Bordeaux 2014 Primeurs: Château Tertre Roteboeuf
What is there to say about François Mitjavile and Château Tertre Roteboeuf that I haven’t said before, or that somebody else hasn’t said before? I arrived here on Friday afternoon, my week of tastings, tastings and more tastings culminating in what is often a lengthy appointment. I have learnt, from experience, to make my time with François the last tasting of the day. Otherwise the end result is often having to leave much earlier than ideal, missing out on tasting one or several wines, and a mad dash to make it to my next appointment.
To my surprise when I arrived at Château Tertre Roteboeuf I found François alone except for one companion, a merchant who carries his wine in San Francisco, who had similarly turned up to taste. It is not uncommon to find a small hoard of eager tasters thronging around the cellar. A second surprise was that there was a light on when we ventured into the cellar. In previous years on entering, the shift from bright sunshine outside to the gloom of the usually unlit cellar has left me functionally blind for a minute or two (bringing a new meaning to the term blind tasting I suppose), and on more than one occasion I have nearly gone head-over-heels as I gingerly felt for the steps in the inky darkness. This year I skipped to the bottom, sure-footed. Is this my reward for returning here year after year, I wondered to myself. No more tasting in the dark for me?
The peaceful environment was not maintained for long of course, as within half an hour at least fifteen other visitors had arrived, and they were all crammed into the small cellar, shepherded around by François and his son Louis (I can’t quite bring myself to call him Lou-Lou, even if that is his name within the family). We kicked off with the 2014 Roc de Cambes and 2014 Domaine des Cambes, but I will slot my opinions and tasting notes on these wines into my AC Bordeaux report to follow. Sticking purely with the 2014 Château Tertre Roteboeuf, this was a truly enticing wine, spicy and dark, with that degraded-fruit character which seems to typify the Mitjavile portfolio, running like some vinous genetic code though Tertre Roteboeuf, Roc de Cambes, Domaine des Cambes and also (to a slightly lesser extent) L’Aurage, the wine made by Louis. In the mouth it is pure, matchsticky, perfumed and defined. This is a very fine vintage for Tertre Roteboeuf, so fans of this estate shouldn’t overlook 2014.
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