Bordeaux 2010 Primeurs: Pessac-Léognan
It is the summer of 2005, and I’m in Provence. I’m based some way west of Nice, but still well over an hour from the little Provençal town of Bandol; in fact even taking the rather quiet and fast-moving autoroute that runs along France’s Mediterranean coast it is still more like two hours than one. Nevertheless I have no doubt that the trip is worth it; there are no wines in this region better than those made from the vines planted on the craggy, semi-forested hillsides that sit behind the little town of Bandol.
One of my appointments is at Château de Pibarnon, where I spend some time with one of the cellar-hands, learning a little bit about recent vintages, and tasting the wines. I also learn a little French along the way, which was a surprise as this particular cellar rat was Australian. All the same, living and working in France he clearly knew more of the language than I did. Having completed my lesson on the difference between toi and vous I taste the estate’s 2003. It has a very rich and warm black cherry character, with a sweet confit note to the fruit. Not enough to call jammy, and the wine is balanced on the palate, with good acidity, an indication of how well Mourvèdre is suited to Mediterranean climes. But there is a certain intense sweetness to it that calls to mind concentrated fruit essence rather than a pure, bright fruit freshness. It is a good wine, but both aromatically and in terms of the flavour profile on the palate it betrays the warmth of the vintage quite notably.
