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A Tasting at Château Preuillac, October 2011
Château Preuillac
This update relates to wines tasted in October 2011.
For more on this estate, including all my relevant tasting notes, see my Preuillac profile.
The light was beginning to fade as I headed north out of Sauternes; fortunately the weather was good and skies overhead clear, and so I made good progress north for my last appointment of the day. It's not until you get behind the wheel in Bordeaux that you really begin to appreciate just how vast a region this is; journeys between even just the best known communes - St Emilion, Sauternes, St Estèphe and so on - can involve several hours behind the wheel. Once you start adding in the more peripheral appellations, the more northern reaches of the Médoc, Sainte-Foy de Bordeaux and similar to the east or Blaye and Bourg on the right bank, journey times soon become intolerable.
Small wonder then that as I approached Lesparre-Médoc, after about ninety minutes at the wheel, day was certainly giving way to night. The darkness settled around my little hire car as we buzzed and bounced along the narrow country roads, guided only by my trusty sat-nav on which I confess I am becoming increasingly dependent - especially when rushing from one appointment to the next on a hectic day of tastings. I made a small detour into Ordonnac to take a look at Château Potensac; I've tasted this wine many times, and even maintained a small stock of the 1996 for a while, but this was my first glimpse of the château itself, most of my encounters having been when tasting at Léoville-Las-Cases during the primeurs. The château is really nothing more than a small, low-slung chai, although the associated chapel, lovingly restored by the Delon family, is something to look at even if rather chunky in style; a fitting allegory for the wine, perhaps?
Shortly after this brief detour I arrived at Château Preuillac, my final appointment of the day. I was hoping at this moment to find a welcoming light in a window, or a door left just ajar. The temperature outside was dropping fast, and to my distress I found the doors locked, the shutters closed and the lights off, the château obviously secured for the night. Three circuits of the château revealed no crack of light or unlocked door, and I was beginning to realise my tasting at Preuillac was off the agenda (as well as the evening meal I was anticipating) when none other than Richard Bampfield turned up. One turn of his key and the doors were thrown open, and in we piled. Ten minutes later the corks had been pulled, and I was tasting my way through a seven-vintage vertical before dinner.
The Wines of Château Preuillac
Jean-Christophe Mau took possession of Château Preuillac in partnership with the Dirkzwager family, Dutch distillers, in 1998. Since then has invested heavily, with a focus on vineyard restructuring and replanting in a programme of replanting that was projected to last for thirty years. New drainage was installed, missing vines replanted and the cellars refurbished. Perhaps most importantly, although the initial running of the property was at first overseen by Jean-Christophe Mau with advice from Stéphane Derenoncourt, today a dedicated winemaker has been installed. The quality has surely increased, and happily he has, of course, been blessed by several very favourable vintages along the way. In this tasting of wines it should come as no surprise that the 2005 and 2009 were two of the better wines, although the tasting provided another illustration of the quality and finesse of the 2010 vintage. Whereas 2009 is the most luscious and seductive vintage in recent years, a 1982 for the 21st century perhaps, 2010 is I think just as good but with a different, more classic, more restrained and balanced style. This is no 1982, more of a 1996 left bank vintage. Looking at other vintages, the 2008 Preuillac was very good, testament to recent improvements, the 2007 early-maturing but impressive within the context of the vintage, and the 2006 showed a typically solid style. Only the 2004 gave some suggestion it was started to tire a little, although I don't think there should be any mad panic to drink up.
The tasting finished, we retired to dinner. Naturally, this being a busy tasting trip to Bordeaux, you would probably believe me if I said we feasted on fresh oysters, lobster, succulent ortolans (eaten furtively, with towel over head, naturally), roasted teal with slices of foie gras and aged époisses, washed down with the 1961 Preuillac, perhaps. The reality - dried pasta, a ragu sauce from a jar, and slightly stale bread - betrays our provision-less situation in an otherwise uninhabited château. The life of a part-time, would-be-wine-writer is not always glamour and glitz, you see. Honest. (2/3/12)
A Tasting at Château Preuillac - Tasting Notes
Tasted in October 2011. All my notes on the wines of Château
Preuillac, including those below, are collated under my
Château Preuillac profile. Click
to locate stockists.
Château Preuillac (Médoc) 2010:
A barrel sample; this is not yet bottled. Dark and fresh, certainly more linear
than the 2009. A very good purity of fruit here, rich in blackcurrant tones,
although better defined than the 2009, and certainly attractive. Touches of
cigar box here too. A polished palate, elegant, but with a lightly rich
substance, building through the middle, with a lovely sense of harmony. Although
it doesn't have the weight of the 2009 vintage the structure is just as
well-built, and the tannins really flourish on the finish. A really fine effort
with good potential. 15.5-16.5/20
Château Preuillac (Médoc) 2009:
The ripeness of the vintage has taken Preuillac firmly into the dark fruit arena
here, all blackberries, damsons and blackcurrants, with a weighty feel to it
perhaps reflecting the sweetness of the Merlot. A creamy feel at the very start
of the palate, and this stays right through the middle, filling out the palate
quite beautifully, and although the ripe, grippy tannins show their presence
they are nicely controlled by the substance of the wine. The acidity is here,
but it sits within the wine, rather than dominating it. Overall a very promising
effort, which leaves a lingering, tannin-puckered but sweet and ripe finish.
16.5/20
Château Preuillac (Médoc) 2008:
Primary fruits here, fresh, quite confidently expressed as well. The fruit is
dark, straddling red-black flavours, and more importantly well defined, with a
linear feel to it. Really nicely texture on the palate, in this line up coming
across as rather more approachable and elegant than the 2004 and 2006. Fresh and
stylish, more polished and elegant than expected. I think this is showing
exceptionally well. And it is really bright in the finish too, with a firm but
appropriate core of tannins. 15.5/20
Château Preuillac (Médoc) 2007:
Seems a little softer and more evolved on the nose than even the older vintages
tasted here, quite perfumed, with a touch of tobacco. I wondered about the
percentage of Cabernet Franc here but this only accounted for about 2% of the
vineyard when this was made (more has been planted since), so these petty
aromatics reflect early maturity I think. It's rather attractive. Soft,
appealing, a slightly harder, stony edge coming in through in the midpalate, but
it is clean, appropriately composed, with a good structure despite the difficult
vintage. An impressive wine considering the vagaries of the year. 15/20
Château Preuillac (Médoc) 2006:
Back to a fresher, leaner style of fruit here, more crunchy, certainly bright,
straddling the red-black fruit spectrum with a suggestion of just-ripe cherry or
blackberry, the tense red-purple berries just at the start of the ripening
process. Bright, quite polished on the plate, harmonious rather than lean, quite
elegant, with the structure of the wine kept nicely in check at first, although
it does come through on the end of the palate. Grippy but ripe tannins in the
finish, and bright acids too. A good effort for the vintage. although the tannic
backbone that sits within the wine does feel a little dense at times. 15/20
Château Preuillac (Médoc) 2005:
There's a denser feel to the fruit here, although it is still fresh. Rich,
suggesting a creamy weight, with a slightly floral tinge to it. This comes
through on the palate which has a weighty feel, and there is a lot of ripe
tannin stacked up underneath, but it is well matched by the dark fruit. The
softness of the fruit layer carries through into the finish, keeping the tannins
in check, and there is firm acidity too. Still very youthful and not entirely
approachable at present, although the richness helps. Some big and spicy tannins
in the finish hold some real promise. Very good. 16/20
Château Preuillac (Médoc) 2004: Hints of menthol and liquorice here on the nose,
but showing a little polish
with more air, with a croquant edge to the fruit which is in keeping with
the vintage. A touch of smoke too. The palate has a good, dry, dusty substance,
and the texture is relatively lean. A spicy structure lies underneath it, dark
and slightly diffuse fruits over the top. Very bright acidity too. The tannins
are still quite firm and could do with further time to resolve more thoroughly.
Moderate length on the finish, but it fades. It feels a little tired; I think I
would be tempted to hold on and see if more complex aroma develops, but this may
just fall apart. 14.5/20
