Bordeaux 2011 at Two Years: St Emilion
The 2011 Bordeaux vintage on the left bank is clearly a terroir vintage, the best wines coming from the grandest estates which have, by and large, their Cabernet Sauvignon planted on great gravel mounds. In addition I suspect that those domaines willing (or with the financial ability) to ruthlessly select out the lesser fruit have also done very well, although this might be difficult to perceive, as obviously there is a lot of commonality between those domaines with the best terroirs, and those with the most financial clout. The likes of Château Palmer, Château Mouton-Rothschild, Château Montrose and Château Cos d’Estournel all fall into this category; now and again, though, there are clearly wines where it is the selection and winemaking that really counts. This may be why ‘lesser’ (but still very good terroirs) such as Château Clerc-Milon and Château d’Armailhac (both part of the Rothschild stable) turned in good performances, and must surely be the explanation for wines such as Goulée (Cos d’Estournel), Château Capbern-Gasqueton (Calon-Ségur) and Château Tronquoy-Lalande (Montrose) have also managed to put on a decent show.
Here on the right bank the story is a little different, as here we are not for the most part looking at Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc plays a secondary role, the lead variety being Merlot. With a ripening advantage over the Cabernets that might be as much as several weeks, in 2011 this meant the Merlots could be picked in early September while the Cabernets were left out to shrivel in the unseasonably bright sunshine while everybody waited for the physiological maturity to arrive. Therefore, while terroir is always important, the effect is not as extreme here on the right bank as it is on the left. Generalising, there is a broader success here; you still need to go to the top terroirs for the best wines (when is that not true?), but below this level there are a number of very good wines which will cellar and drink well, and I suspect they will age rather gracefully, which I suspect is not true of the lesser wines of the left bank.
