Bordeaux 2004 at Four Years: Pessac-Léognan
Graves was a minor player at this 2004 Claret Tasting, hosted by the Institute of Masters of Wine in late 2008. Indeed, there were only nine wines up for tasting, compared to dozens from the more northerly Médoc communes and a similar showing from the right bank. Nevertheless, they were a great selection of wines, including Haut-Brion, La Mission Haut-Brion, the now defunct La Tour Haut-Brion, Pape-Clément and more. I doubt if there was a greater gathering of wines from Pessac-Léognan anywhere in the world that day.
It is by no means stating the obvious that Haut-Brion was my pick of the bunch from this grouping. After all, I have much more experience with La Mission, Haut-Brion’s stablemate, and the two often vie for top position in any vintage, many tasters often coming down in favour of La Mission. But for me, on this day, at this tasting. Haut-Brion just pipped it, but both wines are delightful and full of potential for the cellar. The ever-successful Haut-Bailly was also on top form this day, followed closely by the rich style of Bernard Magrez’s Pape-Clément, which surprisingly seems to have shed much of its oak, although it was rather closed down on the day and I suspect this may have influenced how much impact the oak had on its aromatic profile.
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