Bordeaux 2023 Primeurs: The Rest of the Right
“Good grief, where are we?”
We had pulled over at the side of the road, en route to our next appointment, so I could get my bearings.
Well, not really. I use a GPS when in Bordeaux; while I know my way around pretty well, I taste and travel solo, so I find having a disembodied voice barking directions from the dashboard means I have one less thing to think about as I drive between appointments.
And it is certainly beneficial. Last time I went to Château Quintus in St Emilion the appointment was moved, last minute, to the old Château L’Arrosée buildings (now part of the Quintus estate), a destination which wasn’t programmed into my GPS. Finding Château L’Arrosée in daylight is easy – it is literally a few hundred metres from Quintus – but in the pitch dark (it was an 8 am appointment, in January), with no lights on in the château, and no signs, it proved to be a challenge. I drove through two vineyards and nearly ended up joining the local commuters with a drive along the railway line which runs along the foot of the côtes.
After that little adventure, I resolved to make sure I had all my destinations programmed in for my primeurs trip.
“So,” came the phrase, repeated with clangorous intent, “where are we?”
“This is Lalande-de-Pomerol, one of the many satellite appellations of the right bank,” I replied. “This is what we’re tasting today, along with all the peripheral right-bank appellations, such as Castillon, Montagne-St-Emilion and Fronsac. There are some reliable and good value wines out this way, so it’s always worth a look. There’s La Dauphine, for example, and Fontenil, Les Trois Croix, Les Charmes-Godard, Puygueraud…”
