Bordeaux 2010 Primeurs: St Julien
Having finished with my appointments at Pichon-Baron, Pichon-Lalande and Léoville-Las-Cases, on the third day of primeurs week if I remember correctly, my companions and I struck out for the UGC Médoc tasting where we could taste the other Pauillac, St Julien and also St Estèphe wines. As we headed for the venue, Château Talbot, we were a little surprised at the complete absence of any signs directing us to the property, and indeed the rather quiet nature of the roads which cut through Talbot’s vineyards. Although we were rather more surprised, upon arriving at Talbot, to find not a single car parked up; normally the UGC venues are surrounded by a small sea of parked cars, deposited at the roadside, on grass verges, indeed anywhere there is a space, sometimes within mere inches of the vines. But here there was a worrying silence to the place. And the gates? They were firmly locked.
Oops, wrong château! As Homer would say, d’oh!
Fortunately help is never far away. A quick telephone call revealed a change in venue, without our having been informed. At least that is the way we chose to view it; clearly the suggestion that we might have had it wrong from the outset was out of the question.
Ten minutes later we were at Branaire-Ducru, the correct venue this time, and I kicked off the tasting with the St Juliens including both Léoville-Barton and Léoville-Poyferré, siblings of the Léoville-Las-Cases we had tasted only an hour or so before.
