Bordeaux 2018 Primeurs: The Rest of the Left
Beyond the ‘big four’ appellations of the Médoc peninsula there are any number of worthy wines waiting to be discovered. The Haut-Médoc is an unparalleled source of classically styled Cabernet-based Bordeaux as is, at some châteaux, the Médoc. If you know where to look there are excellent cru classé alternatives in Moulis, while there are plenty of good-value options available in Listrac. And these days there are an increasing number of white wines here too, almost all wearing the generic Bordeaux appellation. These include long-established favourites led by Pavillon Blanc du Château Margaux, but there are also some very interesting and more recent arrivals on the scene, such as the white wines of Château Cos d’Estournel, which actually come from further north on the Médoc, around Goulée, and Château Loudenne, where white varieties were first planted back in the late-19th century.
In this final look at the left bank in the 2018 vintage I cast the spotlight on all these appellations and styles. For the sake of completeness I also include here any dry white Bordeaux made further south, around Sauternes. This year this adds just a pair of new tasting notes, the two dry whites from Château Suduiraut. All the wines of Graves and Pessac-Léognan I will, of course, leave for the appropriate report.
This report replaces my old Moulis & Listrac, Haut-Médoc, Médoc and (partly, at least) my old generic Bordeaux report. Together with my new The Rest of the Right report, this change condenses five old reports into two new ones, and is intended to facilitate the more rapid publication of all my tasting notes (hopefully before all the wines have been released).
