Wine Words & Video Tape

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Posts Tagged ‘Bdx16’

Bordeaux 2016: Château Haut-Bailly

Written by JW. Posted in Bordeaux

Château Haut-Bailly has made an extremely impressive wine in 2016. It is a hypothetical blend of 2010 and 2015 for me. It has something of the structure of the former with the plushness and appeal of the latter. It emphasizes again the quality of the vintage as well as the fabulous terroir at Haut-Bailly. The care and attention to detail in the vineyard and in the winemaking here is also second to none. This wine caps a string of beauties [2005, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015] in which Haut-Bailly has made some of the best and most exciting red wine in Bordeaux.

Bordeaux 2016: Château Smith Haut Lafitte

Written by JW. Posted in Bordeaux

I love the forward thinking approach at Château Smith Haut Lafitte. Their respect for the environment and sustainable practices are impressive. It is one of my favourite properties in Bordeaux. Maître de Chais Yann Laudeho took me through the wines here. 2016 as a vintage looks excellent, and the quality has almost taken them by surprise. The red Smith Haut Lafitte is a beauty this year. It is up there with the brilliant wine made in 2015. It is wonderfully generous and has that tell tale texture of the vintage. The white looks very good indeed. It has depth and zest in what was perhaps a challenging vintage for the whites at some properties. The 100% Merlot Château Le Thil is plump and attractive.

Bordeaux 2016: St Emilion

Written by JW. Posted in Bordeaux

Top to bottom, St Emilion has had an excellent vintage in 2016. Qualitatively it is the equal of 2015, but differs stylistically. There is a lot of that bright, beautiful fruit that characterized ’15, but there is more grip, freshness and texture this year. It all makes for an appetising vintage for aficionados of St Emilion. Prices are up – quelle surprise! And if you are unfortunate enough to reside in the UK then the Brexit fiasco has made things pricier still. Still if you’ve the spare cash, this is a vintage to consider. There are a great many St Emilion Grand Cru which are really excellent and the quality of the Grand Cru Classé and the Premier Grand Cru Classé [though very pricey] are extremely impressive. Overall this is an exciting and homogenous vintage. There’s decent quantity available too.

Bordeaux 2016: Château Angélus

Written by JW. Posted in Bordeaux

Hubert de Boüard is understandably delighted by the quality of the wine at Château Angélus in 2016. It is remarkable St Emilion that rivals the prodigious 2015. With price up 16% [33% in Sterling terms] on the ’15 the de Boüards clearly think they have something even better on their hands. Yet it is the quality of the other wines here that dazzled particularly this year. Carillon d’Angélus is no slouch. It is nicely layered with wonderfully refined tannins. Château Bellevue showed brilliantly. It has lots of beautiful perfumed fruit and a great texture. Château Daugay is enticing and open. It is all satin and black cherry tones currently. Château Roc de Boisseaux comes fully loaded with black fruits and is lots of fun. 2016 looks impressive across the range here.

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