Bordeaux 2020 Primeurs: Sauternes & Barsac
My life would not feel complete if I did not bring the publication of my primeurs tasting notes to an end with a look at a selection of wines from the Barsac and Sauternes appellations. A good number of these samples came via the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, some via the Cercle Rive Droite or the region’s various consultants, and of course some came direct from the proprietors themselves. It would be remiss of me not to express my thanks to all of these organisations and individuals for sending samples, not just for these sweet wines but for white and red as well.
Most of all, however, I would like to thank Bill Blatch, who many readers will know from his role at the négociant firm Vintex, which he founded in 1982. He sold this a few years ago and then founded Bordeaux Gold, which specialised in marketing and distributing the region’s sweet wines, and he also represents Christie’s in the region. What Bill does not know about Sauternes isn’t worth knowing, and I am grateful to him for collating the largest number of samples and sending them my way, as well as for his ever-useful summary of the vintage. The end result is a report featuring tasting notes and scores on 30 of the region’s sweet wines.
As usual in this report I return briefly to the growing season and the harvest, to establish its relevance and impact on this particular style of the wine. In many ways this mirrors the season across the region, with a mild and wet winter, a spring in very much the same vein with high mildew pressure, and then a long and dry summer leading into the harvest period, so there is no need to go over that again. There are local nuances though, and of course the specificities of how the weather affected the development of botrytis, so a closer examination is worthwhile.
