Bordeaux 2008 at Four Years: St Emilion & Pomerol
For some time now I have held an inclination – or rather some degree of conviction – that the communes of the right bank fared much better than many left bank appellations in this vintage. This was an impression formed in Bordeaux in April 2009, and reaffirmed when tasting from bottle two years later. For that reason, at this tasting at the Institute of Masters of Wine in November 2012, the wines now four years old, I decided to focus more of my time and attention looking at the wines of the right bank than I usually would. There is often a much broader showing from St Emilion than from Pomerol (an appellation which always has plenty of wines to show at the primeurs, but the Moueix wines and those from the more upper crust châteaux – L’Église-Clinet, Lafleur, L’Évangile, Le Pin, Vieux Château Certan and so on – then disappear from the tasting circuit, never to be seen again). St Emilion is also, of course, a much larger appellation, and so there are perhaps many more ‘petits vins‘ of interest here. And so it is this appellation that dominates this section of my report.
The Story so Far
It was clear in the spring of 2009, when tasting during the primeurs week, that St Emilion had produced some superb wines in this vintage. Especially noteworthy were Angélus, Beau-Séjour Bécot, Canon-la-Gaffelière, Figeac and Troplong-Mondot, and as is appropriate Cheval Blanc and Ausone were excellent, as was Cheval Blanc’s second wine, which was brimming with Cabernet Franc character; I rated it very highly (which perhaps reflects my love of Cabernet Franc, whether in Bordeaux or in Chinon or Bourgueil), but I was an outlier, and most prominent tasters gave it a more circumspect mark. With such a strong performance from Angélus, and Hubert de Boüard de Laforest de leading from the front with a 40% price reduction, this was certainly a vintage to buy en primeur, provided you had done your research and picked out the better wines.
