ostentatiousness or flamboyance. It is very impressive and very confident. 18+ Château L’Eglise-Clinet (90 Merlot, 10 Cabernet Franc) 70% new oak. 10000 bottles made. As Denis Durantou says, ‘2013s are to enjoy without moderation’ (sic). This is a very intense wine, packed with fruit. He tried to extract gently but with yields of 28hl/ha there were always going to be dark, sooty notes creeping in and they work really well. This is an exotic wine on the start but it is quite harsh on the finish. There is surprising power here and it is intent on shocking and also bucking the trend. I always find Denis’s wines fascinating and this is no exception. It is a quandary, teetering on the edge of balance and I find it very exciting indeed. 17.5+ Château Evangile (87 Merlot, 13 Cabernet Franc) 27 hl/ha, 100% new oak (for the time being), 13% alcohol (a whole percentage point lower than the 2012). Gorgeous fruit from the off with lush, sexy, silky tannins and immense allure. There is lovely power here, too, considering the vintage and the lower than normal alcohol level. I adore this style of wine – impeccable balance, bright tannins and a seamless red fruit delivery. Apparently it was incredibly complicated to make, but the tannins were so fit because the harvested berries were so clean. This is a relatively forward wine and one which will be sure to amaze the drinker. 17.5 Château La Fleur-Pétrus Another stunning nose of cherry and violet notes followed by a texturally superb experience loaded with a fanfare of red fruits and epic, dusty tannins. I am fast becoming a serious LFP fan because the wines are so impeccably balanced from day one. 17.5 Château Trotanoy Darker than La Fleur-Pétrus and Certan and yet not earthier or necessarily more tannic. This is a strangely forward-drinking Trotanoy, but there is firm acidity here, so no matter when you decide to open it I am certain that you will think it needs more time! I never thought I would write this, but this is Burgundian-shaped Trotanoy with wild cherry notes and some dark chocolate, too. Exotic and seemingly swarthy, but actually this is just a front. This is a very suave and balanced wine with a lovely refreshing finish. 17.5 Château Le Bon Pasteur (85 Merlot, 15 Cabernet Franc) 100% new oak. This is quite and exotic wine on the nose with masses of plummy, spice and cinnamon, but the palate is very oaky and very dry. It seems very out of balance and I am sure it will calm down, but there is too much bluster here for true harmony. 17+ Château Certan (de May de Certan) Nice nose, super balance and some poise, too. I like the perfume and the dusty tannins, but in between these two elements the body is quite a lot lighter than normal. At least it fits together and it doesn’t give the impression of a dip in flavour. I am sure that this hole will fill in as the wine continues its élevage. 17
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Château Beauregard 13% alcohol, 60% new oak. Fruit-driven and juicy with black cherry fruit and lovely texture. A few green highlights pop up, but they are ok, and nothing is forced. Forward and accurate. 16.5 Château Gazin A more exotic nose with nice balance and pure fruit but a very dark, dry finish. This is off-putting compared to the nose and front palate. It is far too extracted now and will age well I think, but end up being too coarse for me. 16.5+ Château Latour à Pomerol Chunky and darker with a bit more power and oomph than expected, there is more black fruit here than in many Pomerols in 2013 and while there is good length this is a rather solid wine without much floral detail. 16.5 Château Petit-Village (70 Merlot, 20 Cabernet Franc, 10 Cabernet Sauvignon) Using old vines (50+ yrs). The Cabernet Sauvignon element in this wine sticks out a little and it looks a bit grumpy and a touch sour. They are coming close to adding the younger vines to this wine because they are performing so well, but due to the difficulties in 2013 they stuck with the old vine material. Granted that this adds structure and horsepower to the wine, but also makes it a little more soy saucy and dark. Good but quite butch. Perhaps this is a year to go for the second wine Jardin (q.v.) if the price works out. 16.5+ Château Bel-Air (100 Merlot) Clean, fresh, forward, balanced and a little boring. I couldn’t find anything more exciting to write than this so it’s probably a wine to avoid in 2013. 16 Château Bourgneuf-Vayron More overtly fruity on the nose and yet very dry tannins on palate. Bit too muscular and chunky throughout and oaky, too. Good weight and structure but too old fashioned. 16+ Château La Grave (Trigant de Boisset) Bright cherry fruit initially, but then it turns a little sour. Aside from the nice nose and good mid-palate, the focus falls on the tangy finish and the oak which is too austere. 16 Château Moulinet (90 Merlot, 10 Cabernet Franc) More oak and attack than expected and a little too extracted, so the whole package seems out of balance. Shame. 16+ Château Nénin (66 Merlot, 33 Cabernet Franc) 30hl/ha. Sadly this wine is rather flat and a bit bruised by the cold weather. There is little juiciness or vivacity here and the finish is too sour. 16 Château Lafleur-Gazin Richness on the nose but too industrial on the palate. Earthy, grainy and not enough flair. 15.5 Château La Croix de Gay (95 Merlot, 5 Cabernet Franc) This is a smelly, woody wine with a dry palate. Only 30% new oak but this is far too raw and sappy. 15
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Château La Pointe A spicy nose and an earthy not juicy palate. This seems rather metallic and not ripe enough. Bereft of juice and too coarse on the finish, I can’t reward this with a decent score. 15 Château La Cabanne A touch too green and raw with no dark fruit at all. Sour and too dusty, the skin character is too dry. 14.5 Château Plince Soft, dry and rather dull, this is a lifeless wine with a boggy palate. Flat throughout. 14.5 Le Pin n/t Château Lafleur n/t OTHER CHÂTEAUX FROM VARIOUS REGIONS Roc de Cambes (Côtes de Bourg – part of the Mitjaville portfolio) (80 Merlot 20 Cabernet Sauvignon) 100% new oak. Much darker and not as forward as Domaine de Cambes (the second wine). There is more obvious oak underneath the fruit and wonderful balance, too. There is considerable structure on the finish but the oak (which comes from a variety of forests and is always very fine-grained) is completely absorbed into the wine. Really scented and almost balsam like, with stunning freshness and the whole experience is very fruit-driven. This is a flattering, precocious wine and the tannins are a little less firm than in previous vintages. Superbly suave and haunting with dark and red berry fruit this wine was ‘picked very quickly on 15th October’ and I am massively impressed with the velvety texture and epic balance. 17 La Chenade (Lalande de Pomerol - in the Denis Durantou portfolio) (80 Merlot, 20 Cabernet Franc) 30% new oak, 18000 bottles. Lovely smoky plum aroma and smooth texture. Grainy tannins and yet refreshing and oaky but still balanced. 16 Château Les Cruzelles (Lalande de Pomerol - in the Denis Durantou portfolio) (90 Merlot, 10 Cabernet Franc) 50% new oak, 12000 bottles. Lifted red fruited, quite fresh and juicy. But the finish is very dry punctuated with flashes of redcurrant and spice. Nice oak control but not overly complex. 16 Château La Fleur de Boüard (Lalande de Pomerol) Pretty dark and spicy and quite dense. Ok balance. Quite refreshing in spite of the colour. Oak is cleverly integrated, too. 16 L’Aurage (Côtes de Castillon – part of the Mitjaville family wines) (70 Merlot, 30 Cabernet Franc) Not through malo. Made by François’ son. Meaty and firm with some wild fruit and some nice complexity. Good power but a little coarse and dense on the finish. 16 La Source du Château de Sours Rouge (Bordeaux) (100 Merlot) Surprising concentration and very well balanced and plummy. The tannins are fit and clean and there is a lovely tang of acidity on the finish. This is a lovely, forward and balanced wine. 16
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Château d’Aiguilhe (Côtes de Castillon) (90 Merlot, 10 Cabernet Franc) 40% new oak. Nice bite of fruit and drying tannins, too. A little too raw at present and also a touch dilute – will not gain any depth. 15.5 Château Pey La Tour Reserve du Chateau (Bordeaux) - in the Dourthe portfolio Very well managed with bright purple fruit, crunchy not dry tannins and a neat, fresh finish. Good balance. 15.5 Château Le Pin Beausoleil (Bordeaux) (70 Merlot, 20 Cabernet Franc, 10 Cabernet Sauvignon) Good nose, nice depth and tart, purple fruit. Lovely and fresh, with decent acid and balance. 15.5 Château Simard (Saint-Emilion - in the Ausone portfolio) (65 Merlot, 35 Cabernet Franc) 30% new oak, 100000 bottles. Quite lean, pencilly and rather tight but still silky. Fairly quiet in the glass and nicely blackberry-scented but not overly complex. 15.5 Château Thénac Rouge (Ste-Foy La Grande, Bergerac) (55 Merlot 23 Cabernet Sauvignon, 11 Malbec, 11 Cabernet Franc) Good grip and stylish fruit with some decent potential, too. Denis Durantou has worked with them since 2012. 15.5+ Château Montlandrie (Côtes de Castillon – in the Denis Durantou portfolio) (75 Merlot, 20 Cabernet Franc, 5 Cabernet Sauvignon) 50% new oak, 18000 bottles. Much drier and more stemmy and raw than the rest of the Durantou wines. Lacking true juiciness. Too earthy, sour and black. 15+ Château Les Vieux Ormes (Lalande de Pomerol – in the Moueix portfolio) A little too sappy and raw and rather sharp and hard on finish. Good nose but a touch of resin which I find off-putting. 14.5 Clos Lunelles (Côtes de Castillon - part of Vignobles Perse) (80 Merlot, 10 Cabernet Franc, 10 Cabernet Sauvignon) 6hl/ha, 60% new oak. Insanely low yields and very concentrated, this is a dark, sour wine with huge skinsy tannins and terrifying oak, too. Not my style. 14++ L’If, Saint-Emilion - in the Le Pin portfolio n/t SECOND/THIRD WINES (AND THEIR PARENT PROPERTIES) Carruades de Lafite (Lafite Rothschild) (64 Cabernet Sauvignon, 29 Merlot, 4 Cabernet Franc, 3 Petit Verdot) More structure and vivacity than the other second wines. There is great depth and lovely juiciness here with a touch of spice and liquorice, too. Long and savoury and the flavours broadens with red fruit notes as the oak subsides. Very clever wine and nice acid finish, to, on the end. Magical wine. 17+ Chapelle d’Ausone (Ausone) (60 Cabernet Franc, 25 Merlot, 15 Cabernet Sauvignon) 85% new oak, 4500 bottles, 22hl/ha. Very silky and lush by comparison to the other wines in the portfolio - but this is in the context of the vintage. Lovely colour and a beautiful, old-fashioned nose with floral notes and taut plum and graphite nuance. Lovely, sleek and slender. It will age well but also drink fairly early, too. 17
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Le Clarence de Haut-Brion (Haut-Brion) (57 Merlot, 27 Cabernet Sauvignon, 16 Cabernet Franc) With lashings of minerality and dark, cool fruit this is a plummy wine with plenty of pencil lead and a long, lithe, resonant finish. There is a good bite of tannin which will keep this wine rolling for a while. The finish is dry, spicy and long and it needs 5+ years to settle and unravel. 17+ La Chapelle de la Mission Haut-Brion (La Mission Haut-Brion) (52 Merlot, 36 Cabernet Sauvignon, 12 Cabernet Franc) A very alluring nose of red fruit, dominated by a savoury tang, not unlike a top Sangiovese! Refreshing tannins and decent length, too. Good spice and quite high acidity and bite – it will be very pretty once it has shed its crisp tannins. 16.5+ Domaine de Cambes (Roc de Cambes) (70 Merlot, 30 Cabernet Franc, plus a touch of Cabernet Sauvignon – Mitjaville maths!) 100% new oak. Very pretty nose of blackberry fruit and lovely texture. From the Pied de Côte. Superbly balanced and not remotely dry or oaky. Lovely, savoury, mouth-watering finish and terrific layers of fruit. Surprisingly forward, too. Not so much a second wine as a different wine. It doesn’t seem like a 2013 on account of the juiciness and density of fruit. François puts this down to the warm fog from the Gironde which ‘confits’ the tannins in the skins. This concentrated the flavours and the tannins are already partially assimilated by the time the grapes are picked. There is apparently a ‘thermic affinage des tannins’ from the soil. Needless to say this is a hedonistic and mesmerising wine. 16.5 Les Forts de Latour (Latour) (62.7 Cabernet Sauvignon, 35.1 Merlot, 2.2 Petit Verdot) Biodynamics seemed to slow down the onset of botrytis in the vineyard and this helped Latour to make a very dark and dense Forts with nice red fruit notes on the nose. Clean, bright and crunchy on the finish. 16.5 Les Pagodes de Cos (Cos d’Estournel) (64 Cabernet Sauvignon, 28 Merlot, 4 Cabernet Franc, 4 Petit Verdot). The cut for Pagodes this year was simply, ‘is it Cos or not’. The site specific wines went into Cos and the others went into Pagodes. The mantra at Cos (for a while) has been that it wants to be recognised as a first growth. ‘The second wine here is second, in others it is last’ was a particularly pithy comment from winemaker Dominique Arangoits. They did not sell a drop of wine here. All of the estate went into their two wines. This is particularly successful Pagodes. Exotic, spicy and superbly detailed for a lighter vintage it achieves decent momentum and real style on the palate. 16.5 Pavillon Rouge (Margaux) (84 Cabernet Sauvignon, 10 Merlot, 4 Petit Verdot, 2 Cabernet Franc) 38% was made into the Grand Vin, 21% was Pavilion and 41% was made into the third wine Margaux de Château Margaux and also sold off in bulk. This is a smooth, silky, typically sexy wine with tender fruit and it is not too oaky. This vintage shows off the best terroirs and also which properties know how to save a vintage! Margaux has the knowhow and the cash and the result is a juicy, mulberry-soaked wine with lovely harmony and a neat finish. If there is a criticism, it lacks true complexity but it is very forward and delicious and no one will mind! 16.5 Le Petit Mouton (Mouton Rothschild) (93 Cabernet Sauvignon, 7 Merlot) This is an impressive wine with a statesmanlike nose packed with power and intent. On the palate it is a little one-dimensional and there is not the lushness that the nose promises. The oak has been sucked into the overall fruit and while slim line it is elegantly packaged. Well made and alluring this is the shape of a wine from a bygone era. 16.5
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Alter Ego (Palmer) (46 Cabernet Sauvignon, 46 Merlot, 8 Petit Verdot) Only 7000 cases made. Very smooth, dark and tight and quite refreshing and bright on the back palate. Not bad weight and the oak seems to be under control - if anything it adds tang rather than oakiness. Clean, fairly long and javelin-shaped this is a slender and balanced wine with decent appeal and it will drink soon. 16 Croix de Beaucaillou (Ducru-Beaucaillou) (52 Cabernet Sauvignon, 46 Merlot, 3 Petit Verdot) 20 hl/ha. They selected like mad and the result is an attractive wine with a Merlot-dominant aroma. This is a little simple and one-dimensional but nevertheless it is a good shape and size with decent drive and lovely fruit character. I would drink it within the next five years. 16 Le Dragon de Quintus (Quintus) (56 Merlot, 31 Cabernet Franc, 13 Cabernet Sauvignon) Quite spiky and hedgerow-like on the nose, the fruit is firm, but the tension is not too sour or raw. Oak is bright and not sappy and the fruit is aromatic and floral. There is a fair amount of intensity of vibrant red fruit. 16 Lacoste Borie (Grand-Puy-Lacoste) (60 Cabernet Sauvignon, 30 Merlot, 10 Cabernet Franc) Always a great second wine, this 2013 has a gorgeous, pencil lead nose with crushed blueberry and juicy cassis notes. There is a nice, feisty palate with grip but no aggression. Plump and forward with a nice sphere of flavour, Lacoste Borie has great style and immediacy. 16 Marquis de Calon (Calon Ségur) (60 Merlot, 40 Cabernet Sauvignon) Upright with clean, fresh red berry notes. Crunchy tannins and a refined feel, this is a lovely, balanced Marquis. 16 Pauillac de Château Latour (3rd wine of Château Latour) (54 Merlot, 45 Cabernet Sauvignon, 1 Cabernet Franc) 12.4% alcohol. The decision to extract or not was a Consultant v Director battle apparently! The biodynamically managed plots yielded elegant fruit while the other plots were very ripe and more tannic. This is a pretty spicy, ripe wine with much more Merlot than usual on account of the lack of this grape in the Grand Vin and Forts de Latour. Not bad, fruity, ripe, jolly. 16 Le Petit Cheval (Cheval Blanc) (79 Merlot, 21 Cabernet Franc) 50% new oak, 13.2% alcohol. They apparently sold a lot of bulk wine to keep the standard of LPC up. This is a fresh, bright, clean wine with touches of mint and liquorice and a crunchy, cool, cherry fruit finish. This is a smart wine with a sleek shape and refined tannins. It is a little restrained, but perfectly enjoyable and early drinking too. 16 La Petite l’Eglise (l’Eglise-Clinet) (100% Merlot) 50% new oak, 7000 bottles. Lovely nose but rather a beetrooty finish which is too sour and raw. It feels a little too forced and the tannins are out of whack. Perhaps they will soften to allow the fruit through but it’s quite closed so I am not confident. 16 Réserve de Comtesse de Lalande (Pichon Lalande) (76 Cabernet Sauvignon, 10 Petit Verdot, 8 Cabernet Franc, 6 Merlot) Fairly abrupt and chunky but rather more interesting than in years gone by. Decent, pure, purple and cassis-scented there is not much tannin here, just tart acid and nice length. 16
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Virginie de Valandraud (Valandraud) Very dark, spicy and exotic and given the brightness of fruit and intensity of flavour without the accompanying alcohol burn this is a good effort. 16 Chapelle de Potensac (Potensac) (66 Merlot, 28 Cabernet Sauvignon, 6 Cabernet Franc) More oak that usual and more Merlot than usual but overall this is a nice wine with good balance and a pretty long finish. 15.5 Chevalier de Lascombes (Lascombes) Nice length and really well balanced fruit. Good, if light, finish, and a touch dry, but a hearty second wine. Funnily enough I have given the same score to this wine as I have to the Grand Vin! Just goes to show that balance is key and Chevalier is the wine to go for in due course. 15.5 Connétable Talbot (Talbot) Nice, bright and forward with little evident tannin and just a lick of bright acidity. Classic St-Julien shape and nice neat finish. Good wine and very forward! 15.5 La Dame de Montrose (Montrose) (69 Merlot, 18 Cabernet Sauvignon, 13 Cabernet Franc) 28% of production. Sour and leafy and while dark and deep in colour the texture is a little less intense that hoped for. Quite oak and dry, too. Lacking in generosity but will even out. 15.5+ Jardin de Petit Village (Petit Village) (100 Merlot) Young vines are used for this wine and the older vines are used for the Grand Vin. This wine certainly shows how well these 8 year old vines are doing because this is a precocious and nicely balanced Merlot with jolly, cherry-imbued fruit and a nice, clean palate. 15.5 Château Moulin Riche (Léoville Poyferré) (55 Cabernet Sauvignon, 28 Merlot, 17 Petit Verdot) A touch green and feisty with a tannic feel and a rather sour finish. Overall a little too raw and grainy with a dry finish and the whole package seems somewhat out of balance. 15.5 Petit Cantenac (Clos Cantenac) (90 Merlot, 10 Cabernet Franc) 40% new oak. Masses of impact, but rather too tannic and tough at the moment. Perhaps a little too severe on the extraction? It will calm down, but will always have a tangy edge. 15.5+ Le Petit Lion du Marquis de Las Cases (Léoville-Las Cases) (53 Merlot, 46 Cabernet Sauvignon, 1 Cabernet Franc) More aggressive on the nose than it should be and quite dry and out of balance. There is some fruit there but it has been eaten by tannin and oak. 15.5 Les Tourelles de Longueville (Pichon-Baron) (63 Merlot, 30 Cabernet Sauvignon, 7 Petit Verdot) All from the Sainte Anne terroir. Quite feisty with a bit of grip and sourness on the palate. Suffering slightly from a lack of good Cabernet ingredients. 15.5+ Fugues de Nénin (Nénin) (95 Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc) Not bad style, but quite green and rather blunt on the finish. Seems to shut down very quickly. 15
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Les Fiefs de Lagrange (Lagrange) A little blunt and sweet ‘n’ sour. Good simple forward style, but there are many more wines to choose over this because there is an obvious dip in the middle. 14.5 DRY WHITE WINES (FROM REGIONS OTHER THAN PESSAC-LÉOGNAN & GRAVES AND THEIR PARENT PROPERTIES) Pavillon Blanc (Margaux) The yield was a tiny 25 hl/ha. 13% alcohol. They finished the harvest before the botrytis attacked. Very aromatic indeed with concentrated, zestiness and superb, sour lime notes. This is a very clever Pavillon and I love the lower alcohol which balances the wine so much better than the 15% alcohol vintages. They only used 40% of the crop. 18+ Cos d’Estournel Blanc (76 Sauvignon Blanc, 24 Semillon) Coming from the Goulée vineyard, which benefitted from its windy location, this is a wine with powdery minerality and light, fresh, sherbet fruit with precision and drive. The key here was the use of only 7% new barrels. This builds layers and adds richness - adding charm without vulgarity! They want it to taste excellent whenever a bottle is opened so it needs to be balanced from day one and then age incrementally. I adore the mojito freshness. 17.5 G de Guiraud (Guiraud) (70 Sauvignon Blanc, 30 Semillon) Organic since 2011. There is very bright citrus fruit here with lovely, raspy, clean oak and superbly bright acidity. Quite different to the others, this is a very exciting creation. 17.5 S de Suduiraut (Suduiraut) (60 Sauvignon Blanc, 40 Semillon) There is a ‘need to stand off the oak in this vintage’ according to Christian Seely, so he only used 20% new. There are lovely, creamy, tarte au citron notes here and this is a delicious wine from start to finish. Not too phenolic, but pretty with great acidity and a really crunchy finish. 17.5 La Source du Château de Sours (Bordeaux) (100 Sauvignon Blanc) 30% new oak. Very tangy, lemony and fine, with real harmony and a long finish. Quite closed at the moment this is a wine to drink within three years and it will blossom beautifully in 12 months. 17 Château Thénac Blanc (Ste-Foy La Grande, Bergerac) 68 Sauvignon Blanc, 21 Semillon, 11 Muscadelle) 100% oak for 6 months. There is little obvious oak here, just a very well-balanced white with good phenolic grip and lovely long finish. Will age well. Denis Durantou has been consulting here since 2012. 17+ Nardian (Lugaignac - in the JCP Maltus portfolio) (50 Sauvignon Blanc, 40 Semillon, 10 Muscadelle) Ten barrels, half new, half one year old. The Muscadelle is the trick here. The scent is alluring and exotic and the superb acid balances it all up! Clever wine. 16.5 Aile d’Argent (Mouton Rothschild) (67 Sauvignon Blanc, 33 Semillon) Oily and marzipanny on the nose and a little too nutty and oak-bruised. Rather too gloopy for my taste - I prefer much more aromatic lift and freshness. 15.5
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Monbousquet Blanc (Bordeaux – in the Vignobles Perse portfolio) (66 Sauvignon Blanc, 33 Semillon) 50% new oak, 24 hl/ha. With a Margaret River Semillon nose and an oily palate this is an unusual wine. It needs to be much fresher because it is far too tropical and not remotely refreshing. 15
