Bordeaux 2006 at Two Years: The Médoc Communes
As I alluded in my introduction, in this tasting it was probably St Julien that performed most consistently, with a number of enjoyable wines. Léoville-Barton and Léoville-Poyferré deserve the usual mention, but Lagrange, Langoa and even the too-often-overlooked St Pierre have also earned a moment in the limelight with some good wines. Nevertheless, this statement is not meant to imply that this is the only commune where the best wines are to be found. From Pauillac there were also some very good wines, with both the Pichon estates performing well, and an impressive wine from Pontet Canet too.
Margaux was true to form in terms of inconsistency, and the styles varied from lighter and elegantly gravelly such as Rauzan-Ségla through to deeply coloured, characterful and oaky, naturally an easy description for the new Lascombes, although there are of course a few imitators within the appellation. As a result I was a little broader than usual in my scoring, keeping to a less specific range, rather than settling for a single figure, for a handful of these wines. My favourite wine from this commune was Giscours, which to me seems to have been on something of a roll recently. From the lesser communes of Listrac and Moulis and also the Haut-Médoc there were no really exciting wines, and as is the norm at this tasting of two-year-old wines the cohort present from St Estèphe was of inadequate size to make any worthwhile judgement.
The notes and scores presented below are as written at the UGC tasting, and as usual I present the wines running from St Estèphe down to Margaux, with the appellations of Moulis, Listrac and Haut-Médoc after that. (30/10/08)
