Bordeaux 2013: Broad Impressions
It is not hard to imagine, taking into account the less appealing features of the 2013 growing season, why some may have chosen to stay away from Bordeaux this year. Indeed, my expectations for the vintage as I stepped aboard an aeroplane at Edinburgh Airport were very low. I was anticipating green flavours from the fruit and lean textures in the midpalate, reflecting poor concentration and lower sugar levels (this is a vintage in which many have chaptalised, sometimes for the first time in decades). With leaner textures and a cooler growing season there is also the risk of rather prominent acidity, and there was a potential for green tannins, and even worse green, over-extracted tannins. And with rampant botrytis in the vineyard I also wondered whether that would come through in the wines; in 2013 Bordeaux, the only thing that stood between me and a mouthful of rotten fruit (memories of 2011 Muscadet are suddenly welling up in my mind) was the rigorous sorting exacted by the Bordelais this year.
There were, however, also reasons to remain open-minded. First, because we tend to overlook (or wilfully gloss over in the case of the perennial Bordeaux-bashers) the positive aspects of the growing season, such as the warmer weather enjoyed by all in Bordeaux (and across much of Europe) in July and August. And secondly because the Bordeaux of today is not the Bordeaux of thirty years ago. Today the Bordelais have a different approach, working harder in the vineyard throughout the season, aggressively protecting the crop (as we saw in 2007, with repeated spraying keeping mildew and oidium at bay for months) selecting rigorously and accepting low yields in the process (as we have seen in the 2011 and 2012 vintages), and perhaps employing modern technology to make drinkable wines (as is now commonplace). No weather report tells you any part of this side of the winemaking.
Bordeaux 2013: Reality Check
So what is the reality, based on tasting? To be straight, some but not all of my fears and expectations about 2013 Bordeaux turned out to be true. On the positive side, this is a vintage surprisingly free of green flavours. The wines are largely not herbaceous, not laden with green pepper or other vegetal flavours. Some are, of course, but not the majority. This was a surprise to me, but it seems to be a consequence of the warm summer weather, cited by many in Bordeaux as being responsible for having “burnt away” the greener, methoxypyrazine flavours. And also on a positive note, it is not a vintage beset by evident rot in the wines. Sure, I saw some grey rot in a couple of Sauternes, including one cru classé estate, as well as in one red wine at the Haut-Médoc, Moulis and Listrac tasting. Otherwise grey rot was not a problem.
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