Bordeaux 2013 Primeurs: Castillon & Co. Tasting Notes
Moving on, there also some wines of gentle appeal in Fronsac, from the likes Château Fontenil and Château de la Rivière. The latter is another estate that witnessed tragedy last year, as both incoming and outgoing proprietors lost their lives in a helicopter crash they were taking shortly after they had sealed the deal. Winemaker Xavier Buffo has, nevertheless, fashioned a good wine in the context of the vintage, a wine of which either man would have been proud I am sure. It is comparable in quality to the Guinaudeau family’s G Acte 5, and that is probably saying something.
Two other Neipperg wines always impress, I expect because they come from the St Emilion satellites which, despite some fabulous limestone terroirs, do not enjoy the same reputation as their grander neighbours. Both Le Rival and Château Soleil will make pleasant, no-fuss drinking when their time comes. Perhaps the wine to punish all these other châteaux into submission though is the Roc de Cambes, in the Côtes de Bourg appellation, from François Mitjavile of Château Tertre-Roteboeuf. It is typical Mitjavile style, tense and precise, the palate a melange of wood-spice and gently degraded black fruit. If you are looking for a mini-Tertre Roteboeuf, this is undoubtedly the place to come (no surprises there I suppose!). And it vindicates my opening premise in this short report; you can’t assume that any estate, regardless of terroir, appellation or otherwise, can be disregarded in this vintage.
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