Bordeaux 2010 Primeurs: Pessac-Léognan Tasting Notes
Looking across the board, how do the red wines stack up against 2009? Well, understanding my own preference for freshness, acidity and structure, features that carry the wines into my cellar and then hopefully keep them looking good when they emerge again, maybe several decades later, I wanted to like the wines of 2010 more. But it was not the case; these are classically styled wines which, provided confit fruit notes do not bother you, deserve to be added to the cellar. But, comparing barrel sample to barrel sample across the two vintages, I find I have scored 2009 higher in almost every case. And the vintage is certainly vastly superior to 2008, despite some hyperbolic voices claiming that 2010 is not the second but the third great vintage in a row. What nonsense! Only the rasping challenge of 2010 Pape-Clément seemed to upset this particular trend.
And, for the whites, how does 2010 stack up against 2009? Not that well, as it turns out; this is, despite my initial hopes of polished wines and vibrant acidities, not a stand-out vintage for the region. I wasn’t surprised to see that I preferred the wines of 2008, a much fresher vintage with lovely crystalline fruit character. I also wasn’t surprised to see on reviewing my notes that I preferred 2006, which was a great vintage for the white wines. As for 2007, my scores are quite comparable, although the style of the vintage is quite different; overall, I think 2007 just pips it, again note a conclusion that really surprised me. I was astounded, however, to see that the fruit character and inadequate freshness of some of the wines caused me to score them lower than the 2009s. But on reviewing my notes I see why; even though 2009 was a warm vintage the fruit remained fresh despite its concentration. I look forward to retasting these wines from bottle later in 2011 to see if this essential characteristic has been maintained post-élevage.
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