The day started with a welcome lie-in as the alarm sounded at 7 am and we were out the door at 7:45 am for our first appointment at Château d’Issan in Margaux to taste Blason d’Issan and the Grand Vin, as well as stable estates; Château Pédesclaux (Pauillac), and the newly acquired Château Lafon-Rochet (Saint-Estèphe). It was a charming tasting to start the day. Interestingly we learnt they have bought an adjoining 7-hectares on the Palmer-Margaux plateau, which contains 1-hectare of Malbec, as well as a plot of Petit Verdot planted in 1948. Of course, d’Issan was the stand-out wine, yet Blason was really impressive once again: juicy, pure, and elegant. Pédesclaux has also made an outstanding wine for the vintage that oozes charm and sophistication.
Château Palmer next, and what a pair! They claim Alter Ego is more “very Margaux”, whereas the Grand Vin is “very Palmer”. Palmer is without a doubt, one of the contenders for wine of the vintage.
Next, we headed to Château Rauzan-Ségla just across the road, diagonally opposite Château Margaux to re-taste the Grand Vin, having already sampled it on Sunday at the Ulysse Cazabonne tasting. With the taste of Palmer still lingering on our palate, we were expecting Rauzan-Ségla to be slightly subdued, however we all came out of the tasting with smiles on our faces; so graceful and elegant, yet still sophisticated and not to be underestimated. They are practicing biodynamic viticulture and will be certified from the 2024 vintage.
Onto Château Margaux, which is always one of the highlights and a true privilege to taste. The quality of Pavillon Rouge (Second Wine), these days is a real contender to take the top spot from Château Margaux itself from the pre-1980s. The 2021 Grand Vin was just stunningly Margaux; refined, precise and focused.
We then yoyo’d back across the D2 to Château Durfort-Vivens for our appointment with Claire Lurton to taste her portfolio (Châteaux La Gurgue, Ferrière, and Durfort-Vivens) and see her terra cotta army of amphorae. They made some good wines, however, I think Château d’Issan and Blason d’Issan could possibly better buys (naturally depending on prices).
Following Durfort-Vivens we had an hour’s drive down to Domaine de Chevalier in Pessac-Léognan. An extra visit on our schedule as we managed to do the Margaux UGC tasting yesterday. Bernard Olivier and his team have made a commendable effort with the 2021 vintage; however, both Andrew and I still have memories of the awesome 2020. Bernard kindly asked us to stay for lunch, he was opening an array of interesting back vintages and varied formats. A few First Growths from top vintages such as Château Mouton Rothschild 2010 (bottle), Château d’Yquem 2010 (Magnum), and Château Latour 1990 (Double Magnum), with the latter was sadly polished off before our arrival… tant pis!
From Domaine de Chevalier we headed to the Pessac-Léognan and Sauternes UGC tasting at Château Latour-Martillac. The star of the show was Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion, confirming our earlier thoughts having tasted it on Sunday at the Ulysse Cazabonne tasting. Another estate that caught our attention was Château Picque Caillou (both white and red), bravo Paulin for a great effort in such a challenging vintage. As for Sauternes, Châteaux La Tour Blanche and Rieussec were our top picks (the latter produced a whopping 8.4 hectolitres per hectare in 5 separate “tries”).
So much has happened in 3 years since we last stepped foot in Château Haut-Bailly and it was impressive to see their new circular winery and cellars. We tasted their trio of wines; La Pape (situated just 600m away from the main estate), their second wine, Haut-Bailly II, which is a true little brother to the Grand Vin, as well as Haut-Bailly. Haut-Baily sits alongside Châteaux Smith Haut Lafitte and Les Carmes Haut-Brion in the Pessac-Léognan super second list, just behind Châteaux Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion. Haut-Bailly is an impressive wine for the vintage, and so good that I wanted to try it again, yet due to the small vintage (19-hectolitres per hectare), I thought it would be a little too cheeky!
From Haut-Bailly we raced across to Château Smith Haut Lafitte where we were met by owner Daniel Cathiard who guided us through five wines; Le Thil Comte Cleary, Le Petit Smith Haut Lafitte (white and red), and Smith Haut Lafitte (white and red). Daniel agreed with us that the wines from the 2021 vintage are “old school” in style; more elegant and with lower alcohol levels than in recent years; benefitting from modern winemaking technology.
Our final call was Château Haut-Brion for an impressive line-up from Domaine Clarence-Dillon. If I had to pick it would have been La Mission Blanc and Haut-Brion Rouge, but to be honest, that’s splitting hairs, as all four Grand Vins were exceptional. I personally think the 2021 vintage offers more elegance, with lower alcohol; an improvement on their showstopping wines of previous years, however, I’m sure that the major wine critics will disagree.
With the last tasting of the day completed, it was back to Lac to pack and get our heads down for our final day...
Friday 29th April - Our final day
The final roll call sounded at 7:30 am, we packed up and left Bordeaux Lac for a late liquid breakfast of lemon and orange marmalade à la Paddington Bear at Château d’Yquem. Crossing the Pessac-Léognan – Sauternes boundary, we were greeted by one of the classic foggy mornings (they have on average 100 foggy days per year)… what a sight to behold.
The 2021 d'Yquem isn’t yet available to taste; instead, we sampled the recently released 2019 vintage. Incroyable! Reassuringly expensive, yet pure class and will never disappoint.
It was an hour back to Château Pape Clément, just off the Rocade (Bordeaux ring road) where we tasted through Bernard Magrez’s Cru Classé properties. The style of the vintage has mean't these wines have been toned down from the bold, fruit-driven wines' of previous vintages. His portfolio includes Châteaux Les Grandes Chênes, La Tour Carnet, Fombrauge, and his jewel Pape Clément. As usual, the latter was the star of the show. Thank you Bernard for inviting us to lunch, your hospitality is first class as always.
With a spare half an hour before heading to Bordeaux-Mérignac airport we popped in for a quick tasting at Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion. This reconfirmed our previous thoughts from the Ulysse Cazabonne and the Pessac-Léognan UGC tastings that they have made a superb wine in 2021.
After 7 days of Châteaux hopping, we really feel that we have gotten to grips with, and understand the 2021 vintage. It isn’t the style of vintage we have seen in recent years (2016, 2018, 2019, and 2020) with generous fruit and power, however, it is a vintage of energy, freshness, and vibrancy and the good wines have plenty of purity and density. However, due to the challenges of the year you do have to pick through the wines and being here in Bordeaux to taste has certainly given us a huge understanding of the vintages, with both its highs and lows.
Price as always is the big question and will dictate the success of the campaign. It is going to be even harder this year with such small yields and producers looking to increase prices to off-set rising costs; only time will tell where the ball will be pitched.
It's been such a pleasure to be back in Bordeaux after 3 years (2 vintages) reacquainting with old colleagues and friends, as well as meeting and discovering new producers. Furthermore, to be Châteaux hopping again with our international brigade of French, Dutch, and American tasters has been a real delight. We have written tasting notes on over 300 wines, yet in reality, we have tasted nearer 500; some wines we have tasted on two or even three occasions, and always try to visit the Château where possible, as the samples are fresher.
After seven days and two tanks of sans plombe, we’re now sitting in Bordeaux-Merignac Airport waiting for Squeezyjet and dreaming of a sophisticated, creamy, and satisfying pint of Theakston’s best… will we make last orders?!
A big thank you to everyone, from the comments and feedback, many of you have really enjoyed our reports; much appreciated! With a welcomed rest this weekend we will be busy writing up and fine tunint all our tasting notes up and reflecting on our findings. Look out for our Bordeaux 2021 En Primeur Vintage Report which will be out in May. Meanwhile should you have any questions both Andrew and I will be happy to discuss the vintage with you.
James Goodhart & Andrew Ray
