Bordeaux 2001: Tasting in 2014
There is no doubt that the true stars of the 2001 vintage in Bordeaux were the wines of Sauternes and Barsac. With a wealth of botrytis, and vibrant acidities, they were superb from the outset, and clearly set up for the long haul. Despite this all-too-evident aging potential I have returned to 2001 Sauternes & Barsac several times over the last few years, just to see how the vintage was getting along in its youth. I looked at them first in July 2006, following up with a return visit in May 2010.
Along the way I encountered a selection of Pomerols, tasted in February 2008; I was struck on tasting these by the excellent quality they clearly possessed. In a vintage where all the attention had been focused on the sweet wines, had the red wines – maybe not just Pomerol, but other appellations too – more to offer than we originally thought? After all, it wouldn’t be the first time that a vintage of very good quality was greatly overshadowed by a great one that immediately preceded it; it may well have happened with 2000 and 2001, and I have also long thought that 1983 had something of a bad rap, especially for communes such as Margaux which bettered their performance in 1982. The same is true for 1990 and 1991.
