Bordeaux 2009 Primeurs: St Emilion
My first few days in Bordeaux for the primeur tastings of the 2009 vintage were spent on the left bank, my exposure to the wines of the right bank very limited. My chance would come on my third day, and in the meantime all I had were the rumours, suggesting that the Merlots on the right bank were less affected by the heat than those on the left bank. This seemed surprising; after all, in a vintage marked by extreme levels of ripeness in the Merlots, producing raw materials of unparalleled sweetness and alcohol, it would seem only natural that the Merlot-rich blends of the right bank would be those most at risk of losing any sense of balance. I could do little more than wonder whether or not the cooler, more water-retentive terroirs may have protected the right bank fruit, whilst I bided my time, waiting for my opportunity to taste the wines for myself.
In the meantime, two wines tasted at Léoville-Las-Cases, Nenin and the second wine Fugue de Nenin (part of the Delon portfolio), did nothing to dispel the rumours. And so I approached the right bank wines on day three very much with an open mind, ready to find elegance and freshness as per the rumours, or sweetness and heat, as might be expected from a prior understanding of the vintage. Which was it to be though?
