Bordeaux 2021 at Two Years: St Emilion Grand Cru Classé
Following the publication of my notes and scores on the Premier Grand Cru Classé wines of the 2021 vintage, retasted now they are in bottle, where else should I go next other than the next rung down on the ladder, to check out a selection of the many Grand Cru Classé wines of St Emilion?
Before we proceed any further though, I must ask you all to pause for a moment. Remove your hats (surely, out of respect, you place a titfer* atop your loaf* before logging onto Winedoctor?). Lower your heads in respect please, and pray silence. For with this report we bid adieu to a number of stalwart members of this grand cru classé community, martyred in the name of vineyard expansion.
First to feel the swing of the axe is Château Les Grandes Murailles, which has been in the possession of the Cuvelier family since their acquisition of the vineyard (alongside a couple of other domaines) back in 2013. With just 2 hectares of vines, all Merlot, directly contiguous with the vineyard of Clos Fourtet, also in the hands of the Cuveliers, the writing was clearly on the wall for this property. The 2021 Château Les Grandes Murailles is the last we will see of this estate, which had maintained its position in the St Emilion classification since 1955; the vines have been absorbed into the Clos Fourtet vineyard, ratified during the course of the 2022 classification.
Tasting at Château Pavie, the line-up included (as always) both Château Pavie-Decesse and Château Bellevue-Mondotte (being a classification nerd, the latter tasting note appears not here, but will be in my 2021 St Emilion Grand Cru update). It was the last time this would be so, however, as both properties heard the whisper of the falling guillotine (you can tell I am working hard with my metaphors here) after the 2021 harvest. These two micro-properties, a hectare or two each (Pavie-Decesse having already donated some vines to its bigger brother back in 2012) have each been absorbed into the Pavie vineyard, the vines thus ‘promoted’ to premier grand cru classé.
There are other casualties, such as Château Grand-Pontet (sold to Prince Robert and absorbed into Quintus), Clos La Madeleine (snapped up by the Moueix family a few years ago, and now a corner of Belair-Monange) and Château Faurie de Souchard (disappeared, presumably into the Dassault vineyard) and probably one or two others that have slipped my mind, but none of these wines feature here. So, pop your titfer back on, and let’s take a look at those wines which do.
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