Bordeaux 2014 Cru Bourgeois: Médoc
The Médoc does not present the idyllic view of viticulture news columnists and novelists like to conjure up. There are no sun-drenched terraced vineyards here, no ancient farmhouses looking down upon slopes of warm schist or cool limestone, no great viticultural heritage stretching back to Roman times. What we have here is a flat and rather harsh, windswept landscape, the soils mostly a mix of clay, gravel and sand, the latter dominating the further north you go. Winemaking in this cooler maritime climate can be unforgiving, the vineyards occasionally lashed by hail and storms.
Despite this the region, which is of course devoid of cru classé estates and entirely dominated by the cru bourgeois gang, somehow manages to turn out some exceptionally good value wines. A benevolent vintage can make a big difference of course; with a relatively cooler climate, and cold clay soils, some warm weather can really help in pushing the grapes, predominantly Merlot, to ripeness. In this respect, 2014 delivered the goods. Much of the Médoc peninsula endured a rather damp growing season, but the further north you go in 2014, the drier the vineyards were. St Estèphe was drier than Margaux, for example. And the Médoc vineyards were drier again than St Estèphe. This is a vintage in which we should be looking for real interest and value in this corner of Bordeaux.
