Château Le Crock, 2016 Update
I am nearing the end of my Bordeaux Quartet reports now. This much is perhaps evident from the fact that I have run out of ‘quartets’, and am now finishing up with a couple of triplets. Or trios. Or triumvirates. Or whatever the most appropriate description is.
Château Le Crock is located in St Estèphe and, like its compatriots Château Moulin Riche and Château Léoville-Poyferré in St Julien, it is also in the ownership of the Cuvelier family. Indeed it has been so for a very long time, the family having acquired this estate before any other, during the opening years of the 20th century. The name, by the way, most probably originates from croc (meaning hook), which relates to the nearby ‘hook’ of marshland, itself named the Marais du Croc; it is not, as far as I am aware, meant to be any comment on the quality of the wine.
Three Vintages
Sadly the missing vintage here is 2014, which means that a comparison between 2015 and this most recent vintage was not possible. This was a great shame, as I think St Estèphe did better in 2014 than it did in 2015, and this would have been my first opportunity to taste the two vintages side-by-side in this appellation. As it was 2015 stood alone, and it showed rather well, despite the appellation having been blighted by rain not just during August (rains which hit everybody) but also in September (these rains being those that selectively hit the northern Médoc).
