Bordeaux 2011 Primeurs: Pauillac Tasting Notes
Other wines that showed well during the primeur tastings included Grand-Puy-Lacoste, tasted at the estate with François-Xavier Borie. The wine is a mere shadow of the superlative efforts that came out of the 2009 and 2010 vintages though, especially the latter, when this estate turned out one of the top wines of the vintage, of a quality far above the property’s fifth-growth status.
And another notable success not yet mentioned was Lynch-Bages, a wine which sadly – unlike a number of those described in this report – I only had the opportunity to taste once. This was at the UGC tasting of wines from St Estèphe, Pauillac and St Julien. The wine showed a wonderfully composed structure, and although it seemed quite closed down aromatically the composition of the wine on the palate was enough to give me confidence. In young wines such as this the main purpose of assessing aromatics is not for pleasure, but to assess style and quality (mainly whether the fruit is green or over-ripe, or how much toasty new oak is being used to ‘dress up’ the sample). So without this information my review of the wine is somewhat incomplete, nevertheless I have confidence in its potential purely from the substance, structure and integration so plainly displayed on the palate. Coming down another step, also tasted with Borie (pictured) at Grand-Puy-Lacoste was my old favourite Haut-Batailley, a wine which may also offer some value, if the price is right. And in this respect don’t overlook Pibran, which I have already mentioned along with Pichon-Baron, this estate being part of the AXA portfolio. It is unassuming, stylish and composed, and should offer good drinking. Now we just have to wait and see what the prices of these wines will be.
