Château La Patache: Tasting & Drinking
A few years ago I had only tasted a handful of vintages from Château La Patache, my first encounter during a visit there in 2014 being the 2010, made by the team before the acquisition by Peter Kwok, followed by the 2011, again pre-Kwok, and 2012, the first wine of the Kwok era. Thereafter there came a hiatus, after which I have been keeping a closer eye on this property, tasting the wines year-in, year-out.
Of the earlier vintages I preferred the 2010, but we must remember that with this comment I must remain guarded, as to compare any wine of the 2010 vintage in Bordeaux with the two vintages that followed is perhaps unfair. The 2010 vintage was a very good one, in which lots of domaines made better wines, savoury and full of ripe structure. Then came the topsy-turvy 2011 vintage, an unusual year that saw a warm spring, too cool a summer and a warm autumn; the harvest was relatively early, but many struggled in their attempts to marry physiological and phenolic maturity as a consequence of the difficult conditions. The 2012 vintage, meanwhile, was late and dogged by damp weather and mildew early on, with a risk of rot towards the end. Neither vintage is a great one, by far.
Taken in that context, then, the new team at Château La Patache should perhaps be proud that, in two extraordinarily difficult vintages, they managed to turn out two wines of good quality, and while they are not at the level of the 2010 they are not far behind it. Taking into consideration the difficulties described above, plus the exclusion of the plateau parcel in the 2012 vintage, these were admirable wines. Subsequent vintages, tasted at the primeurs and after bottling, including 2015 and 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023, and I think it only fair to say that this property – with its position quite low down the Pomerol slope – is punching above its weight, especially in the 2023 vintage. (13/8/14, updated 5/12/20, 24/8/24)
