Bordeaux 2008 at Two Years: St Emilion & Pomerol
Sadly Pierre Lurton’s face is not one you are likely to espy at the annual UGC tasting, so there was no opportunity to revisit my beloved 2008 Petit Cheval, but happily Figeac always makes an appearance. And this was the second of two wines I particularly recall from the primeur tastings, a wine which divided opinion. Within the commune it seemed quite incongruous, showing a lifted, pure, crystalline red fruit character, in part the effect of terroir, the soils here much more gravelly, and also the effect of assemblage of course, this being an unusual St Emilion in that it showcases the two Cabernets in preference to Merlot (the Cabernets dominate the vineyard here, a fact which of course brings us back to terroir again). I liked its fresh and perfumed style, others did not. My updated opinion on it is included below.
For many, though, Pomerol is where its at in 2008. But first an aside, a moment from my second visit to Le Pin during the primeurs, when I observed Jacques Thienpont using a pipette to draw a sample for us to taste from just two barrels, with a little press wine then added in for good measure. The quality of what I tasted was exceptional, but seeing this brief assemblage was a timely reminder of the tenuous link between some barrel samples and the finished wine. Acknowledging that fact, the wines from this commune that showed up at the UGC tasting (before you continue to wonder, no there was no Le Pin!) showed very well indeed and were very true to the quality shown by the barrel samples I had tasted 18 months or so before. If I had to pick out a couple of favourites I would plump for La Conseillante and Clinet. A couple of other wines are certainly noteworthy though, in particular Gazin, which I enjoyed here more than I did at the primeurs.
