Château Pédesclaux: Tasting & Drinking
It not being a member of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, my encounters with Pédesclaux were until recently far less frequent than with its fifth-growth peers such as Grand-Puy-Ducasse, Haut-Bages-Libéral or Croizet-Bages. In more recent vintages, recognising the grand scale of the revitalisation, I have ensured I taste the wines of this estate more regularly.
Despite the impressive remodelling and investment here, there were no quivers of excitement coursing up and down my spine on tasting early vintages of these wines under the new owners. Having said that, there were a number of difficult vintages during this time, including 2011, 2012 and most certainly 2013, and it was perhaps simply necessary to allow more time; new investments needed to ‘bed in’ for their effect to be felt, as it is simply not possible to turn around a classed growth property like Château Pédesclaux in just one or two years. Having said that, the 2014 vintage was underwhelming (but then it is not a great vintage anyway, over-rated by many I feel).
Then came more success; the 2015 was a good one, quite an achievement as this vintage was not as strong on the left bank as it was on the right bank. The 2016 vintage was one of the best ever tasted at the time, and to be fair the 2017 vintage, a difficult one which was affected by frost, was also rather decent. I liked the warmth and generosity of the 2018 vintage, matched by the elegance of 2019, but the 2020 was an absolute triumph, an unqualified success. This remains the best vintage of Pédesclaux I have tasted thus far, although both 2022 and 2023 hold similar promise.
Things are clearly on the up here, but there remains some latent and unrealised potential at Château Pédesclaux. A continued long-term view from Lorenzetti, Bache-Gabrielsen, Cruse, Congé and the rest of the Pédesclaux team will be required if the wines of this estate are to replace its current peer group with the likes of Pichon-Baron, Pichon-Comtesse and Lynch-Bages. Having visited the estate, seen the investment Lorenzetti has brought to it, and the commitment of both Vincent Bache-Gabrielsen and Christophe Congé, I feel sure they will ultimately succeed with a wine worthy of the new label (pictured below), utilised for the first time in the 2022 vintage. (16/5/12, updated 17/8/13, 28/2/16, 5/8/18, 23/11/24)
