Bordeaux 2007 Primeurs: St Emilion & Pomerol
This is not 1998 all over again, believe me. But if I were pressed on whether the 2007 vintage favoured the left bank or the right (let us just disregard Sauternes for a moment) then I would perhaps come down – albeit marginally – on the right bank of the Gironde. Or, to be geographically correct, the right bank of the Dordogne, as this is where the two main appellations, St Emilion and Pomerol, actually lie.
My opening statement might seem strange in reflection, after all these are wines based on Merlot in the majority of cases, and as I have stated in my Bordeaux 2007 vintage review the ripening of this variety was very retarded this year, with many estates still picking Merlot when the Cabernet harvest began. That is not the same as saying, however, that the Merlot was unripe; greenness was not largely a problem in these wines (this is true of the vintage as a whole). On the whole I felt the wines displayed more substance than those of the left bank; admittedly, again, these are Merlot-dominated wines, which means early tasting will be a different experience, but these wines gave more through the midpalate than those from the Médoc. There was a better balance, a better coating of fruit over the structure, and overall more promise for the future.
