Bordeaux 2018 at Two Years: Pessac-Léognan, White
Moving on from the red wines of Pessac-Léognan we come, naturally enough, to the whites. I have slightly fewer wines to report on here than I did for the red wines, partly because a number of châteaux in the appellation produce red wine and not white, two that are pertinent to this report being Château Haut-Bailly and Château Le Thil Comte Clary, and partly because one château sent samples of their reds, but not their whites. Even so, I still have 25 white wines to report on, including a trio from the broader Graves appellation, to the south of Pessac-Léognan.
I remember the primeurs tasting of Pessac-Léognan very well; the journalist-only tasting arranged by the syndicat is regularly an oasis of quiet, seated, tasting tranquillity (I recall the first year the syndicat put on this tasting; it had not been well publicised and I was the only taster present all morning – it was tasting bliss!). It is always hosted by one of the syndicat’s members, and if memory serves me correctly for the 2018 primeurs it was at Château Rouillac. I started with the reds which showed really well, typical of the vintage, being ripe, textured and broad, wines which were easy to taste and appreciate.
The whites, however, were a different kettle of fish. At first I was entranced by the ripe fruit and exotic flavours; this was clearly a very expressive vintage, the wines full of sweet peach and pear, but also more tropical notes of mango and even pineapple. And they were full of texture, a phenolic core of sinewy substance which only served to amplify their volume on the palate. The problem, however, was a lack of freshness, vigour, zip, call it what you will. The technical data suggested the wines had decent enough acidity levels, not high but not necessarily that different to 2015 or 2016. The palate, however, said otherwise.
