Wine Words & Video Tape

Wine, Words and Videotape

Fine Wine Review site

Posts Tagged ‘Chateau La Cardonne’

Bordeaux 2020: Médoc and Haut-Médoc

Written by JW. Posted in Bordeaux

Final blog post for the moment on the reds of Bordeaux in 2020. I’ve grouped together notes taken on wines from the Médoc and Haut-Médoc in this post, as well as some specific communes like Margaux, Moulis, Listrac, St Julien, Pauillac and St Estèphe. All of these are based on samples sent by the Grand Cercle. I’ve yet to taste members of the Union des Grand Crus and there are a number of properties that I usually get to taste which I didn’t manage to organise this year. I hope to update these omissions soon. From what I have tasted the reds are fresh in the Médoc in 2020, although there is not the richness of 2019 or 2018 for me. In some there is a certain austerity and angularity. Wines tasted from the Haut-Médoc have good depth and colour, with freshness and zap, but again some can feel a little angular. A handful of wines tasted from St Estèphe look promising, with good colours and nice textures, and there were some nicely perfumed, fresh wines from Margaux. The few bottles I tasted from St Julien and Pauillac showed finesse, but were not quite up with the quality and concentration of the previous two vintages. Overall my tastings in these communes were not as comprehensive as those on the right bank this year. If you want detailed reports on the left bank wines I’d defer to others whose writing on Bordeaux I admire [Jane Anson, James Lawther, Chris Kissack, Neal Martin & Jeb Dunnuck all cover Bordeaux extremely well]. Nevertheless, I hope you find the notes on the following 24 wines useful.

Bordeaux 2019: Médoc and Haut-Médoc

Written by JW. Posted in Bordeaux

Final post for now on the red wines of Bordeaux in 2019. Half a dozen wines tasted from the Médoc again showed a very strong vintage here. There is plenty of colour, vibrancy and extract in the wines for sure. I’ve already written on Goulée, which is very silky in 2019, but I was also impressed by Château Les Grands Chênes, Château Loudenne [a great effort], Château La Cardonne and Château Ramafort. In the Haut-Médoc appellation Château Lanessan, Château Malescasse and Château La Tour Carnet have all produced excellent wine. Amongst the other applications, in Moulis I was excited by both Château Poujeaux and Château Dutruch Grand Poujeaux [super refined]. I hope to augment these notes below with additional reviews of the wines of other properties over the coming months, most notably wines from the Margaux appellation.

Bordeaux Primeurs 2016: Day 2

Written by JW. Posted in Bordeaux

I spent a second day in St Emilion, starting at Château Pavie-Macquin to taste the range of wines that Nicolas Thienpont crafts as well as listening to a review of the climatological aspects of the vintage. It was an opportunity to hear Stéphane Derenoncourt discuss his thoughts on 2016 as a ‘miracle’ vintage.  He sees it as the third in a trilogy of impressive vintages starting in 2014. Next up was Château Angélus to look at their stable of wines and discuss the vintage with Hubert de Boüard as well as examine the expanding range that he consults for. This gave me an opportunity to taste the first of a series of seriously impressive wines from the left bank in Pauillac and the Haut-Médoc. I then completed tastings at the Grand Cercle held at Château Montlabert. Here I assessed a dozen or so St Emilion Grand Cru Classés [generally exciting and homogeneous] as well as tasting more wines from the left bank appellations St Julien, Pauillac, Margaux and the Haut-Médoc. My overall feelings was how exciting this vintage is for both right and left bank, perhaps left especially.

Bordeaux 2012 Primeurs: Médoc

Written by JW. Posted in Bordeaux

Medoc corks copy

The 2012 growing season was as tricky up in the northern Médoc as it was elsewhere on the left bank, with the advantage here that the blends often have a higher proportion of Merlot, the variety that succeeded in the vintage. Not that Merlot escaped entirely. One of the consequences of the very cool weather around flowering was considerable flower shatter [coulure] on the Merlot, reducing yields, although this was reported as having a positive effect on quality, increasing concentration. Nevertheless the cool and wet start to the growing season certainly led to uneven development in the grapes. Ripening did catch up with the warmer and very dry period spanning mid-July to late September, but the harvest was always going to be a late one, one that would ultimately be influenced by October’s wet weather. Nevertheless the best wines have good fruit and weight from the Merlot.

Follow Us