Bordeaux 2012 Primeurs: Pontet & Pichon
I started my day tasting in Pauillac at Château Pontet-Canet, and arriving a respectful but not ridiculous ten minutes early (I have a tendency to be ten minutes late for most events in my life, so this shows just how much organisation I put into this trip) it was clear I beat most of the staff to work on the day. Technical director Jean-Michel Comme arrived a few minutes later and accompanied me upstairs to taste. By the time I was leaving, the hostesses were lined up in the reception room downstairs receiving their morning pep-talk; Melanie Tesseron and I passed like ships in the night at the entrance, and I was away. It was a very swift and yet hugely informative start to the day. My visit to Château Pichon-Baron, however, was less fleeting, as I had agreed to appear in Christian Seely’s video blog, giving my opinion of the vintage, rather difficult at the time as I had not tasted that many wines. Of note, I should point out that both châteaux invited me for lunch, but in each case I declined.
Château Pontet-Canet
Upstairs with Jean-Michel Comme, he poured the 2012 barrel sample and recounted his view of the vintage, his winemaking philosophy, and imparted news on recent developments at Château Pontet-Canet. It was a short visit – certainly less than 30 minutes – but I felt I learnt as much here as anywhere else, if not much more.
Work in the vineyard continues to be biodynamic, and there is increasing use of horses who have worked 40% of the estate this year. Both the 2011 and 2012 growing seasons have been difficult nevertheless Jean-Michel and the Tesserons are clearly now committed to this philosophy, and I do not feel they will ever crack, and revert to using chemical sprays, as they did in the 2007 vintage (losing their certification in the process). As Jean-Michel told me they lost none of their crop to mildew this year, I am sure this will only harden their resolve. Flowering was late here as it was elsewhere, leading to uneven ripening. Picking of the Merlots eventually began on October 4th, after the first rains, the Cabernet Sauvignons starting up on October 11th, probably not very long after the Merlots were finished. Picking was expedited with the use of a third sorting line and an increased number of saisonniers being recruited to bring in the fruit, both signs of good planning by the team here who, being aware (as was everybody else) of the likelihood of a late harvest after the late flowering, anticipated the difficult conditions. Picking finished less than a week after the Cabernet harvest began, on October 17th.
