Bordeaux 2014 at Two Years: Pauillac
Moving south from the successes of St Estèphe in 2014, we come now to Pauillac, an appellation that, while more typical of the style of the vintage, is nevertheless certainly worthy of our attention. Pauillac is always an interesting commune to review; not only is it home to three of the Médoc’s first growths, as well as any number of would-be pretenders to such a crown, we also find here a very broad diversity of terroirs, and quite often considerable variation in style and quality as well. There are a number of classed growth estates here hampered by their soils of black and silty sand, or perhaps also by less driven management, and as a result the quality on offer at any Pauillac tasting can be a bit of a rollercoaster ride.
Unlike 2014 St Estèphe, however, there is no kind way to spin the story of the vintage when it comes to Pauillac. The weather gods here knew the script, and although there was perhaps a little less rain here than in some other appellations these wines were made after what was still a long and damp summer. This cool and wet weather resulted in staggered ripening, although perhaps more so on the lesser terroirs (vineyards planted on colder or wetter soils, such as sand or clay, away from the Gironde) than on the better terroirs (vineyards on well-drained gravel soils, like those pictured below, preferably closer to the Gironde, which also helps rainwater to drain away quickly). Tasting at the primeurs, any wine featuring more Merlot seemed to be disadvantaged; this may well be a terroir effect, as described above, as the well-drained gravely soils of the left bank are usually reserved for Cabernet Sauvignon, although as I mentioned in my introduction it could also be down to the Indian summer, which benefited Cabernet Sauvignon more than Merlot.
Thus the potential in 2014 depended on a number of variables, and as a result this is an appellation which gives us some rather mediocre lows as well as some surprising high points in 2014, although I found less immediate conviction in the majority of wines compared to their peers just to the north, in St Estèphe. It is an appellation where buyers need to do their research, before handing over the increasingly large wad of cash required to buy these wines these days.
