A lorry carrying 18 000 bottles from Château La Dominique in Saint-Emilion tipped over on Tuesday, when the driver apparently lost control of his vehicle at a roundabout in Bigaroux. The bottles of grand cru classé Château La Dominique 2011, which spilled into a road-side field and appeared to be without labels, were to be collected by hand according to reports in local newspaper Sud-Ouest. 

Bordeaux négociant Mähler-Besse was taken over on Friday 11 July by the Castéja family group BCAP, reports David Rowe from Bordeaux. The BCAP group owns négociant Borie-Manoux as well as a handful of prestigious châteaux, including Château Trottevieille in Saint-Emilion, Château Batailley in Pauillac and Domaine de l’Eglise in Pomerol. Ownership of Château Palmer [pictured here], which is shared between individual members of the Mähler-Besse family and Maison Sichel, is not included in this transaction. So it will be business as usual at Palmer.

One man’s meat is another man’s poison. If botrytis was the enemy across most of Bordeaux in 2013, it was certainly most welcome in Sauternes and Barsac. The warm and humid conditions favourable for the development of ‘noble’ rot from mid-September onwards, allied to drying winds, proved the classic mix for a very good sweet wine harvest in 2013. The region has produced many beautiful wines with the vintage’s trademark acidity. It gives extra freshness and vibrancy. Some are comparing the quality to 2007 and 1997. Château d’Yquem has produced something tremendous, but there are also very impressive efforts from Château Coutet, Château Doisy-Daëne, Château de Fargues, Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey, Château de Rayne Vigneau, Château Rieussec, Château Sigalas Rabaud, Château Suduiraut and Château La Tour Blanche.

Overall St Estèphe was a little more variable than I’d expected in 2013. The wines are fresh, vigorous and pretty high in acidity. Some lack charm and there’s not the full-fat quality of the good years here. There are successes. I’ve posted already on Calon-Ségur, Château Cos d’Estournel, Château Meyney and Château Montrose, but Château Phélan Ségur looks nicely polished, Château Capbern Gasqueton is very pretty and I was particularly struck by Château de Pez. There are also solid efforts from Château Haut-Marbuzet, Château Tronquoy-Lalande, Château Le Crock and Château Ormes de Pez, though they lack the flair of the best vintages.