Bordeaux 2012 Primeurs: Sauternes & Barsac
Although the vast majority of my recent week in Bordeaux was spent tasting the embryonic barrel samples, I did allow one or two digressions during the week. One of these was on Monday, during my visit to Château Haut-Bailly. Here, after retasting the 2012 barrel sample (I had just come from the Pessac-Léognan syndicat tasting, and so it was a second bite of this particular cherry for me) I stayed on for a fifteen-vintage vertical, as well as a bite of lunch. It was the only château at which I accepted lunch or dinner during the primeurs, and this will of course be declared in my annual statement of benefits received, like this one for 2012. As for the vertical tasting, I will be writing this up as soon as I can.
Temporarily relaxed, I lingered a little too long at Haut-Bailly, and found myself leaving with little time to spare if I was to make my appointment at Château Climens on time. I pointed the hire car in more-or-less the right direction; although the autoroute would have been the quickest journey, for some reason I elected to go cross country through the forests just to the east (I’m not sure why, save for the fact that country roads are interesting, and motorways are boring). I discovered a few roads I have never travelled down before (and I suspect I may never travel down them again) and also tested the accelerative powers of my turbo-charged lawnmower-engined hire car (it was not impressive).
