Back to Bordeaux, and straight to the top. Château Mouton Rothschild, alongside Latour, led Pauillac this year for me. Mouton 2015 has power and depth but also harmony. It goes down in my book as the most impressive wine here since 2010 [though as at many Médoc properties the 2014 may yet give it a run for its money]. Le Petit Mouton also impressed and both Château d’Armailhac and Château Clerc-Milon look good this year. The bad news is that prices are up substantially on 2014, by 60% in the case of Mouton itself. Further exchange rate instability in the UK at least may also influence the price at which Mouton is offered.

Château Pontet-Canet is on a roll, the biodynamic wind speeding its sails. The thoughtful and determined approach of Alfred Tesseron and his family, together with right-hand man Jean-Michel Comme, have shepherded this Pauillac estate to the top of its game. Pontet Canet 2015 is a deep, seductive beauty. It has wonderful fruit tones and texture. The holistic approach here appears to be influencing harvest dates, with the grapes achieving phenolic ripeness earlier. This was handy in 2015 as the last of the Cabernet came in on October 3, just as the rains began to arrive.

Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste produces some of Pauillac’s finest wine, year in, year out. It regularly tops Liv-Ex’s post primeurs straw poll of wine merchants’ value picks. The 2015 is definitely a success for the chateau. Sibling Château Haut-Batailley, from Pauillac vineyards that border St Julien, shows similar finesse and balance to ‘GPL’ but at a keener price.  There is a sense that the 2015 vintage here could be seen to be a modern day version of 1985. There is certainly the grace and harmony of that vintage in the wines, as well as the freshness. Vineyard management and winemaking have of course changed significantly in the thirty years since 1985. 

So what are the principal characteristics of the Bordeaux 2015 vintage? Firstly there is a real beauty to the fruit tones in the red wines this year. Time after time, especially on the Right Bank but also on the Left I kept writing ‘beautiful,’ ‘pretty,’ and ‘delicious.’ There is freshness, despite pretty high alcohols in the main. The vintage is almost a hypothetical blend of 2009 and 2010, but with less evident structure and weight than those vintages. For me it recalls 1985 in terms of that vintage’s early beauty and freshness – and ‘85 remains in great shape today. But the 2015 vintage is by no means homogeneous. In fact there is considerable variability. What is in no doubt is that ‘15 is terrific in St Emilion. There is concentration and delight in so many wines there this year. It has also been strong vintage in the surrounding Côtes de Bordeaux appellation, especially Castillon and Francs.