Bordeaux 2024 Primeurs: Pomerol
I had just left La Conseillante, having just tasted here with Marielle Cazaux, and was now heading through Catusseau, home to numerous noteworthy Pomerol names including Clos du Clocher, Le Pin and Nenin (to name just three), when my telephone began a furious and repeated vibration. I pulled Twingo – this year disguised as a Fiat 500 – to one side of the road before fishing the phone from the depths of my pocket. I jabbed the green button to answer the call, switched on the speaker, and rested the phone on the dashboard.
“Oh hello, is that Chris? It is? Great!” The tone seemed bright and enthusiastic, but then suddenly turned deeper, conveying an unsmiling air. Clearly a caller who had just realised they had a serious message to convey.
“Simon here from top London wine merchant, Crystal Vintners. We’re really interested in the upcoming primeurs campaign, and have grown tired of using scores from critics who seem to score wine as a service to the châteaux, and not to consumers.” The disembodied voice seemed to grow even deeper and more sombre with every sentence. “We really, really, r-e-e-a-a-l-l-l-y like the way you score wine, as we are fed up of some publications giving everything 97 or 98 points, even in lesser vintages like 2024 – and so we would like to use your scores in our sales material this year.”
At last, I thought to myself, some sort of recognition, after nearly twenty years of primeurs coverage (and even longer reviewing the wines in bottle), on top of twenty-five years of Winedoctor (upcoming birthday in May 2025 – put it in your diaries) and its (at the last count) 429 detailed Bordeaux profiles. Call me biased, but you can’t beat Winedoctor for its depth and breadth of cultural detail, human interest and historical background – on every Bordeaux name of significance – combined with the requisite notes and scores on both new and older vintages. It was about time somebody in the trade noticed.
“In fact,” the now impossibly deep and serious voice continued, “we would really like to lead with your notes and scores, starting with 2024. Could you, err, if that sounds interesting, could you, umm, maybe tell me how to go about doing that?”
It sounded like I could work with this guy, even though – having racked my brains for a moment or two – I don’t recall ever hearing of a Crystal Vintners before now. No worries though, there is always room for a newcomer in the world of wine. And I realised it would be easy to set this up; all they needed was a professional subscription and access to the notes and scores would be theirs. Or I could even scrape a spreadsheet for them…..
I was just about to reply with as many receptive and positive vibes as I could muster when I heard the first sniggers emanating from the rear seats. I turned to see the manifestation of Taylor Swift wracked with suppressed laughter. Realising the game was up, both Taylor and her new partner in pranking, the ghost of Aubrey Ealdwyn de Latour, exploded with laughter.
“Oh my,” screamed Taylor Swift, waving her Falcon Supernova iPhone 17 prototype, in its glittering jewel-encrusted case, at me. “You’re so gullible,” her voice now taking on the deep and sombre tone I recognised from the call, “Simon here, we r-e-e-a-a-l-l-y like your work. You’re the best!” Taylor and Aubrey held each other (if you can actually ‘hold’ a ghost; let’s just assume, for the sake of this tale, that you can) and tried to catch their breath between snorts of laughter. “Did you really think someone wanted to use your scores? Why would they even look twice at your 88-point score, when they can get a 94 somewhere else?” Another peal of laughter. “Now, come on, let’s get going, you have an appointment at Lafleur in five minutes.”
I felt dejected, but I was used to it I guess. This wasn’t the first time I have had my wine writing aspirations made real atop the cliff of dreams, before being dashed on the rocks of reality below. I turned my attention to the road ahead, and piloted Twingo, who had remained silent throughout, back onto the tarmac. On the back seat, Taylor and Aubrey, as thick as thieves, began a detailed post mortem of their prank.
-o-
Pomerol has to be the most time-consuming appellation to get to grips with. While I made more visits in St Emilion (23 there, compared to just 12 in Pomerol) this really reflects the much greater extent of the St Emilion appellation. The timetable in Pomerol may be less lengthy, but it represents a significant percentage of the appellation, and my schedule was littered with famous names.
