Bordeaux 2021 Primeurs: Appellation Bordeaux
My final tasting report on the 2021 Bordeaux primeurs takes in all the remaining wines with the generic Bordeaux appellation. I also include here any appellations of similar standing, so there are also notes on wines from Graves de Vayres, a little-known appellation on the left bank of the Dordogne opposite Fronsac, and those of the Entre-Deux-Mers appellation, on the pizza-slice of land flanked by the Dordogne and the Garonne before they join to create the Gironde. I finish up with any Vin de Pays and Vin de France wines tasted.
This report therefore contains wines from a variety of sources. There are reds and whites from small châteaux which have the potential to offer good value and accessible drinking. And there are also wines, largely white, from famous names in famous appellations, such as the dry white wines of Château Cos d’Estournel, Château Margaux and Château Suduiraut, to name just three among many. I am aware many other critics would simply lump these wines in with their respective grands vins, in their St Estèphe, Margaux and Sauternes reports, but I am too much of an appellation nerd for that. For which I apologise!
Sticking with Château Cos d’Estournel, here Dominique Arangoïts was upbeat about the vintage’s whites. “It was a good summer for Sauvignon Blanc”, he told me after we had finished tasting his reds, “as it was not too hot, and the water supply was good. We have an interesting intensity in the Sauvignons, which we started picking September 17th, finishing with the Semillons on October 9th. We were pushing for ripeness in the Semillons, so we took some risk leaving them out. In the end we had to select out the botrytis, but it was worth it for the ripeness”. The result is tip-top, the 2021 Château Cos d’Estournel Blanc one of the better wines listed below, with a quality superior to many of its peers.
Please log in to continue reading: