Bordeaux 2023 Primeurs: Pessac-Léognan, Red
“But it’s still dark outside,” opined Taylor.
Of course I already knew it was still dark outside. And I also knew that Taylor’s true intent was not to keep me updated on the crepuscular light levels, but to make a somewhat related point. It was rather early.
“It’s so early,” she continued.
See, I was right.
“I should still be in bed. I need my beauty sleep, you know.”
I thought in response I could point out that there was nothing to stop her having a nap in the car, once we were underway. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time. And I also wondered why a spiritual being, the embodiment of primeurs past, sent to accompany me on my primeurs journey by Ronan Laborde and the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, needed to sleep anyway. Surely if there was one advantage to being an energy force manifested as a mega popstar, it would be that you didn’t need to sleep.
But I resisted. I have learnt over the years, most frequently when trying to break the icy reception which awaits me in Vouvray, how to bite my tongue and avoid a strained yet superficially civil conversation descending into bitter argument.
Taylor filled the silence that followed with a question.
“So, why so early?”
It wasn’t the first time these words had spilled from her lips.
“I did tell you last night. We have to go to Pessac-Léognan, and it’s going to be a long day. We’re going to Haut-Bailly, Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion, Smith-Haut-Lafitte, Domaine de Chevalier, Brown, Couhins Lurton and Pape-Clément. And maybe one or two others. The sooner we get going, the better. And we’re starting at 8am, at Les Carmes Haut-Brion. That means driving into Bordeaux city in rush hour. Which, like many hours in France, actually lasts for three hours. And it can be a nightmare, so I would rather set off early and beat the traffic.”
“I’m OK with all those, especially Smith-Haut-Lafitte – rumour has it they have a special label to commemorate the visit by King Charles – but starting at 8am seems wrong. Why not just skip this visit, and start at Haut-Brion at 9am? That would have given us a much more civil start time.”
There she goes again. One minute she’s a mega-popstar who doesn’t understand why primeur sales are suffering such a slow death, the next she is an expert on structuring a primeurs timetable. It’s almost as if I am making this up as I go along.
