The joyride around Bordeaux 2016 culminated once again with some remarkable wines in the Haut-Médoc. These were led by Château Palmer, which in 2016 has produced a Margaux to rival last year’s beauty. Overall you would have thought that the dry and hot conditions would have been difficult on some of the gravelly and lighter soils in both Margaux and in Pessac-Léognan, the two key appellations in which I dedicated a large part of my final day tasting. While I did notice a little more variability (some jam/raisin qualities in a couple, over-extraction in others] I was generally very impressed with a great number of wines. Once again the aromatics, the fruit tones and seductive qualities of the tannins were remarkable at the top end. I also explored the Haut-Médoc appellation in some detail. There are a great many wines of interest here in 2016 for the consumer. The vintage appears to rival 2009 and 2010. Stylistically it is almost a hypothetical blend of those two vintages [perhaps with some 2014 thrown in], but with generally more moderate alcohol levels. Time will tell as to 2016s precise place in the pantheon, but it’s obviously a very exciting vintage. Still, dark Brexit clouds mean that this vintage will obviously be released into an uncertain and possibly very different future.

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.

It was in the Médoc that the vintage showers of September 2015 were heaviest. Their effect has led to a degree of heterogeneity in the wines. Tasting many Médocs at the Cru Bourgeois event held at Château d’Arsac back in April I was struck by the variability. The rain arrived on the eve of the Merlot harvest which was unfortunate, in what was otherwise an excellent growing season with regard to quality. The top properties [Potensac, Goulée, Les Grands Chênes, La Tour de By and Loudenne for example] have made impressive wines; others were easy going and soft; quite a few felt a little dilute. Unlike 2014, which was a pretty safe bet in my opinion up in the Médoc, 2015 seems a more uneven prospect. There are some good wines, but the picture is complex.

At last a vintage for the new management at Château Cos d’Estournel to sink their teeth into. If 2014 seriously favours the left bank, then it is in St Estèphe that some of the very best wines have been produced. Cos is right up there with these. It is an extremely polished and wonderfully proportioned grand vin in 2014. It is very impressive stuff and shows genuine freshness. Les Pagodes de Cos is also an extremely layered offering, displaying lots of delicious black cherry fruit. Cos blanc, made from vineyards up the coast close to the Médoc, seriously impressed in 2013, but 2014 trumps even this. It easily ranks alongside many of the great Pessac-Léognan whites this year.