An early morning roll call as I met Andrew at 2am at Bon Coeur HQ, followed by picking up En Primeur apprentice, Ronald, en route to Manchester Airport. Light traffic on the road and we breezed through security, only to be delayed an hour on the tarmac due to French air traffic control issues and rolling fog on the runway.
However, upon landing in Bordeaux-Mérignac we were greeted by glorious sunshine and a comfortable 20 degrees. We picked up the hire car and shot off to our first appointment at nearby Château Les Carmes Haut Brion. It was great to meet old friend Thibaut Richard in his new role as Commercial Director who took us through tasting both C des Carmes and Les Carmes Haut Brion.
From Pessac-Léognan we headed across to Saint-Émilion and our next rendezvous at Château Trotte Vieille. We tasted through the Castéja family Right Bank properties; Châteaux La Croix du Casse, Domaine d’Église, La Dame du Trotte Vieille and Trotte Vielle, with winemaker Valérie Lavigne. A whistle stop tour of the new chai and cellars / private dining room adorned with back vintage bottles dating to the 1920s followed suit. Very impressive!
We crossed Saint-Émilion to see the charming Anabelle Cruse-Bardinet at Château Corbin to taste her Grand Cru Classé. She sacrificed a third of her yield in 2024 using densimetric sorting; a testament to her drive, passion, and commitment to create the best wine possible at Corbin.
A quick hop over the boundary into Pomerol at Château Le Pin where notre ami Guillaume Thienpont is now helping Uncle Jacques at the Château. We tasted their up-and-coming property, Château L’If, as well as the iconic Grand Vin, Le Pin, with Managing Director Diana Berrouet García.
Staying in the family, our next stop was at neighbouring Pomerol estate: Vieux Chateau Certan. It was a real pleasure to catch up and to taste with the ever-informative Alexandre Thienpont (Guillaume’s father) who described the vintage as being “back to Bordeaux”, allowing the estates terroir to come to the fore. The Cabernet Franc gave the wine a cashmere-like texture and body, Cabernet Sauvignon provided the perfume, and Merlot added colour that Alexandre described as “fresh, consistent, and perfumed.”
The final appointment of the day was at Château Séraphine with our Prince of Pomerol: Martin Krajewski. Séraphine is coming up the ranking and is a property to watch, yet with lower yields and only 8 barrels made, this year it is rarer than Le Pin (13 barrels!)
Saturday was a rest day in preparation for the week ahead. However, we managed a visit to Mark and Sandra Johnson-Hill at the well-regarded Château Méaume, who took over from Alan and Sue in 2019. They are investing in both the vineyards and winery in their continued pursuit of quality.
Andrew was keen to keep the Bon Coeur Bordeaux rugby tradition alive for another year, snaffling tickets to see Union Bordeaux Bègles against Munster in the Quarter Finals of the Champions Cup. A bruising encounter saw the Bordelais come out as victors, winning 47-29. Well, it can’t be all work and no play… UBB, allez allez allez!
After a good night's sleep, we awoke and headed into the Médoc for the first large Nécogiant tasting with Ulysse Carbonne where we sampled around 70 wines from both Left and Right Bank, from varying quality levels: Cru Bourgeois up to “Super Second” Classified Growths. It was brilliant to see so many familiar faces such as Véronique Dausse (Phélan Ségur), Pierre Courdurié (Croix de Labrie), Gonzague de Lambert (De Fernand) and Guillaume Pouthier (Les Carmes Haut Brion), yet more importantly, it gave us the opportunity to try their respective wines on multiple occasions; now, as well as later in the week.
After an excellent lunch (as well as some stellar sips of Cos d’Estournel 2012, Grand Puy Lacoste 2007, and Phélan Ségur 1995 no less!) we made haste for our second Négociant tasting of the day. A quick dash through the vines across to Ballande et Meneret where we were immediately able to re-try some wines, as well as sample others that weren’t available earlier on. An intense day (tasting around 120 from 10:00 until 16:30 with a small break for lunch), however, one that has already given us a solid foundation to build our opinions of the campaign.
Back to Bon Coeur base camp for a light supper and an early night as we gear up for another busy day tomorrow and the official start of the UGC week. Bonne nuit!
