Bordeaux 2013 at Two Years: Pessac-Léognan
It seems fairly sensible to spend a little more time in Pessac-Léognan in a vintage such as 2013, which so plainly favoured white wines over red. But let’s not get carried away. This isn’t a great vintage for the white wines of Pessac-Léognan. The white wines are certainly streets ahead of the red wines in terms of quality (in this corner of Bordeaux, and in all others), but looking at the wines away from this context they are good, but not truly ‘great’.
As I described in my 2013 primeurs report, the white varieties faired better in this vintage 2013. The first reason for this is that the whites are ready for picking much earlier than the reds (before the weather really deteriorated). Even so, in 2013 the white grapes came in with lower sugar levels and higher acidities than is usual, certainly when compared to 2012 and 2011 (both nice vintages for white) and these characteristics were transmitted through to the wines. The second reason they faired better is simply that we tolerate higher acidities in white wines than we would in red. Nevertheless, looking at the wines during the primeurs, I concluded they were lighter in style than other recent vintages, including 2011, 2010, 2007 and 2006. Revisiting the wines now, I find the same characteristics. These are pretty wines, in many cases they will be pleasant to drink, with no shortage of energy, but they lack many of the features they would need to be worthy of being called ‘great’. They are fresh and appealing, but the substance, depth and texture is missing from many.
As for the red wines, these follow the same pattern as the rest of Bordeaux, with one or two high-flying châteaux turning in a performance worthy of our attention, but many wines are simple, fresh, acid-driven and easy-going.
