Wine Words & Video Tape

Wine, Words and Videotape

Fine Wine Review site

Bordeaux 2010 Primeurs: Pauillac

Written by JW. Posted in Bordeaux

Overall 2010 is dense and intense in Pauillac. The wines are less easy to enjoy than ’09, without that easy flamboyance but they do have phenomenal strength and power, with lots tannin and grip too. It will be very interesting to see how they settle. So the best wines are different in style rather than in quality over ’09. Generally I was seduced more by the style of ’09 in Pauillac to ’10. That said amongst the first growths Mouton has produced an even better wine in ’10 than in ’09, Lafite is perfect but very concentrated and dense and feels less elegant and seductive over ’09. Latour is very dense, concentrated and quite amazing – and almost equalled by a quite extraordinary Les Forts de Latour. Carruades de Lafite is no slouch this year and neither is Le Petit Mouton de Mouton Rothschild.

Bordeaux 2010 Primeurs: St Estèphe

Written by JW. Posted in Bordeaux

St Estèphe has done well in 2010 and has produced big, strong and dense wines. Certainly this isn’t a vintage for early drinking and there is not the succulence of 2009 in the best wines this year. There is richness but it’s shown more in strength rather than in opulence. There is also noticeable grip on the palates amongst the wines along with plenty of dense tannin and high-ish alcohols. The wines will be long lived and will need time in bottle. This reflects the overall vintage conditions and partly Merlot’s  reduced yield. The variety was affected by coulure because of unsettled weather during flowering, a problem that hasn’t so much affected quality but has reduced the quantity of Merlot in some blends.

Bordeaux 2010 Primeurs: Chateau Pontet Canet

Written by JW. Posted in Bordeaux

Well, it is official, 2010 Chateau Pontet Canet will be the first certified organic and biodynamic wine the estate has produced, indeed probably the first that any Médoc grand cru has ever produced I should imagine. Over twenty four hectares are now worked here with horses. One was just outside by the vineyards on the afternoon I visited [see photo below].  If you think horses and biodynamics all sounds like piffle, then taste the wine. It is wonderfully pure and harmonious.

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