Bordeaux 2017 Primeurs: Pessac-Léognan, Red
The vineyards south of the city of Bordeaux, which begin with those nestled right in among the suburbs on the south side, through the rest of Pessac-Léognan to the south, and on through the very broad and sprawling Graves appellation, also had to battle the frost during the 2017 vintage.
The average yield here was a rather paltry 30.6 hl/ha, which puts Pessac-Léognan firmly among the frosted appellations, along with Margaux, St Emilion and Pomerol, rather than in the gang that entirely escaped the frost, these lucky appellations being St Estèphe, Pauillac and St Julien. This yield is lower than the 2016 yield (which was 45.4 hl/ha, the highest yield here for many years) and lower than the five-year average (which is 41.8 hl/ha). It is even lower than the yield in the 2013 vintage (this was 32.4 hl/ha), remembered as the year most locals would rather not remember.
As elsewhere, though, this was not a tale of universal destruction. In Pessac-Léognan the damage was patchy, the frost touching some vineyards, or even parts of some vineyards, while completely sparing others. Some, in particular one or two vineyards close to the city, benefitted from the warmer mesoclimate offered by the suburbs, and largely escaped the frost. Others to the south saw low-lying vineyards affected. Thus the likes of Château Haut-Bailly and Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte saw some damage on lower-lying parts of the vineyard, while others saw more extensive damage. The Cathiards saw the crop at Château Cantelys wiped out, and have not produced a 2017 from this vineyard. To the southwest of Léognan some sectors seem to have suffered quite badly, given that the proprietors of Château de Fieuzal have also been unable to produce a 2017, and the wines from a number of vineyards close by seem to show the negative effects of the frost including rather tart and unripe fruit profiles, with some green, leafy, herbaceous and vegetal edges.
