Bordeaux 2012 Primeurs: Pauillac
The commune of Pauillac, directly south of St Estèphe, requires a lot of work to cover properly. The three first growths insist on a visit to taste the wines, and as primeurs aficionados will know these days the Tesserons of Château Pontet-Canet see themselves in the same fashion. Happily there are still some grand names here, making superb wines, that are still content to pour their wines alongside their peers, at the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux St Estèphe-Pauillac-St Julien tasting. The likes of Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste, for example, as well as Château Pichon-Baron and Château Pichon-Lalande. Nevertheless, it doesn’t seem right to me that only those châteaux that insist on a visit, get a visit. A good understanding of the commune and vintage at hand comes from visiting as many different châteaux as possible. And so this year, on my ‘Pauillac morning’, I managed to squeeze in appointments at Pichon-Baron and Grand-Puy-Lacoste as well.
If you have already read my 2012 St Estèphe report, you will already have some indication of the difficulties experienced here during this vintage. I will save my overview for my conclusion though. For the moment, here is how the vintage panned out at some of the aforementioned big names of the appellation.
Château Latour
One or two friends in Bordeaux that I spoke to were surprised to hear that I had an appointment at Château Latour. After all, haven’t they withdrawn from the en primeur system? Why would they be pouring samples then? Well, I wasn’t sure, but they gave me an appointment when I asked, so I figured they must be pouring something. On the day I turned up on time; this is always advisable if one is to get past the gatekeeper, who I believe works a locum job here when taking a spring break from his usual role as guardian of the gates of Hades. Following his directions once admitted to the estate, I drove past the cellars where I have tasted on previous visits – closed because of building work – and drove down to the more low-key buildings at the foot of the vineyard. Here I found myself in the middle of a building site, with vehicles coming and going, and roofers overhead replacing tiles. It took me a few minutes to actually locate the tasting, but once I did it soon became clear that it was worth making the appointment.
