Bordeaux 2016 Primeurs: Pessac-Léognan, Red
I rolled over and tried desperately to focus on the numbers on my watch, its illuminated display a blurred glow in the pitch black. This was much harder than it sounds; I have noticed in the past few years that many letters and numbers seem to be less clear than they used to be, the inevitable presbyopia that hits us all eventually. My solution so far has been the one I suspect most of us at first employ, and I will continue with it until my arms simply aren’t long enough. But it was the dead of night. The glowing figures shimmered and danced in the inky expanse, my eyes were bleary and sore, and I also wondered whether it was possible that since falling into bed my arms had shrunk. Whatever the reason, it was half-a-minute or so before I could eventually make out the time.
It was 4:30am.
No problem, you might say. Roll over, get back to sleep. But it wasn’t that simple. I had been lying here, wide awake, for an hour now. I blamed the magician and mind-reader at Château Pavie. Perhaps he had telepathically planted a seed of sleeplessness in my brain, as a revenge for not applauding at the appropriate moment. Or, I wondered, perhaps my hyper-alert state and watery eyes were simply signs of an allergic reaction to his ‘magic’ act. Whatever the reason, after barely three hours sleep, it was clear I was done for the night. I got up, took a shower, packed up my bags, and headed out to Château La Mission Haut-Brion. So what if I was going to be two hours early for my appointment?
The Pessac-Léognan Story
This year I have decided to split my Pessac-Léognan report into two, one each for the reds and whites, and here I look particularly at the red wines. The story in this region is typical of the vintage, the year divided into two halves, the very wet start, and the very dry finish.
