The vagaries of the 2011 season effected St Emilion in pretty much the same way as it did the rest of Bordeaux. A precocious start in spring got the vineyards off to a flying start. Extremely high temperatures at the end of June, recorded at 44C in the shade at Chateau Figeac, caused problems and would have stalled vine growth. Cooler and wetter weather in July and August helped spur things along but clearly the fluctuating climatic conditions necessitated a huge investment of labour in the vineyards in terms of canopy management and the like to maintain a healthy crop. There was also some localised rain at harvest which would have proved problematic although here, as elsewhere, September was generally sunny and warm.

If the seven wines below are any guide to the way the 2009 vintage is progressing in Pomerol, the vintage looks very exciting indeed. Chateau La Conseillante, Chateau Clinet and Chateau Petit-Village are outstanding wines. La Conseillante was the least impressive of the trio when tasted last April, but it has moved on significantly in terms of weight, depth and complexity. Chateau Clinet is gorgeous, simply dazzling. Just beneath this stratosphere, but only just, Chateau Gazin has produced a terrific wine, certainly the best I’ve had from this estate, though it’s not quite the bargain it once was. Not that you really get bargain Pomerol these days, but Chateau Beauregard and Chateau La Pointe provide real bang for your buck, La Pointe especially which has produced a sumptuous wine.  Chateau La Cabanne feels a bit pedestrian by comparison but it’s a pretty good effort in itself.

Chateau Figeac produced majestic wine in 2009

I came away from the primeurs tastings in St Emilion last year a little bewildered. There were undoubtedly great wines produced in this vintage but at that stage for me it felt very difficult to assess St Emilion, at least in such glowing terms as in the Médoc, Pessac and even in neighbouring Pomerol. The problem was with the tannin, thick, dense and chewy and, wow, such a lot of it, just how would these wines settle? Admittedly over-extraction and over-ripeness are not new concerns for this appellation, but it did concern me when I first tasted these 2009s. It wasn’t a problem across the board by any means but there were many that felt overdone.

Cheval Blanc’s managing director Pierre Lurton describes the 2010 vintage as one of ‘cool maturity’, a vintage that allowed for the steady build up and accumulation of flavour and alcohol without plunging acids. Nights in late August at Cheval Blanc were distinctly cool, down to 5C on occasion. ‘It was like keeping the grapes in the fridge overnight’ said technical director Pierre Olivier Clouet. Certainly the vintage conditions have enabled Cheval Blanc to make impressive wines. Grand Cru Classe Chateau La Tour du Pin has been managed by the team here since 2006 and was also shown. The vineyards of this eight hectare estate are planted on a mix of gravel and sandy soil overlying clay and lie close to Cheval Blanc.