Bordeaux 2014 Primeurs: St Emilion Grand Cru Classé & Grand Cru
In the second of my St Emilion 2014 reports I turn my attention towards the wines of this appellation that are not blessed with premier grand cru classé status. As I hope I have already made clear, the purpose of dividing into two my St Emilion report, which had grown into a rather unwieldy beast, is simply to give everybody a chance to shine. And this division is certainly not a qualitative one, as the premier grand cru classé names certainly don’t have a monopoly on interest or drinkability, as the following reports and tastings – looking at more than fifty wines of the St Emilion appellation – will prove. After all, we have here the wines of Jonathan Maltus, who has a number of small parcels up on the St Emilion plateau from which he produces an interesting array of wines, many of which are micro-cuvées.
And to the east of St Emilion François Mitjavile chooses to shun the modern trappings of St Emilion ambition, remaining very comfortable in his life outside the St Emilion classification, at least that is how it seems to me. We also have wines here from newly elevated grand cru classé domaines such as Château Fombrauge and Château Jean Faure. And to pad things out of course there are plenty of wines made by the leading premier grand cru classé names including the Vauthiers of Château Ausone, by the team at Château Cheval Blanc, as well as the wines of Gérard Perse, of Château Pavie, as well as many where Hubert de Boüard de Laforest of Château Angélus consults. So there should, I hope, be something here for everyone.
I kick off though with a name which, although familiar to all drinkers of Bordeaux (even if his wines present us all with a financial hurdle too high for most of us to jump), is relatively new in St Emilion. The person in question is Jacques Thienpont, of Le Pin (in Pomerol, in case you didn’t know), and the wine is L’If, made from a fairly small parcel of vines near Château Troplong-Mondot.
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