Bordeaux 2013 at Two Years: Pomerol
In a vintage characterised by difficult ripening and a late harvest, with the timing of the picking ultimately determined by the advancing army of moulds and fungi rather than the wait for optimal ripeness, it makes sense to think that Merlot might have had something of an advantage in 2013. And, because the ripening and picking of the Merlots tends to move wave-like across Pomerol first, before sweeping down through St Emilion (I know this is a gross generalisation, but bear with me please), you might think of all the right-bank appellations Pomerol would perhaps have something of an advantage under such conditions.
Sadly, despite this theoretical superiority, in 2013 Pomerol did not on the whole manage to transcend the vintage. There was bad weather during flowering, and there were reports of coulure and millerandage, with the latter more common, especially on the old-vine Merlot. This beat some châteaux into submission, and they never made any wine at all (e.g. there is no Hosanna in this vintage). The vast majority did produce a wine though, but thanks to the battering the vines received early on, combined with the wash-out end to the season, working with Merlot did not confer any great advantage. Many châteaux made only tiny quantities of wine, and while most have been open in pouring them (after all, they have to be sold) one domaine, Le Pin, has consistently refused to show the 2013 to journalists (or to me, anyway). What conclusions, I wonder, should we draw from this?
Despite all this, however, I did feel during the primeurs that the wines of Pomerol were somewhat more appealing than many I tasted on the left bank. The difference is very slight, but it is still there. Strangely, however, a number of the best wines at that stage were those majoring on Cabernet Franc, which showed very pretty aromatics in many cases, and tasting the wines again now, nearly two years on from that initial assessment, this still rings true. Although the Merlot-based wines feel more expressive than they did during the primeurs, in some cases the Cabernet Franc still dominates, even though in many wines it accounts for just 10% of the blend.
