Bordeaux 2015 Primeurs: AC Bordeaux
This, the final tasting-notes instalment in my Bordeaux 2015 primeurs review, looks mostly at wines made in the generic Bordeaux Rouge, Bordeaux Blanc and even Bordeaux Rosé appellations, not to mention a few even less frequently spotted appellations, including Sainte-Foy de Bordeaux and even Graves de Vayres, quite possibly the first time I have tasted a wine from this rather obscure appellation. And, as ever, there are one or two wines made under the Vin de France designation tagging along at the end.
As a consequence this report is always something of a jumble of different styles, from a variety of sources, first growths down to petits châteaux, with considerable variation in quality and potential. In white, we have wines from the gravelly terroirs of the left bank, around Sauternes and Graves, as well as the very profound limestone terroirs of the right bank, and although the majority feature Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc there are also fleeting appearances here from Chardonnay, Gros Manseng, Savagnin and Mondeuse. The spread of red varieties is less esoteric, although there are some very foreign varieties cropping up in the region these days, in particular Syrah. The overall effect is that this instalment of my primeurs guide often feels less like a report from Bordeaux (which usually feature anything from 30 to 120 wines, all red, all made in broadly the same style) and instead feels more like a report from the Loire Valley (with everybody doing their own thing, with a diverse array of varieties, some domaines working outside the ‘system’ if it suits them). Perhaps this broad variety is why I enjoy writing up this instalment of my primeurs report more than any other.
The wines here come from all over Bordeaux, so some will have been advantaged by minimal September rainfall, while others will have been hit harder. Many of the whites will have been picked early on during this month though, and so this comment really applies to the red wines. Rather than trying to summarise this any further though, it would perhaps be more instructive to look at a couple of the more significant of these white wines.
