Bordeaux 2010 Primeurs: Petrus and Friends
For me, all other wines fade into the shadows cast by Vieux Château Certan. Having said that, being objective, there are other great wines in Pomerol in this vintage. Some leading wines I have sadly not been able to taste (such as Lafleur and Le Pin, due to lack of time). I did visit Petrus though, to taste the 2010 samples with Olivier Berrouet (pictured, below right), and this wine is the most obvious candidate for further examination. Whereas some wines major on ethereal purity (such as, in St Emilion, Ausone) and some seem to blend this with substance (such as Vieux Château Certan) Petrus is (rather like, in St Emilion again, Cheval Blanc) all about substance and depth. Everything here sings concentration although, as was the case with Latour, it is concentration with balance, a silky texture with a good frame. This is all set to become a Bordeaux icon of the future.
Also impressive, perhaps a rung or two down on the ladder but still very desirable wines that will quite rightly be coveted by many, are L’Église-Clinet and La Conseillante, both tasted during visits to these two properties, and Trotanoy, tasted at the offices of Christian Moueix (pictured, below left). At the former Denis Durantou has fashioned a blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, in doing so creating a superbly precise wine with great vigour and freshness. I am not certain of the alcohol, as all I noted during my visit were that the Durantou wines all came in between 14.2% and 14.9%, and I would think that the grand vin is towards the lower end of this spectrum. The second wine La Petite Église was also top notch (I picked up a few bottles of the 2005 not that long ago, and I would not be afraid of doing the same with the 2010), although having acknowledged the superior quality at this level I have to confess I did find some less flattering notes of warmth and raisined fruit in Durantou’s other cuvées, a mix of wines from Lalande de Pomerol and Castillon, as well as a lone St Emilion.
