Bordeaux 2025 Primeurs: The Rest of the Left
I waited in Twingo, the engine ticking over, while Taylor disappeared inside the building which towered above us. A foreboding edifice, with elliptical concrete pillars stretching skywards almost as far as the eye could see, it called to mind the brutalist architecture of mid-twentieth-century England.
We were in the city of Bordeaux, near the gigantic Cimetière de la Chartreuse. That was as much as I knew.
“What is this place?” I asked.
“It is the Hôtel de Région,” replied Twingo. “Superficially it houses a number of innocuous local government offices,” he continued, “but this is merely a front, as many of the government’s darker agencies and departments operate from the upper floors. Floors five and six, for example, are the DGSE and DGSI, the exterior and interior security services. Floor seven is TRACFIN, the financial auditors who track the illicit flow of funds into the country for the financing of crime and terrorism. Floor eight is the DRSD, which provides counterintelligence for the military and defence sector.”
“Jeez,” I replied, “sounds serious. But I count nine floors – what’s on the top level?”
“Glad you asked,” replied Twingo, who was obviously in a chatty mood. “Officially, level nine does not exist. It’s ultra-top secret. If you go inside the building, there are no references to it in the signs, and no buttons in the lift. You need to know the right code. If you do, you can gain access to the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux offices.”
Enlightenment swept across my face. Of course! The UGCB had to have offices somewhere. Why not here, nestled among the other agencies which operate to keep the cogs and wheels of French life and culture from coming unstuck?
Taylor Swift suddenly materialised at Twingo’s side; wearing a figure-hugging matt black cat-suit with sequined detailing around the elbows and knees, she appeared as if from thin air. She seemed to have landed in a crouched position, one leg tucked beneath her, one stretched out far to the side. She balanced herself with the help of one hand, the tips of four fingers and one thumb making light contact with the pavement. Beside her there flopped a coil of black nylon ripe.
“Did you just abseil down the side of this building?” I asked.
“What do you think?” she replied, as she slipped into Twingo’s passenger seat. “Maybe use those amazing sensory skills you wine critics are supposed to have, and decide for yourself. Do you need to smell the rope to make your mind up?”
She dangled the rope, which glistened with moisture and did have quite a pungent synthetic odour, uncomfortably close to my nose.
“No need,” I responded. I didn’t need to sense anything other than the sarcasm that dripped from her retort.
“Good,” she replied. “Now get a move on, as I have managed to secure an appointment at Château La Lagune, which is at least 30 minutes away, more like 45 the way you drive. Put your foot down.”
-o-
In this report I throw together all the remaining left bank appellations, which means most importantly the Haut-Médoc appellation, not least because this section incudes five classified growths. But we should not overlook Moulis-en-Médoc, Listrac-Médoc and of course the Médoc appellation, all home to numerous worthy châteaux such as Chasse-Spleen, Lestage and Potensac, respectively, among many others, of course. As I have done with other reports in the 2025 vintage I have brought in other wines made by these properties, regardless of appellation; in practical terms that means this report also includes notes on white wines made by these properties (either using the generic Bordeaux or new white Médoc appellation, one or two using the Vin de France designation).
