Bordeaux 2004 at Ten Years: St Julien
Moving on from 2004 Pauillac brought me to St Julien, and yet another very representative sample of wines from this vintage. This is a very compact appellation, with about 900 hectares all-told, the vast majority of which is in the possession of just eleven châteaux all classified in 1855. Eight of these wines were lined up here, the three absentees being Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, Château Lagrange and Château St-Pierre. The inclusion of Château Gloria and Clos de Marquis brought the number of wines up to ten. As with my other notes in this report on the vintage at ten years of age, the wines were poured in London in March 2014. In the case of this appellation, I haven’t pulled any other wines from my cellar.
Tasting the Wines
The first couple of wines showed a serviceable, traditional character of some appeal, and I would happily drink either wine. I would be happy if either wine were tucked away in my cellar, and I would be just as happy if someone were to present me with a bottle as a gift. Neither the 2004 Château Beychevelle or 2004 Château Branaire-Ducru are offering life-changing vinous experiences admittedly, but these are classically-styled appealing wines which I would enjoy drinking. Things dipped down a little with the 2004 Château Gloria, which with its leafy and slightly austere fruit didn’t offer the sort of exciting finesse we have seen from this estate in very recent years, especially the 2010 vintage for example when, bearing in mind the elevated quality, it was surely one of the bargains of the vintage.
