© 2003-2011 I.Litwar

 

IT'S PRIMEUR TIME AGAIN!

 

Having visited Bordeaux during the 2010 harvest and seeing wonderful grapes, I went to Bordeaux for primeur tastings in the end of March with very big hopes to experience a possible second or third vintage of the century. In addition to tastings of 2010, I arranged tastings of other vintages and several verticals.

Here’s diary of what happened during these 16 days I spent in Bordeaux.

 

Wednesday the 30th March 2011

My first stop was at not especially known property for many wine writers/critics, Chateau Seguin (I didn’t know it before September last year), although Robert Parker gave it 91-93 in vintage 2009 and Swiss wine critic, Rene Gabriel loves it. It’s situated in Canejan village close to Pessac and its appellation is Pessac-Leognan.  Darriet family owns it and the man in charge is Denis Darriet, who before coming to Seguin, worked in Paris as jeweler for among others Cartier and made special jeweler things for the most famous celebrities in the world. I had a vertical there from vintage 2004 to 2010 and I must admit I was left breathless while tasting 2010. This was an outstanding if not sensantional performance and 2010 seemed better than 2009 by significant margin. But 2009 was in its class and imho opinion it fully merits the rating Robert Parker gave it. Black cherries covered by chocolate and cocoa powder, stunning finesse, elegance and sophisticated touch in both but more depth, length and concentration in 2010. 2008 was multifaceted and very mineral. Great stuff! Seguin got new winemaker/cellar master in 2007 and it showed. 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 were pretty wines indeed, with 2004 and 2005 having much to give. And you could feel the character of Seguin’s soil in all tasted vintages. Unforgetable visit.

 

 

Thursday the 31st March 2011

First stop at La Mission Haut Brion and as always I was welcomed by always smiling Turid, PR director. I started with two second wines in red. La Chapelle d.L.M.H.B. and Le Clarence d.H.B. Both were splendid with big ripe tannin, lots of black fruit, fine balance and with fine acidity. The latter tasted slightly more tannic. Then two GVs. La Mission, which I didn’t find alcoholic at all, showed extremely fine nose with great aromas of black fruit, seamless structure, stunning balance, silky and refined palate. Sublime wine and awesome effort. Haut Brion was more concentrated that its “sister” but showed the same excellent qualities. You could smell a very obvious flavor of milk chocolate here. It was slightly longer on the palate then LMHB and definitely longer aftertaste which lasted more than 30 seconds for HB. Fantastic effort! La Carte d.H.B., which is a blend of two second white wines, was aromatic and pleasant with very nice balance. Tasty and kind of seductive. La Mission white was very intense on the nose with lemon grass, pineapple and apple, fresh, had great depth and length, and sophisticated touch. Haut Brion white had more concentration, intensity and was by vast margin longer on the palate and aftertaste.

 

Jean-Philippe Delmas - answered "I love all my kids" when asked which vintage he prefers (2009 or 2010)

 

Next stop was Chateau Bourgneuf Vayron in Pomerol, which starting from 2009 vintage will have new label showing Chateau Bourgneuf. Vayron family decided that Vayron addition wasn’t relevant anymore as neighboring Chateau Vieux Bourgneuf was bought some years ago by Jean-Luc Thunevin and renamed Clos de Beau Pere. Frederique Vayron, daughter of Dominique and Xavier Vayron, has been responsible for vinification of Bourgneuf since 2008 vintage, although her father helped her considerably with 2008 vintage. But 2009 and 2010 are 100% hers. 2008 was old style wine, tight, backward, lot of fruit and tannin while 2007 showed cacao, hint of truffles, roundness and tasty fruit. 2009 wasn’t ready to taste as it just underwent fining but 2010 showed chocolate, truffles and black cherries on the nose, powerful structure and a lot of perfectly ripe fruit and tannins. Needs time but great future for sure.

Then Chateau Corbin in Saint-Emilion. Run by enchanting Anabelle Cruse-Bardinet, who bought this property in 1999. She started to work with very known and capable oenologist, Jean-Philippe Fort, beginning with 2007 vintage and she’s extremely satisfied with 2010 vintage. Anabelle believes 2010 vintage is the best ever she’s made and she pointed out that soil of Corbin loves dry autumn (which was the case in 2010). I agree - the best Corbin I’ve ever tasted. Again and again black cherries enjoying bath in milk chocolate, excellent balance, very subtle and very stylish wine. Sublime and seductive stuff.

The day ended at Domaine de Chevalier with tasting of 2008-2009-2010 of Chevalier in both colors plus Lespault Martillac 2010 in both colors too. 2008 red D.d.Chevalier showed with a bang how excellent this vintage really is in Bx. Very intense nose with grilled flavors, truffles, animal flavors too, splendid structure and depth, plenty of fruit and tannin, long aftertaste. Stupendous wine. 2009 version was slightly corked. 2010 red was a real showcase with fresh flavors of chocolat/cocoa, blackberries, beautiful balance, excellent acidity and seamless structure. Simply excellent and rivaling not only 2009, but also 2005. 2010 Lespault Martillac red impressed by flavorful nose, meaty texture, splendid minerality and splendid concentration. All three white vintages were extremely sublime stuff with 2008 and 2009 being close in style. Great intensity of lemon, acacia, apple, excellent acidity and aftertaste – here 2009 seemed more intense and deeper. 2010 showed even more intensity, better acidity and considerably stronger structure, richness and length than 2009. 2010 Lespault Martillac white was a splendid “little brother” version of Chevalier. Impressive stuff. From the following dinner, wherefrom I didn’t take many notes, I remember impressive 1961 Palmer, which I tasted better in 2006 and before, and interesting 1941 Latour.

 

 

Friday the 1st April 2011

Many visits planned. It started with VCC/Le Pin. VVC 2010 was simply fantastic with sublime nose of chocolate mixed with beautiful black cherries, violets, silky palate filled with black cherries, astonishing balance and structure. Only 35 hl/ha. 2009 was in the process of being fined and therefore not reliable to taste. Le Pin 2010 was nearly as fantastic and had this lovely kinky touch, which was missing in recent vintages. 2009 Le Pin had the same explosive fruit but not the same breed and kinkiness. Extraordinary stuff anyway.

 

Alexandre Thienpont - heavenly 2010 VCC                                      New cellar and tasting room for Le Pin being built

 

Then off to Le Gay to taste five 2010 wines from Mme Pere-Verge’s portfolio. La Graviere (100% Merlot)  from Lalande de Pomerol, was packed with chocolate and wild cherries (again!), had some spicy aromas, freshness, very nice balance and fat ripe tannins. Splendid. Montviel (80% Merlot + 20% C.F.) from Pomerol, was made in 2010 only from 3 ha parcel near Clinet. Fresh, powerful, intense and long - for me the best Montviel ever produced. Manoir de Gay (100% Merlot) was gentle, round, soft and round, well-balanced and quite seductive. Le Gay showed lot of chocolate, sweet tannins perfectly integrated with sweet ripe fruit, excellent balance and rich on nuances. Great stuff. La Viotette, enchanted with guess what…. violets! Reminded a lot of Le Gay but was more precise in fruit and had more nuances. Awesome stuff.

 

Château Le Gay looks stunning and fits perfectly into Pomerol's landscape

 

So it was time to visit the previous “Bad Boy” of Saint-Emilion, Jean-Luc Thunevin. He’s a great wine personality with awesome sense of humour, blisteringly fast remarks and witty tongue. I've to say, that the range of his 2010s presented to me, was the best ever I experienced from his properties. Bellevue de Tayac from Margaux, Domaine des Sabines from Lalande de Pomerol and Clos de Beau Pere from Pomerol, were simply adorable, splendid and extremely seductive. 2010 Valandraud, the third vintage made entirely by Jean-Luc’s wife, Murielle, harvested very, very late, showed absolutely not even slightest taste of alcohol. Perfectly shaped, seamless, sophisticated with big load of chocolate and “cerise noir” perfectly integrated with fat sweet tannins, this was an extremely beautiful mouthful still showing character of the soil. 2009 had more intense nose than 2010, but less richness. Valandraud white Nr. 1 (half S.Blanc and half Semillon) was a great treat with splendid acidity accompanied by flavors of lemon, citrus and acacia flower, and finesse. Lunch with Jean-Luc, his wife Murielle, Mme Decoster from Fleur Cardinale (tasted her 2010 before lunch – extremely well-made wine, seductive and packed with sweet fruit and tannin) and new owner of Sansonnet followed. Murielle Andraud explained during lunch that she wants to add more softness and richness to Valandraud, that she and Jean-Luc owned three restaurants in Saint-Emilion before they started as vignerons. She’s a marvelous cooker and could work at any famous restaurant in the world. Lamb dish was sensantional! Jean-Luc served 2005 Valandraud during lunch and it was fantastic stuff with great intensity of black cherry, blueberry and blackberry aromas, incredibly rich, fat and deep. Kudos to Jean-Luc here – great to compare to infant 2010! I enjoyed also impressive Fleur Cardinale 2008 during lunch.

 

A pair of wines par excellence!

 

Next stop was Tertre Roteboeuf. Francois Mitjavile made more tannic wines in 2010 compared to 2009, bigger and stronger, maybe less intense. These are small differences and both vintages are awesome stuff from this extremely well-skilled winemaker. You don’t even feel the presence of alcohol here, which is sign of perfectly timed harvest and careful vinification.

Then short visit to Troplong Mondot, where I did taste 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010. I initially asked for tasting 2008 too, but was told it wasn’t available. Sold out? 2006 was powerful stuff with strong backbone, spicy flavors, very concentrated, meaty and with long aftertaste. 2007 as expected was easy to taste, supple, round, ready to drink and perfect wine for restaurants. 2009 had iron strong structure, power, lot of sweet fat tannin and oak and very long finish. Excellent stuff. 2010 exhibited more ripeness in fruit and tannin than 2009, was more full-bodied and showed more intensity and depth than 2009. Exceptional wine.

Lafleur was next. Grand Village and G charmed their ways with sweet fruit and tannin, very enjoyable and seductive, nice minerality and chocolate flavor. I think 2010s for both wines are better than 2009, and for G is only the second vintage. Pensées de Lafleur, Lafleur’s second wine, offered chocolate (again and again), sweet fruit perfectly integrated with fat and sweet tannin, and long finish. Stupendous effort. Grand Vin had very strong backbone, dark cherries covered by Varlhona chocolate, strong ripe tannin, was seamless and had very long aftertaste. Better than 2009? For now I think 2009 has the edge, but it can change with age. Last wine was white Grand Village 2010, which impressed with very aromatic nose of apricot, pineapple and pear, roundness and very seductive approach.

The day was rounded off by tasting 2010 wines from Francois Estager and they didn’t disappoint. La Papeterie from Montagne St.Emilion  showed delightful fruit and tannin, nice balance and smooth aftertaste. Domaine de Gauchet from Lalande de Pomerol was almost as well made and seductive as L.P. Domaine de Gourdins from Saint-Emilion was also a nice and well made wine, but slightly lighter and dryer than two first wines. Plincette from Pomerol was aromatic, elegant, very approachable, pleasant, round and with silky tannin. Haut Maillet (also from Pomerol) was stronger and more intense than Plincette, with splendid structure and aftertaste. La Cabanne, Pomerol,  made probably the best wine in recent 10-15 years with sweet fruit and tannin, splendid texture, structure, length and finish. Very aromatic  and nuanced.

Saturday the 2nd April

Any rest before primeur week? No way. Early in the morning me and my wine writer collegaue, Niko from Croatia ( my driver) who was with me for great part of of these 16 days, drove from Right Bank to Left Bank, and our destination was Labegorce in Soussans (Margaux commune). On the menu we had vertical of both Labegorce and Marquis d'Alesme from 2006 to 2010 vintage (2009 was absent due to ongoing fining), and the wines were tasted in pairs every vintage. We began with 2006 vintage. Labegorce was elegant, round and pleasant wine with seductive nose of red berries and palate of crushed red fruit. Marquis d'Alesme (first vintage under new owner - Perrodo family) was more intense and better structured than Labegorce. Both wines were nicely made. 2007 Labegorce showed slight greeness and dryeness on the palate, but was more or less OK wine with reasonable balance. 2007 Marquis d'Alesme didn't have these green flavors and was very pleasnt and seductive wine. 2008 Labegorce was splendid wine for this vintage with impressive stuffing, structure and length, plenty of blackcurrants and cherries on the nose and palate and well-balanced. 2008 Marquis d'Alesme resembled Labegorce a lot, but was more precise in fruit on the nose and palate, and had more concentration plus better structure. Stupendous wine. 2010 Labegorce was for me the best ever vintage for this property. Chocolate and black cherries, subtle and elegant, fresh, sweet fat tannins and sweet fruit, full-bodied, excellent structure, depth and long finish. Very seductive wine and clearly a sleeper of the vintage. 2010 Marquis d'Alesme, first vintage consulted by Michel Rolland, showed very much oak and tons of tannin, great intensity on the nose and palate, a bit too much extraction for my taste. Hopefully, it'll soften when in bottle.

In the afternoon, we came back to Right Bank to taste Chateau Gaby in Fronsac, where we tasted 11 vintages (2000-2010). From Chateau Gaby we experienced a magnificent wiev to vineyards approaching Dordogne river.

2000 - tasty raspberries on the nose and palate, round and elegant, slightly plummy, tasty, fine balance. Very nice to drink now.
2001 - fresh, much more intense (!) and concentrated (!) than 2000, blackcurrants, red berries, splendid balance and structure, long finish. Extremely adorable wine.
2002 - light on the nose, plummy, stronger on the palate. Hint of truffles on the nose, round and pleasant on the palate. Nice tannins and nice balance. Fine effort for the vintage.
2003 - quite alcoholic, warm fruit which is typical for this vintage, dry finish. Not my cup of tea.
2004 - resembled a lot of 2001 with more aromatic nose in 2004. Very seductive indeed.
2005 - very dark color, black fruit and liquorice, very intense and concentrated, tight, strong structure, firm aftertaste. Different style than 2001. Excellent wine.
2006 - quite alcoholic (!) on the nose, nicely structured, nice fruit and length. Nice wine but not very exciting.
2007 - seductive, hint of chocolate and truffles on the nose, fresh and sappy on the palate, fine balance. Already very approachable. Prefer this one to 2006.
2008 - less alcoholic than 2006, concentrated, nicely composed, good balance and smooth aftertaste. Will get better with age.
2009 - alcohol very present, lacks focus, very tannic, lacks freshness and balance. Sloppy vinification imho.
2010 - like 2009 and fruit is a bit overripe.

Interesting tasting and I'd have liked more attention to details from Gaby's winemaker during harvest and vinification in 2006, 2009 and 2010. Gaby's a fine potential, which 2001 and 2005 are proof of.
 
 
Magnificent view from Gaby down to Dordogne
 
 
Sunday the 3rd April

After longer than usual sleep, off to Chateau Barde-Haut to taste Cercle Rive Droite wines. Expected a lot of well-made wines from all districts but it didn't quite happen.
Here are wines which caught my attention:

1. Bordeaux - Chateau Thieuley Reserve Francis Courselle - nice fruit and structure, round and pleasant.
2. Chateau Plaisance from Cadillac/Cotes de Bordeaux and of Bernard Magrez fame - also nice fruity flavours, pleasant, supple and smooth.
3. Cotes de Castillon made very fine wines in 2009 but the only wine that repeated splendid performance from 2009, was Chateau Veyry which had very attractive nose of black fruit, very good structure, intensity and length on the palate, nice balance and smooth finish. Not bad at all. Chateau de Francs "Les Cerisiers" from Cotes de Francs did fine job and seemed like a lighter version of Veyry.
4. Fronsac/Canon Fronsac was not that homogenous as in 2009, but CarlMagnus (intense, meaty and well-packed with black fruit), Chadenne (resembled CarlMagnus), Dalem ( more concentrated and with better grip, structure and finish then CarlMagnus and Chadenne), La Dauphine, Fontenil to a certain degree (on the verge of overripeness and a bit too extracted), Haut Carles, Moulin Haut Laroque (chocolate nose, seductive, quite intense, well-balanced and smooth aftertaste), La Riviere normal cuvée (big, intense and powerful) and Barrabaque (nice, elegant and with fine balance, but lighter than forementioned wines), were very fine to splendid efforts.
5. Among Pomerols, chocolatey and harmonious Bellegrave, same styled but more tannic Bonalgue, strong and powerful Bon Pasteur with significant violet flavor, Bourgneuf which was as impresive as tasted three days before (powerful structure, chocolate, truffles, perfectly ripe fruit and fat ripe tannin), Clos L'Eglise (my best wine of the tasting with excellent structure, classy style and sophisticated touch, exquisite balance and the high-end chocolate flavor everywhere in this wine), Fayat (a bit controversial with fruit bordering overripeness, heavy but ripe tannins on the palate), Feytit Clinet (oaky, strong and powerful, harmonious), La Fleur de Gay (as F.Clinet but more tannin), Montviel (same appearance as on the 1st April at Le Gay), Le Moulin (very much in style of F.Clinet) and Taillefer (lovely nose of violets, seductive, nice concentration and structure) did splendidly to excellent. Helene Garcin told me that winemaking team was very on alert to harvest in perfect time and not let alcohol levels go wild, and do a careful + gentle maceration. Intelligent work.
6. Lalande de Pomerol offered very nice efforts from L'Ambroise du Chateau La Croix des Moines, Grand Ormeau, La Graviere ( same fine apperance as the other day at Le Gay), Siaurac and Tournefeuille. Not bad at all!
7. Saint Emilion Grand Cru - Barde Haut starred with fine and precise winemaking as at Clos L'Eglise (same owner) with chocolate, mocha on the nose, strong on the palate and fruit and tannin complimenting eachother very well. Fleur Cardinale tasted as impressive as two days before at Jean-Luc Thunevin's place. Not much to say about other wines - several with burnt alcohol flavors, overextraction, overripeness and worrying dryness on the palate.

I think I tasted around 60 wines out of 140 presented wines.

After Cercle Rive Droite event we went back to our accomodation place and after short rest, our next destination was Canon-La-Gaffeliere, where joint owners of Chateau Guiraud presented their wines (new and old). I'll concentrate here on wines from Count Neipperg, as Domaine de Chevalier red and white 2010 did exactly the same excellent appearance as three days before at Chevalier. D'Aiguilhe 2010 was atrractive, supple and with nice and tasty ripe fruit. Clos de L'Oratoire 2010 acted splendidly on the nose and palate with intense black fruit, fine balance and smooth finish. Alcohol here wasn't noticeable at all - clear proof of thoughtful winemaking. Canon-La-Gaffeliere had more of everything than C.d.L'O., more depth and concentration, and I found it more precise and giving than in recent vintages. La Mondotte 2010 was very complex, sophisticated, lot of stuffing, great acidity, excelently balanced and with quite long finish. Excellent effort indeed.

Other memorable wines from this evening - Domaine de Chevalier white 2001, Canon-La-Gaffeliere 2000 and La Mondotte 1997 (double magnum).

Monday the 4th April 2011

The real primeur week begins. Really warm weather which will last for whole week.

Early visit in the morning at Petrus and welcomed by Olivier Berrouet, son of famous winemaker, Jean-Claude Berrouet. Petrus 2010 has 14.5% alcohol and yield 35 hl/ha, harvested between 27th September and 2nd October. Incredibly complex wine, refined, silky and sophisticated on the palate, more than 30 seconds long finish. Exceptional stuff but I tend to assume that 2009 maybe was a bit richer and deeper than 2010. It can however change and these are slight differences.
 
 
Olivier Berrouet


Then off to La Conseillante to celebrate 140 years' jubilee and taste 2010, 2009, 2005, 2000, 1990 and 1945.

2010 - 80% Merlot + 20% C.Franc. Very elegant with finesse, black cherries and grated chocolate, wonderful balance, violets, sophisticated and refined on the palate. Excellent effort. Second wine, Duo, was seductive, round and pleasant. Glorious mouthful.
2009 - app. 40 hl/ha. Lighter than 2010, but still elegant, ripe tannins and lot of finesse. Marvellous wine. Duo (90% Merlot + 10% C.Franc) was fine second wine, more tannic than its 2010 counterpart, but still round and pleasant.
2005 - 38 hl/ha. So typical for this outstanding vintage. Truffles, seductive nose. elegant and incredibly classy wine, red meat, very sophisticated and with excellent length and structure, incredibly long aftertaste. Fantastic wine and I wondered if 2010 will come close to 2005 here.
2000 - big yield (49 hl/ha). Truffles again, very distinguished and stylish wine, very, very elegant and seductive. Wonderful stuff.
1990 - magnum. 53 hl/ha. Keeping very well, truffles again, stunning elegance and finesse, great intensity and structure. Extraordinary wine.
1945 - negociant bottling. A blast from the past. Same character as in recent vintages - sublime, sophisticated, great finesse and elegance. Just stunning. Neal Marti, who also was present at this tasting, told me that chateau bottling is significantly better that this negociant bottling.
 
 
Jean-Michel Laporte, La Conseillante's manager
 

Simply wonderful morning, I've to say!

From La Conseillante we took over to Climens, to have the usual treatment of 10-12 different barrel samples of 2010 and tasting of older vintages accompanied by small dishes during lunch. Berenice Lurton and Frederic Nivelle guided us (a group of 10-15 wine-journalists) elegantly through these many barrel tastings. According to Berenice Lurton, 2010 had more structure, depth and length than 2009. I agree and I found botrytised flavors more pure, higher residual sugar, better balance and much better acidity than in 2009. For sure, it'll be otherworldy Climens 2010.
For light lunch we got some fabulous small dishes with Asian spices, which complemented Cypres de Climens 2008, Climens 2008 (beautiful botrytis flavors, sophisticated and very elegant), Climens 2007 (stunning wine with eminently big botrytized flavors, wonderful balance and depth), Climens 2006 which resembled 2008 but had more flavors and finesse, and the magnifique 2005 Climens, extremely well.
 
 
Berenice Lurton - very proud of 2010 vintage                                             One of these several Climens barrels to try...
 
 
Extremely memorable day and it wasn't over yet.

After Climens off to Chateau Guiraud to taste blind 25 different wines from Sauternes & Barsac in vintage 2010. This district has been on fantastic and unparalled run since 1996 vintage. I was very impressed with 2010 and didn't find any single bad wine! My cherry picks in order of preference were: Lafaurie Peyraguey, de Malle, de Myrat, Nairac, Doisy Vedrines, Clos Haut Peyraguey and Sigalas Rabaud. The remaining Coutet, Doisy Daene, Guiraud, Caillou, Rieussec, La Tour Blanche, d'Arche, Broustet, Bastor Lamontagne, Rabaud Promis, Rayne Vigneau, Suduiraut, Filhot, Lamothe Guignard, de Fargues and Lamothe were somewhat behind these seven cherry picks. Still, faultless and well-made wines.

The day finished off with welcoming dinner for wine journalists at Smith Haut Lafitte and app. midnight it was time to go to sleep.
 
Tuesday the 5th April

It turned out to be one of the less busy primeur days. Our destination was La Tour Martillac, where Graves/Pessac-Léognan wines waited for us, 19 reds and 17 white tasted blind. It's a general rule in Bordeaux, that you taste whites after reds, as acidity in white wine can affect tasting senses of acidity and tannin in red wine. Some of my collegaues tasted in reverse order anyway. Their choice.

I've to say I was very impressed with reds, finding only one wine to be light and anonymous. No noticeable alcohol, many with splendid balance, fat ripe tannin, silky fruit and strong structure. My cherry picks in order of preference were: Haut Bergey, Haut Bailly, Pape Clement, Domaine de Chevalier, Smith Haut Lafitte, Latour Martillac, La Louviere, Larrivet Haut Brion, Picque Caillou and Carmes Haut Brion.

Whites were simply excellent and I didn't find any badly made wine at all. But with such excellent grapes in 2010, you'd really to be inadequate man/woman for the job, if you didn't make a good wine. Freshness, acidity, many aromas, finesse, richness and excellent balance - this is 2010 in white and for me clearly better than 2009 in white. My cherry picks in order of preference were: Domaine de Chevalier, Haut Bergey, Smith Haut Lafitte, Latour Martillac, Pape Clement, La Louviere, Malartic La Graviere, Picque Caillou, Carbonnieux and Olivier.

Afterwards we went to oenology conferrence about 2010 vintage with Denis Dubordieu, but it lasted for 3.5 hours instead of scheduled two, because some at the conferrence asked irrelevant questions about the high prices.

Wednesday the 6th April

Crazy day of tastings looming. First off to Cheval Blanc. La Tour du Pin offered silky suff on the nose and palate, roundness and nice structure. Petit Cheval was well structured with splendid concentration, fine length and smooth aftertaste. Grand Vin showed incredible silkeness, finesse, richness and sophisticated touch, but for me it wasn't better than the flamboyant 2009.

Then blind tasting of 2010 Saint Emilion and Pomerol at La Dominique. 20 wines from the first and 8 wines from the latter. Some wines suffered from overripeness, burnt alcohol and overextraction, especially in Saint-Emilion, and here I don't really understand what winemakers wanted to achieve in these wines, having excellent grapes to work with. Generally nice to spledid wines. I liked best Canon La Gaffeliere, Larcis Ducasse, Canon, Clos Fourtet, La Couspaude, La Dominique, Figeac, Troplong Mondot and Trottevieille. Among Pomerols, La Conseillante, Clinet, La Pointe, La Cabanne, Gazin and Petit Village were my picks.

Next stop was Ausone. I found wines from Alain Vauthier to be at the same level as his 2009s, maybe a little bit better in terms of acidity and overall freshness. Fonbel welcomed you with open arms and chocolate, Simard and Haut Simard showed oak and tannin with nice fruit behind, Moulin St.Georges combined well intens black fruit with fat tannin, strong structure and persistent aftertaste, Chapelle d'Ausone had great intensity of lack cherries and length, while Grand Vin offered large portions of black cherries dipped in milk chocolate, iron strong structure, big quantities of fat tannin and extremely long aftertaste. One of the best wines in 2010, no doubt about it.
 
 
 
Then off to the new La Confession (formerly Haut Pontet), where Jean-Philippe Janoueix has his headquarters now. The previous La Confession was Chateau Barreau in the outskirt of Libourne, few kilometres between both, new one has better soil, but the old one contributes with some grapes anyway. In 2010 vintage it displayed pretty much kirsch on the palate, was packed with perfectly ripe fruit, well-balanced and with very long aftertaste. To be honest I liked 2009 better. 2010 La Confession was a bit too overwhelming for my taste. 2010 La Croix St.Georges from Pomerol was strong and powerful with lot of black fruit and tannin, excellent balance, depth and length, and persistent aftertaste. Despite 14.5 alcohol by volume you couldn't really feel it. As fabulous as 2009. 2010 Sacre Coeur made by J-P.J. (the vineyard is only rented to him), was tight and strong, concentrated, oaky, with obvious kirsch on the nose, and well-balanced. 100% Merlot. Splendid wine. 2010 La Croix Mouton, Le Conseiller and 20 Mille were all very well made with fresh flavors of black cherries and fine balanced. Order of preference - 20 Mille, Le Conseiller and La Croix Mouton. At the same level or slightly better than 2009 vintage.
 

 

 

 

Then blind tasting of 13 Premier Grand Cru Classes in vintage 2010 at Beausejour Becot. I wrote charcoal flavor on three wines, Pavie, Pavie Macquin and Troplong Mondot, which probably indicated faulty samles. Angelus was a star of this tasting - lots of chocolate and black fruit, strong structure, great length and very long aftertaste. Not that extracted as I found it in recent vintages. Beausejour Becot resembled a lot of Angelus but tasted a bit lighter. Beausejour Duffau was very difficult to assess as all was oak and fruit covered by tannin. Lot of fruit there but not able to come forward. Trotevieille, La Gaffeliere, Belair-Monange, Canon, Clos Fortet, Figeac and Magdelaine did a splendid job, close to 2009 vintage.

 

Afterwards off to Bordeaux to taste 2010 Yquem at Bordeaux' Opera. There was freshness, multiple aromas, depth, sophisticated touch, astonishing intensity, depth and balance. Almost as breathtaking as in 2009 vintage. In addition, 1988 vintage was served, and it was great Yquem.

 

We finished the day at Grand Puy Ducasse with dinner, where famous wine collector, Francois Audouze was present. He brought two wines, 1945 Chateau Saint Julien from Saint-Emilion and 1929 Bastor Lamontagne from Sauternes. The first wine had truffy nose and blackcurrants in elegant version on the palate. A fine curiosity. The second one showed a fantastic nose of almonds and marzipan, what a intensity and sophisticated touch, still fantastic acidity and lively fruit on the palate, fantastic length and aftertaste lasting more than 1 minute. Heaven! The host served among other wines, 1947 Meyney from magnum, a great wine from legendary vintage, still fresh and lively, intense blackcurrants on the nose and palate, great elegance and persistent aftertaste. This was a exceptional end to a extremely busy day!

 

 

 
 

Thursday the 7th April

 

Busy schedule waiting. First tasting of Medoc, Listrac, Moulis and Margaux 2010 wines at Dauzac, then Grand Tour in form of tasting at Lafite, Latour, Margaux and Palmer. We succeeded to finish off the day with tasting at Pichon Baron. Almost 50 wines were tasted during this day.

 

Two wines from Medoc were La Tour du By and Greysac, and both were pretty nice wines, soft and seductive, with tasty cherry fruit. Among four Listracs, I was very fond of chocolatey, full of blueberry fruit, sappy and potent Fonreaud and as well-made Clarke. Poujeaux, Chasse Spleen and Macauillou from Moulis did splendidly and resembled a lot of Clarke with slightly more intensity and length. Margaux wines (18 in all) were pretty successful for most part, but no sensational effort. My cherry picks in order of preference: Brane Cantenac, Cantenac Brown, Ferriere, Dauzac, Kirwan, Rauzan Gassies, Siran, Monbrison and Prieure Lichine. Labegorce, Malescot St.Exupery and Rauzan Segla were very tannic and oaky, with plenty of fruit waiting to come out and see daylight. Barrel samples of du Tertre and Giscours tasted flawed.

 

At Lafite we started with Carruaders which displayed oak, lot of tannin, plenty of black fruit well hidden behind, nice acidity, fine structure and firm aftertaste. Splendid effort. Duhar Milon was totally covered by oak to begin with but after some time in the glass, it revealed some fine, fruit, freshness, and length. Certainly a wine with splendid potential, but I think it’ll need a decade to blossom. Grand Vin wasn’t for faint-hearted – strong, powerful, extremely tannic, structure as solid as rock of iron and very present acidity. Mega big concentration and mega long aftertaste. I prefer it to 2009.

 

Latour presented three wines. Pauillac expressed fruity charactet, freshness, very good balance and nice tannins which were ripe and fat. Seductive one. Les Forts de Latour had much more of everything than Pauillac, which meant more concentration, stronger structure, greater depth and bigger length. Superb second wine. Latour was multidimensional, sophisticated and with perfect mix of black fruit and fat ripe tannin. Was it better than 2009? Not at this tasting day.

 

Then to Margaux where our tasting started with son of Paul Pontalier telling history of 2010 vintage at Margaux. The owner, Corinne Mentzelopoulos was present too and had a very tall young woman with black hair, standing beside her. I first thought it was one of visitors, but no, it was Corinne Mentzelopoulos daughter. It seemed that this primeur, many owners/wimemakers wanted to present younger generation. Olivier Berrouet at Petrus, Margaux Pariente at Troplong Mondot and Paul Pontalier’s son/Corinne Mentzelopoulos’ daughter at Margaux.

2010 Pavillon Rouge du Chateau Margaux was according to Paul Pontalier, the best ever made wine here. I agree with him – extremely fruity with black cherries everywhere, superb concentration, gloriously refined and long. The Grand Vin itself (90% C.Sauvignon, 7% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot) was epitome of elegance, finesse, richness and sophisticated touch. The grace and stylish “movement” of this wine was incredible. As thrilling as 2009 but imho 2010 had something little extra in richmess. One of the top five fines of the vintage.

Pavillon Blanc de Chateau Margaux impressed a lot with great acidity, freshness, precise fruit like pineapple, apple and grapefruit, great balance, depth and finish. Excellent stuff.

 

 

 

 

Next stop was Palmer. Having experienced few hours of harvest of Merlot in the beginning of October last year with participation of Danish harvesters, I was curious what the result was. Alter Ego was strong, heavy and with obvious alcohol (kirsch), although it was kept in tight lines by black fruit. Superb structure and length with long finish. Palmer had incredible concentration and power, but at the same time it possessed an extraordinary balance, sophisticated touch and elegance. Awesome stuff so I was very pleased with the result!

 

 

 

Thomas Duroux - Palmer's manager

 
 

Then we arrived at Pichon Baron and tasted three wines. Chateau Pibran was a big surprise for me, positively, and displayed very fruity nose of black cherries, fine intensity, bite and balance, and smooth finish. Les Tourelles de Longueville offered splendidly focused fruit, fine acidity and long finish. Superb wine. Pichon Baron was strong, robust, very intense on the nose and palate, with great depth, superb backbone and long, long finish. For sure one of great successes of the vintage.

 

Friday the 8th April

 

 

 

Buds are early this year 2011 - 2-3 weeks in advance - here at Chateau de Pez

 

The day started with visit at Mouton Rothschild.  Le Petit Mouton was round with well-defined fruit and nice balance, d’Armailhac elegant with superb fruit intensity, structure and length and Clerc Milon significantly more concentrated with strong structure, tight and intense and with long finish. Superb wine the latter one. Mouton Rothschild was elegant and sublime, multifaceted, sophisticated with excellent length on the palate and as excellent finish. Sublime wine, which for me exceeded 2009 vintage here. Mouton Rothschild white possessed excellent acidity and very aromatic nose of acacia flower and pineapple, and long lingering aftertaste. Awesome wine.

 

Then tasting of Haut Medoc, Saint Julien, Pauillac and Saint Estephe. I liked all 9 Haut Medocs, but particulary La Tour Carnet, Cantemerle, Camensac, Lamarque, Malescasse and Beaumont.

Among 10 Saint Juliens, I particulary liked Beychevelle, Gruaud Larose, Branaire Ducru, Talbot, Leoville Poyferre and Leoville Barton.

10 wines from Pauillac were presented and Grand Puy Lacoste, Pichon Comtesse, Lynch Bages and Haut Bages Liberal, deserved all the accolade and praise they could get. D’Armailhac and Clerc Milon were also superb, while Batailley and Grand Puy Ducasse were very well made and had fine acidity and fine balance between fruit and tannin. Even the usual underachievers like Croizet Bages and Lynch Moussas, did splendid job, especially the latter.

All five Saint-Estephe wines were of fine quality, especially Lafon Rochet. Then followed Les Ormes de Pez, Phelan Segur, Cos Labory and de Pez. I think these 2010 were better than the respective 2009.

 

This was the end of UGCB tastings. In the afternoon we went to Montrose. Tronquoy de Sainte-Anne (second wine of Tronquoy Lalande) was very tannic and quite strong/earthy with nice concentration of fruit. Very good. Tronquoy Lalande was powerful with earthy spices, with lot of oak and tannin. It’ll have a splendid potential if fruit and tannin stay in right balance between each other. Second wine of Montrose, La Dame de Montrose, displayed slight alcohol on the nose (Merlot?), otherwise it was just round and fine with dark fruit and corresponding ripe tannin. Montrose acted like a monster or rightly said “wolf in sheep’s clothes”. Very tannic and oaky, huge quantities of black cherries and mocha, structure as strong as iron rock and awesome length. Here we have excellent potential!

 

Last visit took place at Pontet Canet and I/we expected fireworks. Some fireworks were there but not as many as in vintage 2009. 2010 seemed a bit lighter, less intense and slightly less deep than 2009. Still, the high quality of this wine was unquestionable.

 

At last weekend and after it, interesting verticals at Nairac, de Fargues and Raymond Lafon on Monday the 11th April, verticals of Latour/Les Forts de Latour and Montrose on Tuesday the 12th April and Jean-Pierre Moueix’ wines plus Perse’s wines on Wednesday the 13th April.

 

 

Monday the 11th April

 

Sauternes and Barsac wines all day. I was touring together with my American wine journalist friend, Miguel Lecuona. First tasting was at Nairac, where I asked for tasting of 2010-2009-2007-2005-2003 and 2001.

2010 was as impressive as one week before with great acidity and high residual sugar, great intensity of botrytised flavors (sweet pineapple, apricot and candied orange peel) and wonderful balance. 2009 was slightly less pure and less intense, but er are talking here of milimetere sized difference. Superbly made. 2007 acted with spicy flavors, very intense nose of créme brulée, was sophisticated, long and with beautiful balance. Very impressive indeed. 2005 tasted imho more concentrated and longer than 2007, and seemed to possess slightly more richness. Awesome stuff. 2003 was and still very, very dear friend of my wine-heart. Really something special with immense level of sweetness and acidity (yes, there's lot of acidity in 2003!) and many tropical flavors. Wow! Then 2001, which was an angelic treat. A real showstopper of the tasting with astonishing level of purity, botrytised flavors and acidity. Stunning richness and stunning balance completed this exceptional wine. Amazing experience.

 

After this marvellous experience at Nairac, I went to de Fargues, to taste 2010-2007-2006-2005-2003-2001. Francois Amirault, de Fargues' manager, felt that barrel sample of 2010 was way better than one week before. It had extremely intense nose of grapefruit, acacia honey and apricot, strong and full-bodied palate, excellent acidity and balance. Marvellous wine. 2007 displayed great intensity of botrytised flavors like sweet pineapple, mango and honey melon, stunning acidity and elegance, sophisticated touch and long honeyed aftertaste. Stunning wine, a bit less rich than 2010. 2006 was a lighter version of 2007, with significantly less intensity of botrytised flavors and barely same level of sweetness. Fine quality anyway. 2005 resembled a lot of 2007, but for my taste it had more sweetness, lot of almonds all over the place, very sophisticated, finesse, long and with gracious honeyed aftertaste. Wonderful effort. 2003 offered a fantastic show of purity, sweetness and acidity. Who says there's too much residual sugar and little acidity to balance the sweetness in 2003 vintage?? At age of 8 years, this vintage really shows its flamboyant and extravagant style as predicted by winemakers in Sauternes and Barsac. 2001 - holy s.... this is heaven! What a complex and multidimensional nose that comes out from the glass! Creme brulee, candied orange peel, creme caramel, you name it, on the palate, unbelievable richness, length and aftertaste. For me, this is THE best vintage in the district for many years, and imho it'll rival such vintages like 1983, 1976 or even 1967.

 

 

 

Francois Amirault with dazzling line-up

 

 

Last visit of the day was Raymond Lafon. 2010 was according to Jean-Pierre Meslier an easy one to deal with - 3 pickings, clean grapes, no insects. Very sophisticated wine, rich, exquisite balance, grapefruit flavor very obvious, bigh depth and smoothly honeyed finish. Wonderful wine. 2009, which I was so enthusiastic about last year, was standing a bit in the shade of 2010. A bit lighter and less intense, maybe slightly less rich, but still of extremely high quality. 2007 tasted less sweet than 2010 and was more or less on the level of 2009, maybe with lesser balance. Excellent showing as well. 2006 was not up to forementioned wines, mainly because of lesser intensity of botrytised flavor, less richness and less sweetness, but it had splendid acidity and depth to go with. One to enjoy before you wait for 2010-2009-2007-2005-2003 and 2001.

 

 

2011 buds looking fine at Raymond Lafon

 

 

 

Proud peacock in all its majesty at Raymond Lafon

 

 

I simply adore sweet wines from Sauternes and Barsac and was immensly thrilled with what I tasted during the day.

 

 

Tuesday the 12th April

 

My first appointment was at Latour, where I tasted three 2010s plus Les Forts de Latour and Grand Vin in vintages 2009-2008-2007-2006. Pauillac 2010 tasted the same as on the 8th April, while Les Forts and Latour tasted better, especially the latter showing more freshness, more fat tannin and longer finish. It seemed to edge 2009 by slight margin on this particular day.

 

2009 Les Forts was immensely seductive with plenty of dark cherries and blackcurrants swimming in high quality chocolate. Stunning balance and long caressing aftertaste completed this beauty of a wine. What a treat.

2008 Les Forts displayed fine spicy nose of blackcurrants, fine acidity, strong structure and firm aftertaste. Superb effort.

2007 Les Forts was a lighter version of 2008 with some green undertones, but this didn't count that much, because there was pretty tasty fruit, nice balance and nice aftertaste.

2006 Les Forts, two years older than 2008, resembled a lot his older brother. More mature flavors on the nose and more mature fruit on the palate. All the characteristics of Cabernet Sauvignon were there - pencil, cedar tree and tobacco.

 

2009 Latour displayed mocha, black cherries, ripe and fine tannins, lot of chocolate, sophisticated touch, awesome depth and richness. It seemed however that balance and ripeness was slightly better in 2010.

2008 Latour did have my big attention as I'm a happy owner of some bottles. And it didn't disappoint. Classicly styled Latour with tobacco and leather flavors on the nose, extremely catchy, elegant and sophisticated, plenty of black cherries everywhere. Multiple flavors on the palate and extremely long aftertaste. Exceptional stuff.

2007 Latour was lighter version of 2008, not that ripe fruit and less deep, but still superb wine for the vintage.

2006 Latour was similar to 2008, however the latter seemed to have riper fruit and more intensity of flavors. Fabulous wine for sure. 

 

 

View from Latour vineyard down to Gironde river

 

 

After failing to taste 2010 Calon Segur (got a rude "no" when arrived at the property) and tasting superb 2010 Haut Marbuzet instead (I was cheerly welcomed without appointment!), I arrived at last tasting that day, Montrose. In addition to four wines in 2010 vintage I already have tasted five days before (8th April), the line-up was 20009-2008-2007-2006-2005.

2010s were as impressive as on the 8th April.

 

2009 Montrose was extremely intense, strong, robust, with sweet tannin, plenty of chocolate, great depth, length and silky finish. Maybe even better showing than last year. Outstanding wine.

2008 Montrose displayed very intense and spicy flavors of cedar tree, leather and mocha, strong backbone, powerful structure and long finish. You could feel the character of soil here. This wine was made under new management and by new cellar master who arrived in 2007.

2007 Montrose was a pleasant surprise even if this wine didn't have ripeness, depth and concentration of 2008. Well balanced, nice tasty fruit, round and with nice length.

2006 Montrose tasted closed and not willing to reveal anything. Certain dryness was noticeable, but I don't think it was because of unripe fruit, rather because of oak flavors being not fully integrated yet. It'll take time for this wine to come out from its shell.

2005 Montrose had incredibly seductive nose of truffles and cocoa powder, strong backbone, powerful attitude, iron strong structure, wonderful balance and mega long finish. This wine is a fantastic example of how exceptional vintage 2005 really is.

 

 

Line-up of 2009-2008-2007-2006-2005 Montrose                                                                                   From Montrose's vineyard - you can notice Gironde river in the background

 

 

Wednesday the 13th April

 

This was the very last day of tastings and the first stop happened to be headquarters of Jean-Pierre Moueix in Libourne. 14 wines in 2010 vintage were on the "menu".

 

Puy Blanquet from Saint Emilion acted round with nice fruit, fine tannins, roundness and pleasure. Very adorable wine.

La Serre from Saint Emilion had pretty intense nose and palate marked by black cherries, sily tannins, elegance, nice acidity and very smooth aftertaste. Superb effort here and thanks for careful and thoughtful winemaking. 

Magdelaine tasted as splendid as on the 6th April with fine length, structure and remarkable finish.

Belair Monange repeated also the superb performance on the 6th April with its corpulent presence, strong structure and power.

Plince from Pomerol had seductive nose of black fruit but was somewhat dry on the palate. Not up to forementioned wines.

Lafleur Gazin displayed fine fruit and ripe tannin, combined with fine structure and length. Fine balance here. Fine effort indeed.

La Grave was similar to Lafleur Gazin with more softness and better acidity.

Bourgneuf confirmed its big improvement and change of style to softer one. Tasted for third time and it did impress every time.

Certan de May from Pomerol was fine, in style of Bourgneuf.

La Providence tasted close to Certan de May, but was less deep, shorter and less intense.

Lafleur Petrus was big, strong, fresh, with fine balance and long aftertaste. Excellent wine.

Latour-a-Pomerol tasted stronger and had imho better structure and bigger depth than Lafleur Petrus. Excellent effort as well.

Hosanna expressed more tannin, more strength and longer finish than LP and L-a-P. Stunning effort indeed.

Trotanoy was extremely concentrated, rock solid with iron structure, power, excellent intensity, great length and great acidity. Exceptional stuff.

 

Very memorable tasting - don't you think?

 

Next stop was Pavie and 6 2010 wines from Gerard Perse portfolio waited for me.

 

Clos Lunelles from Côtes de Castillon was splendidly structured with glorious fruit, strong and silky tannins, elegant with fine length and fine balance. Superb effort here.

Monbousquet had strong intensity of black cherries on the nose and palate, splendid acidity, freshness and strikingly fine balance. Excellent wine.

Pavie Decesse showed extra dimension in terms of intensity, ripeness and concentration, beautifully scented fruit and tannins, strong and powerful, long, long aftertaste with smooth end. This was simply wonderful wine.

Bellevue Mondotte displayed extra dimension too and was maybe even slightly more intense and longer than Pavie Decesse. Incredibly enchanting, thrilling and exceptional wine.

Pavie was like to climb Mount Everest. Walls of fruit were locked behind walls of tannin. This one is to be kept for many decades. For the moment, this wine isn't approachable but its exceptional quality is indisputable. Btw, this barrel sample was way better than on the 6th April!

White Monbousquet was the last wine to taste and it showed extremely well. Very aromatic nose of acacia flower and apple, fresh, splendid acidity, really fine balance and smooth finish. Superb wine to finish off this impressive tasting.

 

 

 

 

Last tasting took place at Chateau Calon in Montagne-St-Emilion, where I tasted Calon, Corbin Michotte and Cantelauze made by Jean-Noel Boidron. Calon was nice wine with earthy spices, nice acidity and very good concentration, Corbin Michotte was very complex, very tannic, with spicy black cherries and firmly tannic aftertaste, fine quality here. Cantelauze was tannic for all the money, very concentrated, fruit was hidden by walls of tannin. It will take this wine quite some years to soften.

 

Ratings:

 

D’Aiguilhe Cotes de Castillon 89-90 Aile d’Argent (white Mouton Rothschild) Bordeaux 92p Alter Ego de Palmer Margaux 92-93 L'Ambroisie du Ch. La Croix St.Moines Lalande de Pomerol 90-91 Angélus St-Emilion GC 96 d'Angludet Margaux 91-92 d'Arche Sauternes & Barsac 91 d'Armailhac Pauillac 92 Ausone St-Emilion GC 98-99

Balestard La Tonnelle St-Emilion GC 89 Barde-Haut St-Emilion GC 93-94 Barrabaque Canon-Fronsac 90 Bastor Lamontagne Sauternes & Barsac 91 Batailley Pauillac 90 Beau-Séjour Bécot St-Emilion GC 94 Beaumont Haut-Médoc 91 Beauregard Pomerol 88 Beauséjour St-Emilion GC 92+

Belair-Monange St-Emilion GC 93-94 Belgrave Haut-Médoc 89 Bellegrave Pomerol 90 Bellevue Mondotte St-Emilion GC 97-98 Bellevue de Tayac Margaux 89-90 Berliquet St-Emilion GC 89-90 Beychevelle St-Julien 93 Blanc de Valandraud N°1 Bordeaux 91-92 Bonalgue Pomerol 90 Bon Pasteur Pomerol 93-94 Bourgneuf Pomerol 94+

Bouscaut Pessac-Léognan 89 Bouscaut white 90 Pessac-Léognan Branaire St-Julien 92-93 Brane-Cantenac Margaux 93 Broustet Sauternes & Barsac 91 La Cabanne Pomerol 92 Caillou Sauternes & Barsac 91-92 Calon Montagne St-Emilion 88 de Camensac Haut-Médoc 92 Canon St-Emilion GC 93-94 Canon-La-Gaffelière St-Emilion GC 93-94 Cantelauze Pomerol 92-93 Cantemerle Haut-Médoc 92

Cantenac-Brown Margaux 93 Cap de Mourlin St-Emilion GC 90 Carbonnieux Pessac-Léognan 92 Carbonnieux white Pessac-Léognan 89 CarlMagnus Canon-Fronsac 90-91 Les Carmes Haut-Brion Pessac-Léognan 92 Carruades de Lafite Rothschild Pauillac 90-91 Certan de May Pomerol 92-94 Chadenne Fronsac 90 Chantegrive Graves 89

Chantegrive white Graves 90 Chapelle d'Ausone St-Emilion GC 92-93 La Chapelle de la Mission Haut-Brion Pessac-Léognan 91-93 Chasse Spleen Moulis 92 Cheval Blanc St-Emilion GC 97-98 Citran Haut-Médoc 89 Le Clarence de Haut-Brion Pessac-Léognan 91-92 Clarke Listrac 92 La Clarte de Haut Brion Pessac -Léognan (white wine) 88 Clement Pichon Haut Medoc 89-90


Clerc Milon Pauillac 92-93 Climens Sauternes & Barsac 98-99 Clinet Pomerol 93-94 Clos des Baies St-Emilion GC 90-91 Clos de Beau Pere Pomerol 89-90 Clos Fourtet St-Emilion GC 93-94 Clos Haut Peyraguey Sauternes & Barsac 93-94 Clos l'Eglise Pomerol 95 Clos les Lunelles Côtes de Castillon 92 La Confession St-Emilion GC 95

La Conseillante Pomerol 96 Le Conseiller Bordeaux Superieur 90 Corbin St-Emilion GC 92 Corbin Michotte St-Emilion GC 92 Cos Labory St-Estèphe 91 Coufran Haut-Médoc 89 La Couspaude St-Emilion GC 92-93 Coutet Sauternes & Barsac 92 La Croix Saint-Georges Pomerol 96-97 La Croix de Gay Pomerol 88 Croix Mouton Bordeaux Superieur 90 Croizet-Bages Pauillac 91-92

Dalem Fronsac 91-92 La Dame de Montrose St-Estèphe 90 Dassault St-Emilion GC 90 de La Dauphine Fronsac 90 Dauzac Margaux 93 Desmirail Margaux 87-88 Doisy Daene Sauternes & Barsac 92 Doisy Vedrines Sauternes & Barsac 93-94 Domaine de Chevalier Pessac-Léognan 95 Domaine de Chevalier blanc Pessac-Léognan 97-98

Domaine de Gachet Lalande de Pomerol 89 Domaine des Gourdins St-Emilion GC 87 Domaine des Sabines Lalande de Pomerol 89-90 La Dominique St-Emilion GC 93+ Duhart-Milon-Rothschild Pauillac 91-93 Duo de Conseillante Pomerol 89 Durfort Vivens Margaux 91 Domaine de L’Eglise Pomerol 87 de Fargues Sauternes & Barsac 96 Fayat Pomerol 89 Ferrande Pessac-Léognan 89 Ferrande white Pessac-Léognan 90-91

Ferrière Margaux 93 Feytit-Clinet Pomerol 89-90 de Fieuzal Pessac-Léognan 90 de Fieuzal white Pessac-Léognan 90-91 Figeac St-Emilion GC 92 Filhot Sauternes & Barsac 91 Fleur Cardinale St-Emilion GC 93-94 La Fleur de Gay Pomerol 90 La Fleur Petrus Pomerol 93-94 de Fonbel St-Emilion GC 91-92

Fonreaud Listrac 92 Fontenil Fronsac 90-91 Les Forts de Latour Pauillac 90-92 Fourcas Dupre Listrac 87 Fourcas Hosten Listrac 87 Franc-Mayne St-Emilion GC 89-90 de France Pessac-Léognan 90 de France white Pessac-Léognan 90-91

G Bordeaux Superieur 89 du Gaby Fronsac 90 La Gaffelière St-Emilion GC 93-94 Le Gay Pomerol 96 Gazin Pomerol 92-93 Gloria St-Julien 87 Grand Ormeau Lalande de Pomerol 89 Grand-Puy-Ducasse Pauillac 92 Grand Puy Lacoste Pauillac 94-95 Grand Village Bordeaux Superieur 89 Grand Village blanc Bordeaux 90 La Grave Pomerol 90-91 La Graviere Lalande de Pomerol 88-89 Greysac Médoc 91 Gruaud-Larose St-Julien 93

Guiraud Sauternes & Barsac 92 Haut Bages Liberal Pauillac 93 Haut-Bailly Pessac-Léognan 95 Haut-Bergey Pessac-Léognan 94 Haut-Bergey white Pessac-Léognan 95-96 Haut-Brion Pessac-Léognan 98-100 Haut-Brion blanc Pessac-Léognan 97-99 Haut Carles Fronsac 89-90 Haut Maillet Pomerol 90-91 Haut Marbuzet St-Estephe 91-92p

Haut Simard St-Emilion GC 90-91 Hosanna Pomerol 94-95 Kirwan Margaux 93 Labégorce Margaux 93-94 Lafite-Rothschild Pauillac 97-99 Lafleur Pomerol 97-99 Lafleur Gazin Pomerol 90-91 Lafon-Rochet St-Estèphe 92 Lafaurie Peyraguey Sauternes & Barsac 95-96

Lagrange St-Julien 88 Lamarque Haut-Médoc 92 Lamothe Sauternes & Barsac 90 Lamothe Guignard Sauternes & Barsac 90 Langoa-Barton St-Julien 88 Larcis-Ducasse St-Emilion GC 93-94 Larmande St-Emilion GC 90 Larrivet-Haut-Brion Pessac-Léognan 86 Larrivet-Haut-Brion blanc Pessac-Léognan 91 Lascombes Margaux 88 Latour Pauillac 98-100

Latour-a-Pomerol Pomerol 93-94 Latour-Martillac Pessac-Léognan 91 Latour-Martillac white Pessac-Léognan 94 Léoville-Barton St-Julien 92-93 Léoville-Poyferré St-Julien 92-93 Lespault Martillac Pessac-Léognan 89-90 Lespault Martillac blanc Pessac-Léognan 90-91 La Louvière Pessac-Léognan 93 La Louvière white Pessac-Léognan 94

Lynch Bages Pauillac 94-95 Lynch-Moussas Pauillac 91-92 Maucaillou Moulis 92 Magdelaine St-Emilion GC 92 Malartic-Lagravière Pessac-Léognan 93 Malartic-Lagravière white Pessac-Léognan 92 Malescasse Haut-Médoc 91 Malescot-Saint-Exupéry Margaux 92-93 de Malle Sauternes & Barsac 94-95 Manoir de Gay Pomerol 89-90 Margaux Margaux 98-100 Marquis d’Alesme Margaux 93+ Marquis de Terme Margaux 87 

La Mission Haut-Brion Pessac-Léognan 96-97 La Mission Haut Brion blanc Pessac-Léognan 95-96 Monbousquet St-Emilion GC 94 Monbousquet white Bordeaux 92 Monbrison Margaux 92 La Mondotte St-Emilion GC 96-97 Montrose St-Estèphe 96-97

Montviel Pomerol 91-92 Moulin Haut-Laroque Fronsac 90-91 Le Moulin Pomerol 90-91 Moulin Saint-Georges St-Emilion GC 93 Mouton-Rothschild Pauillac 98-100 Myrat Sauternes & Barsac 94 Nairac Sauternes & Barsac 95 Olivier Pessac-Léognan 91 Olivier blanc Pessac-Léognan 92 Les Ormes de Pez St-Estèphe 91-92

Palmer Margaux 96-97 Pape Clément Pessac-Léognan 95 Pape Clément blanc Pessac-Léognan 94 Pauillac de Château Latour Pauillac 88 Pavie St-Emilion GC 98 Pavie-Decesse St-Emilion GC 97-98 Pavie-Macquin St-Emilion GC 92

Pavillon Rouge du Château Margaux Margaux 92-93 Pavillon Blanc du Château Margaux Bordeaux 93-94 Pensées de Lafleur Pomerol 90-92 Le Petit Cheval St-Emilion GC 90-91 Le Petit Mouton de Mouton-Rothschild Pauillac 91-92 Petit Village Pomerol 92 Petrus Pomerol 98-99 Phélan-Ségur St-Estèphe 91

Pibran Pauillac 91 Pichon Longueville Baron Pauillac 95-96 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande Pauillac 94 Picque Caillou Pessac-Léognan 92 Picque Caillou blanc Pessac-Léognan 92 de Pez St-Estèphe 90 Le Pin Pomerol 97-99 Plaisance Cotes de Bordeaux 87 Plince Pomerol 87 Plincette Pomerol 89 La Pointe Pomerol 92-93 Pontet-Canet Pauillac 96 Poujeaux Moulis 91-92 La Providence Pomerol 92

Prieure Lichine Margaux 92-93 Puy Blanquet St-Emilion GC 88 Rabaud Promis Sauternes & Barsac 91 Rahoul Pessac-Léognan 90 Rahoul Pessac-Léognan blanc 91 Rauzan-Gassies Margaux 92-93 Rauzan-Ségla Margaux 93-94 Raymond Lafon Sauternes & Barsac 96-98 Rayne Vigneau Sauternes & Barsac 91 Reignac Bordeaux Superieur 88 Reynon Cotes de Bordeaux 88 Rieussec Sauternes & Barsac 92+ de La Riviere Fronsac 90-91

Roc de Cambes Côtes de Bourg 93 Romer du Hayot Sauternes & Barsac 91 Rouget Pomerol 87 Sacre Coeur Pomerol 92-93 Saint-Pierre St-Julien 87 Sansonnet St-Emilion GC 90 Seguin Pessac-Leognan 95+ La Serre St-Emilion 92 La Sergue Pomerol 88 Siaurac Lalande de Pomerol 89 Sigalas Rabaud Sauternes & Barsac 93 Simard St-Emilion GC 91-92

Siran Margaux 92 Smith Haut Lafitte Pessac-Léognan 94 Smith Haut Lafitte white Pessac-Léognan 95 Suau Sauternes & Barsac 91 Suduiraut Sauternes & Barsac 91 Taillefer Pomerol 90-92 Talbot St-Julien 92 Tertre-Roteboeuf St-Emilion GC 95-96 La Tour du By Medoc 91 La Tour Carnet Haut-Médoc 92-93 La Tour Figeac St-Emilion GC 88-89 Thieuley Reserve F.C. Bordeaux 87

La Tour du Pin St-Emilion GC 91 Les Tourelles de Longueville Pauillac 90-91 Tournefeuille Lalande de Pomerol 89 Tronquoy-Lalande St-Estèphe 91 Troplong-Mondot St-Emilion GC 95 Trotanoy Pomerol 96-97 Trottevieille St-Emilion GC 93-94 La Tour Blanche Sauternes & Barsac 92 Valandraud St-Emilion GC 97

Veyry Côtes de Castillon 90-91 La Vieille Cure Fronsac 89-90 Vieux Château Certan Pomerol 99-100 Vieux Maillet Pomerol 87 Vingt Mille Bordeaux Superieur 90-91 la Violette Pomerol 96-97 Vrai Croix de Gay Pomerol 87 d'Yquem Sauternes & Barsac 98-100

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

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