As the French say "métro, boulot, dodo"... and before we knew it, James and I were back at our screens and raring to go this morning as we tuned in for day 2 of our Bordeaux 2020 En Primeur tastings from a bright and sunny North Yorkshire.
We began our tasting in Pessac-Léognan where we found the same impressive fruit concentration and purity we had seen in the Haut-Médoc and Margaux wines yesterday. There is no denying that this is an outstanding vintage for Merlot; ripe, fleshy and generous and when blended with Cabernet Sauvignon the alcohol is tempered and therefore the wines possess great freshness and balance. The stars of the show were without doubt Château Smith Haut-Lafitte and Domaine de Chevalier, where the Managing director of the latter, Olivier Bernard, stressed that although a very good vintage "it was saved thanks to the cooler temperatures in August, otherwise, 2020 would have been warmer than 2003..." He further added that it was essential to retain freshness, and in order to so the decision at harvest needed military-styled management; to such an extent that picking was only permitted between 7:30am-11:00am before it became too warm.
Pessac-Léognan
Clos Floridene (Blanc)
Ch. Carbonnieux (Blanc and Rouge)
Ch. Fieuzal (Blanc and Rouge)
Ch. Haut-Bailly (and Haut-Bailly II)
Ch. Malartic-Lagravière (and Le Comte de Malartic - Blanc and Rouge)
Ch. Pape Clement (Blanc and Rouge)
Ch. Pique-Caillou (Blanc and Rouge)
Ch. Smith Haut-Lafitte (and Le Petit Smith Haut-Lafitte - Blanc and Rouge)
Domaine de Chevalier (Blanc and Rouge)
(L) Florence Cathiard of Ch. Smith Haut-Lafitte (C) Olivier Bernard of Domaine de Chevalier (R) Aline Baly of Ch. Coutet
Next we travelled over to Sauternes-Barsac, an area often overlooked and underappreciated by many though the sweet wines of Bordeaux can be complex and compelling thanks to the glory that is Noble Rot, which in 2020, developed late in the season as a result of the hot and dry summer. Once again the question of when to pick was a cause for concern and the majority started between 8th-12th October, however, Aline Baly of Ch. Coutet commented that their 60-strong team picked earlier than normal between 16th-26th September with 6 "tries" in total, which they felt was correct for their vineyards... and we agree, it was in our top 3 alongside Ch. Doisy-Daëne and Ch.Guiraud.
We often describe Sauternes-Barsac as either a lemon citrus (lighter, delicate) vintage, or a Seville Orange marmalade (fuller, more Botrytis-infused) vintage and on first impressions, 2020 seems to fall somewhere in between the two. We had anticipated the style to be similar to 2003 thanks to the hot, dry summer, however, the combination of late picking and deft touches of Botrytis have created concentration, yet fresh and uplifting wines... what a sweet surprise!
Sauternes-Barsac
Clos de Lunes d'Argent (Blanc Sec)
Ch. Bastor-Lamontagne
Ch. Coutet
Ch. Doisy-Daëne
Ch. Guiraud
Ch. Lafaurie-Peyraguey
Ch. Suduiraut (and Blanc Sec de Suduiraut)
Ch. Filhot
With another good day's tasting under our belt, we are beginning to get to grips with the vintage! Tomorrow we venture back up north for some big guns in Saint-Estèphe, Saint-Julien and Pauillac... on y va!
If you are interested in En Primeur but haven't yet taken the plunge, read our introduction to buying En Primeur wine as well as our Bordeaux 2020 preview. If you would also like to receive emails on En Primeur, please email wine@bcfw.co.uk to be added to our distribution list.
