Wine Words & Video Tape

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Posts Tagged ‘Côtes de Bordeaux’

Bordeaux 2014: Côtes de Bordeaux

Written by JW. Posted in Bordeaux

IMG_6895For all the talk of a Left Bank vintage, the Right Bank, specifically the Côtes de Bordeaux comprising Blaye, Bourg, Cadillac, Francs and Castillon has produced a number of impressive wines in 2014. Francs and Castillon stood out for me at the Grand Cercle tasting late last month but there are successes elsewhere. There is plenty of flesh and sophistication in the best Côtes de Bordeaux and they should prove good value. In Castillon Château Alcée and Château d’Aiguilhe [especially] and Château Veyry are very good. In Francs Château de Franc, ‘Les Cerisiers’, Château La Prade and Château Puygueraud stand out. In the Côtes de Bourg Château Fougas Maldoror has produced a very good wine.

Bordeaux 2014 Primeurs – Friday

Written by JW. Posted in Bordeaux

IMG_5703Bordeaux’s primeurs week ended for me, as it began, in St Emilion. While perhaps 2014 will be seen as a vintage for the Cabernets and therefore the Left Bank, there is in fact a lot to like about the texture and freshness of the best wines from Pomerol and St Emilion. Cyrille Thienpont who works with his father at many Right Bank properties [including Berliquet, Larcis-Ducasse and Pavie-Macquin], said it was as much the terroir that mattered [well drained, clay-limestone] as the variety [Merlot/Cabernet] in St Emilion. These thoughts were echoed in Pomerol by his cousin Alexandre Thienpont at Vieux Château Certan [the 2014 VCC is an intellectual beauty by the way]. What pleased him was the marriage of the Merlot and the Cabernet on his property. The vintage, he believes, allowed the elements to combine well, and that the strength of the wine [and perhaps the vintage?] was in the combination rather than in any of the particular elements here on the Right Bank.

Bordeaux Primeurs 2013: Côtes de Bordeaux

Written by JW. Posted in Bordeaux

IMG_5607Working through 110 wines shown blind by Le Cercle Rive Droite on the last Sunday in March, D:Ream’s ‘Things can only get better’ was ringing in my mind. Slowly they did, but only slowly. There is no doubt that 2013 is the trickiest Bordeaux vintage since 1997 for the reds and the smaller producers in the Côtes de Bordeaux are amongst those who have probably struggled the most.

Bordeaux Primeurs 2012: Fronsac & Canon-Fronsac

Written by JW. Posted in Bordeaux

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These appellations have produced a serious set of wines in 2012. There is plenty of fruit, complexity in many cases and no shortage of style. I’d expect these to be well priced and should prove good buys, better bets frankly than many of their similarly priced counterparts on the Haut-Médoc in this vintage. As you’d expect of Fronsac/Canon-Fronsac the wines are more structured than many of those in the Côtes de Bordeaux, less lush, more intellectual. Having just said that Chateau de la Dauphine looks an absolute treat. It is really seductive.

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