Image credit: chateau-climens.fr
Sitting at the airport and reflecting on the last day which ended being rather leisurely compared to my marathon week. Started with a breakfast tasting at Haut Brion and then onto Climens to taste their individual picks from the barrel. I then went back to Pessac where I had my final tasting at Pape Clement to taste the Bernard Magrez collection before heading back to the airport for my 4pm flight to Luton. Haut Brion and La Mission Haut Brion were impressive for the vintage and if I had to place it amongst the first growths I would place it in 2nd place after Latour and before Mouton Rothschild.
Then a trip down the motorway to Climens for a private tasting with Berenice Lurton. This really gave me an insight into the nuances of the vintage. In total they did 16 pickings and have already done some micro blending, we therefore had 8 different barrel samples to taste.
At Climens they started the first pickings on the 27th Sept, and picked all the way through up until the 3rd October at 7pm when the rain came. It was this week of picking that made the backbone for an outstanding Sauternes vintage. The earlier rains that caused the problems for the reds in Medoc were the catalyst for the botrytis in Sauternes and the cool, drying wind concentrated the flavours beautifully. The 2013 vintage has produced probably the best quality first pickings ever in Barsac and Sauternes and has resulted in many Sauternese putting 80% of these first pickings into their final blend. On the best terroir like D'Yquem and Climens it is likely to be about 60%. The grapes picked in this first tranche resulted in amazing vibrancy, with fresh botrytis and incredible concentration with lots of exotic characters, marmalade and viscosity. The second important pickings were between the 21st and 24th October, which resulted in good concentration however there wasn't as much power, vibrancy and freshness as the earlier picking. For me 2013 Sauternes is without doubt the silver lining of the vintage... watch this space, they will undoubtedly feature in some of the top of wines of the vintage.
Pape Clement itself was impressive especially the Blanc and Bernard's new Sauternes property Clos Haut Peyraguey was outstanding. His reds like La Tour Carnet and Fombrauge were as you would expect from Michel Roland (consultant) with lots of creamy new oak - modern style.
It's likely to be a quick campaign - Gazin (£420) and Pontet Canet (£675) have already been released. I will try and get my notes written up as quickly as possible. If you have a wish list please let me know as it's helpful and fingers crossed the prices will be reasonable.
My vintage report will be released tomorrow, more to follow, back in the office in Yorkshire should you want to speak.
