Bordeaux 2011 at Two Years: Then & Now
Tasting at the primeurs, I saw certain differences between how the different varieties had performed, with its dependence on Merlot perhaps giving Pomerol the edge over some other communes. At the time 2011 seemed to me to be a ‘varietal’ vintage, one in which I thought having a vineyard full of the later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon might have been a disadvantage. There were a few châteaux, however, that seemed to buck that trend, although at the time I had difficulty understanding it all, and putting it all together. My excuse is that it was a complex jigsaw puzzle, and I was probably guilty of spending too much time looking for the pigeon-hole into which I could press the vintage, rather than sitting back, listening to the wines, and letting the vintage tell me exactly what it was all about.
Retasting now, at two years, I see the complexities of this vintage rather more clearly. Yes, there are certainly wines based on Merlot that still stand out as being of very high quality, and so if I were forced to indicate which communes performed best it would be those where this variety dominates, i.e. the major appellations of the right bank, in particular Pomerol. That’s the easy part. But when it comes to the more dominant variety on the left bank it is pretty clear that a small number of estates working with Cabernet Sauvignon have also turned out a very good wine. Attendees at the Union des Grands Crus tastings might not think so (and hence might well be ready to write off the vintage), but that is because it is not principally the châteaux in attendance at these tastings who have really succeeded.
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