Wine Words & Video Tape

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Posts Tagged ‘2012’

Bordeaux Primeurs 2012: Château Margaux

Written by JW. Posted in Bordeaux

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Paul Pontallier is rightly pleased with their efforts at Château Margaux in 2012. The claim that the vintage was ‘almost’ a great one for them is not wide of the mark. The Grand Vin here is seriously good and a real step up from the somewhat disappointing 2011. It’s great to see this estate back on top form in a vintage that was pretty tricky. There isn’t the slightest hint of trouble in the pure, sleek Cabernet Sauvignon that constitutes 87% of the blend. It’s a terrific effort. What’s more along with Mouton and Haut-Brion, Château Margaux released at a considerable discount on recent vintages making it at least a potentially attractive en primeur purchase if you’ve the inclination and the cash.

Bordeaux Primeurs 2012: Pessac-Léognan

Written by JW. Posted in Bordeaux

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Several wonderful red wines have been made in Pessac-Léognan this year but the real successes are amongst the whites, not just up at the highest echelons but further down there are many refreshing, fruity white wines to be had too. The very best are rich, weighty, almost fat, with a fraction less zip than 2011, but very attractive nevertheless. The reds? I found them a little bit of a mixed bunch. There is no doubt that the wet weather caused problems for the Cabernets as it did elsewhere. Some of the Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, while certainly ‘fresh’, were often angular in tannin, and many are a bit ‘grippy’ and ‘chewy’, even despite the fat, ripe Merlot on offer. My overall feeling with these is that you need to tread carefully. That said, it’s clear that great effort was put in by proprietors to try and make the very best reds they could in a challenging year, one that got increasingly so as the harvest progressed.

Bordeaux Primeurs 2012: Haut-Brion & La Mission Haut-Brion

Written by JW. Posted in Bordeaux

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Chateau Haut-Brion and Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion were extolling the virtues of their Merlot in 2012 shortly after the harvest. There is no doubt that the sixty-odd percent that this variety constitutes in these blends this year reflects the quality of that fruit and its overall superiority to the Cabernets. This high percentage of Merlot gives both wines a wonderfully plush, seductive quality, and, in their different ways, Haut-Brion and La Mission display the very best qualities of this vintage. Nevertheless there is density here too, especially in Haut-Brion. For me it is probably the pick of the first growths this year with Mouton and Margaux close behind.

Bordeaux 2012 Primeurs: Chateau Valandraud

Written by JW. Posted in Bordeaux

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It was Friday. No ordinary Friday but the last day of a grueling three-week primeurs period. At close to seven o’clock, I was over two hours late for a rendezvous with one of Bordeaux’s more controversial figures. It seemed highly unlikely that he would still be around to greet me. What an embarrassment. Every owner-winemaker in Bordeaux by now would surely have shut up shop, poured the champagne and put up their feet. Not Jean-Luc Thunevin.

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