Bordeaux 2014 Primeurs: Pauillac
The overarching style of the 2014 vintage is one of ripe fruit flavours and ripe tannins, but with leaner textures and prominent acidities, a sort of melding of warm and cool vintage characteristics. But as I have already made clear in my 2014 St Estèphe report not every appellation follows this rule exactly, quite simply because different regions have different soils, which cope differently with heavy rainfall, and because some vineyards experienced much heavier rain than others. This is a vintage where terroir superiority, especially in an appellation such as Pauillac which covers the full range from the premier grand cru classé estates down to the far more modest cru bourgeois properties, seems to really shine through.
One of the most consistent messages coming out of Pauillac, and indeed some other appellations, was the great contrast between the 2013 and 2014 harvests. In the 2013 vintage there was a mad rush to pick as botrytis took hold, whereas in the 2014 vintage the exact opposite was true. The picking was a long and very deliberate affair, the main task facing the managers being to hold back the eager pickers, ensuring they didn’t go into a parcel until ripeness was at its most optimal. This meant waiting, and waiting, and waiting, picking a little, and then waiting some more. Whereas the 2013 harvest was done in little more than a week, even on some of the largest estates, several of the grand estates of Pauillac reported picking extending over a five-week period.
Superiority of terroir naturally means that the first growths and their neighbours are best placed to do well in this vintage, and certainly my tastings suggest that this is the case. Of the three premier grand cru classé estates, I found the wine of Château Lafite-Rothschild the most striking.
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