Bordeaux 2012 Cru Bourgeois: Haut-Médoc
There was perhaps a greater spread of quality when looking at the wines of the Haut-Médoc appellation compared with the communal appellations of St Estèphe, Pauillac, St Julien, Margaux, Moulis and Listrac. Having said that, overall, I found more success in the communal appellations, although there were certainly one or two wines here that piqued my interest, one particularly so.
The most interesting wine here was undoubtedly that from Château Clément-Pichon, not an estate I have encountered with any frequency in the past. The property is blessed with a rather grand château, and is located in Parempuyre, one of the Haut-Médoc communes that sits between the city of Bordeaux (to the south) and the appellation of Margaux (some way to the north). The estate is in the possession of the Fayat family, perhaps best known for their successful revitalisation of Château La Dominique in St Emilion, which perhaps goes some way to explaining the good quality of the 2012. From the 25-hectare vineyard, planted predominantly with Merlot (perhaps an advantage in such a late harvest) and boasting an interesting terroir for the left bank of gravel over crasse de fer (more commonly encountered in the appellation of Pomerol), comes a very appealing 2012.
