Bordeaux 2006: Tasting in 2008
As well as the tasting of white Graves of the 2006 vintage which I encountered during the 2007 primeurs, a number of estates also showed their 2006 vintage, usually alongside the 2007 at the château. This was certainly true of Le Pin, Sociando-Mallet, Léoville-Las-Cases and others, although some wines were instead encountered with dinner. This was the case with the white, pink and red wines of Smith-Haut-Lafitte, tasted at the restaurant in the grounds of the château with proprietor Florence Cathiard, at a vinously star-studded dinner attended by Alain Graillot, a good friend of the Cathiards from their university days, and Telmo Rodriguez of Remelluri.
There was a whole host of wines tasted from the Cathiard estate, but I include only the 2006 vintage here; notes on the remainder are to be found in my Smith-Haut-Lafitte profile. At Le Pin, after a somewhat cheeky (but certainly worthwhile) request from a journalist in my party, Jacques Thienpont graciously poured eight or so glasses of the 2006 vintage. The wines from Sociando-Mallet were tasted immediately after the 2007s, but immediately prior to lunch in the estate’s new tasting room with its fabulous vista across the vineyards and the Gironde, whilst those from Domaine de Chevalier and Pape-Clément were tasted over canapés one evening.
