Bordeaux 2015 Primeurs: Primeur Picks
There is no doubt in my mind that 2015 is a very important vintage for Bordeaux, for several reasons. First, in terms of quality, this is the most convincing vintage since 2010. Not only have I tasted extensively at the primeurs, I have also done comparative tastings of the 2015 barrel samples against 2014 barrel samples, as well as 2013 and 2012 from bottle, at about a dozen estates. In most cases the 2015 either came out on top (especially on the right bank, and in Margaux and Pessac-Léognan) or equivalent to (especially up the left bank) the 2014 vintage. The vintage wiped the floor with the rather lean, astringent and acid-washed wines of 2013, and while elegant and correct 2012 was also no match for this most recent vintage. And although I haven’t tasted side-by-side, I did taste about eighty wines from the 2011 vintage just last November, and although I like the vintage more than the UK wine trade (they seem to be really down about it on the whole) 2015 is again clearly superior.
Of course there are nuances. While this is an excellent or maybe even truly ‘great’ vintage in Pomerol, Pessac-Léognan, Margaux and St Emilion, as I have hinted the quality is more variable up the left bank. There are pockets of brilliance in St Julien and Pauillac, while the supporting cast of other wines range from being a little flat to good or very good quality, mostly tending towards the latter rather than the former to be fair. These are wines that, while they offer very good potential, do not give me the sort of joy we should expect from a ‘great’ vintage, which is why I have refuted the description in the case of this vintage. And in St Estèphe, the wines were a touch more muted again. While St Julien and Pauillac were in many cases comparable to 2014, at many châteaux in St Estèphe I would buy 2014 in preference. It is an appellation that enjoyed a strong 2014 vintage, and which had a hard time of it in 2015.
Glossing over these imperfections (in the same way we conveniently forget that 1983 Margaux is better than 1982 Margaux, and 2001 Pomerol is better than 2000 Pomerol), there are certainly plenty of high-quality wines waiting for us in 2015. Good quality leads us to another reason this is an important vintage for Bordeaux, and that is the potential for sales. Since the heady days of the 2009 and 2010 vintages, when high-scored wines sold for top-dollar prices, things have not looked so rosy for the Bordelais. It seems common knowledge that some in the region were stung by cancelled orders for the 2010 vintage, perhaps as some buyers wised up to the falling prices and that buying en primeur can be a quick route to losing money.
