Bordeaux 2023 at Two Years: St Emilion
I was heading for Château Rocheyron, to taste Peter Sisseck’s 2023 vintage, when my mobile began to buzz. I was driving at the time, so I missed the call, but once I had pulled up I reverse-searched the number. It was the principal contact number for Château Very-Well-Known, in St Emilion.
Strange! Why would they be calling me? Only one way to find out, I suppose. I returned their call.
Uh-oh. Not good news….
This instalment of my report on the 2023 Bordeaux vintage retasted after bottling is, by a clear margin, the most voluminous. A little further down the page I present notes on close to 120 wines from St Emilion, all tasted during my trip to the region.
The size of the report reflects the broad extent of the St Emilion vineyard, by far the largest of all the region’s ‘big name’ appellations, and the fact that a number properties I visit pour an extensive range of wines. Knock on the cellar door at Valandraud, for example, and you can be pretty sure Jean-Luc Thunevin will pour you every St Emilion he might have a hand in, as a consultant or friend of the proprietor, alongside the wines of Valandraud itself. Sit down at the table with one of the Vauthier family at Château Ausone and it is not just the grand and deuxième vin from Ausone that await you; there will be seven wines lined up on the table (kudos points if you can name them all).
The sheer number of appointments that are required can make pulling together a timetable for my St Emilion visits a challenge. And it is also my excuse for any slip-ups that might occur in my timetable.
Which brings me back to that phone call.
