Bordeaux 2015 Primeurs: St Estèphe
Having looked at the major right bank appellations of St Emilion and Pomerol, the delights offered us by the too-often overlooked Pessac-Léognan, and having worked my way up the major left-bank communes of Margaux, St Julien and Pauillac, we come now of the last of the ‘big name’ appellations of Bordeaux, St Estèphe.
The scene has already been set for this report, not only by my account of the vintage given in my accounts of 2015 Pauillac and 2015 St Julien, but also my report on the wines of the Médoc in the 2015 vintage. What matters here, just as it does everywhere north of Margaux, is rain. And the further north we come, the more troublesome the summer (in particular September) rains were.
My day started at Château Calon-Ségur, an 8am appointment. That might sound like an early start, but having stayed the previous night at Château Preuillac, barely 15 minutes drive away, it was actually a pleasant start to the day. Much better than driving all the way down to Château La Mission Haut-Brion in the suburbs of Bordeaux, doing battle with the Rocade on the way, a journey which has before now taken close to three hours (successfully sapping any will to live I had in the process).
