Bordeaux 2017 Primeurs: Médoc
The great appellations of the left bank, in particular St Estèphe, Pauillac and St Julien, have given us some superb wines in the 2017 vintage, thanks firstly to their proximity to the Gironde which protected them from the spring frost, and secondly because of the benevolent growing season which followed. The wines of the Haut-Médoc, meanwhile, are much more of a mixed bag. Here numerous vineyards which lie more distant from the estuary were badly frosted (although to be fair, there were also some remarkable successes).
The Médoc, meanwhile, blends all the elements of these stories into one. While these vineyards are perhaps disadvantaged by their northerly position on the somewhat scrubby landscape of the peninsula, there are still some really interesting wines here this year, some of the vineyards clearly having escaped the worst of the frost. There are perhaps several reasons for this. First, there are many domaines here located just as close to the Gironde as their grander peers to the south are; indeed, some vineyards, such as those around the villages of St-Christoly-Médoc, By and Valeyrac teeter right on the water’s edge, and they will have been well protected from sub-zero temperatures. Secondly, the Gironde is much broader here, being as much as 7 kilometres from bank to bank, and its sheer size will have empowered its ability to moderate temperatures; as a consequence its influence may have been even greater here, perhaps reaching further inland. Thirdly, some vineyards here have altitude on their side; a number sit on gravel mounds surrounded by low-lying marshland or even silted-up waterways, and the cold air will have run off these higher vineyards to settle on the lower ground. And lastly, breezes coming in off the Gironde, or indeed off the Atlantic, will also have helped to disperse the frosty air.
Add to all this a subsequently warm and dry growing season, and we should see that in this vintage the Médoc suddenly has significant potential for price-savvy drinkers of Bordeaux.
