Jeroboams - En Primeur Bordeaux 2010

Tuesday – Day 2
UGC & Lafite & Latour

We woke to another stunning morning’s weather with expectation from what we saw yesterday for a continuation in the quality levels of wine today.

With a busy morning schedule we headed to the first of our UGC tastings at Chateau Lascombes where the wines of Margaux awaited us.

After arriving early and completing the necessary registration process, we headed to the tasting room UGC badges and tasting glasses in hand. As we worked our way round the room it was becoming increasingly evident that whilst there were some star performers at the top end one or two Chateau struggled at the bottom to balance the high tannin and alcohol levels consistent with this vintage, meaning consumers would need to be much more selective when choosing 2010 Bordeaux compared to the previous great vintages of 2005 and 2009. That said, when the wines were great they really hit the spot and star performers in the Margaux appellation included Rauzan Segla, Malescot St Exupery, Prieure Lichine, Du Tertre & Brane Cantenac. The star of the show however and absolute standout was Chateau Giscours who having been a bit hit and miss in recent vintages produced a crackerjack wine that was wonderfully fragrant, powerful but elegant and refined with a lovely freshness that provided a bit of lift keeping everything in check. We all agreed this would appear strongly in our list of must buys for the 2010 campaign.

With the room filling up and eager tasters arriving in their droves we headed off to our 2nd UGC tasting at Chateau Branaire Ducru for the wines of Pauillac, St Julien and St Estephe. It was clear on arrival to Chateau Branaire Ducru that this would not be as peaceful a tasting experience as we had come to expect from previous years and with the car park swelling we had to settle for a parking spot down the road and a short walk to the Chateau.

An executive decision was made to taste first and then grab some lunch after (one we would live to regret) so we headed into the tasting room only to be greeted by several hundred tasters who appeared to have all made the same decision. Tasting in these conditions (it didn’t help that it was now over 30o’s outside) proved to be quite challenging and in a room full to capacity it was apparent that every wine merchant and his dog from around the world had descended upon Bordeaux for Primeur 2010. None-the-less there were some more exceptional wines on show with stunning offerings from Lynch Bages (Pauillac) & Baron Pichon (Pauillac) leading the way, along with very strong efforts from St Pierre (St Julien) & Batailley (Pauillac) both of which appeared to have improved on their excellent 2009’s.

With little time for the Chateau lunch (queuing time had now exceeded 45 minutes) we decided to grab something ‘on the run’ on the way up to our appointment at Chateau Lafite. We had been warned vehemently that tardiness would not be tolerated from our 1st Growth hosts. Freshly made boulangerie sandwiches with boisson fraiche on the Quay de Pauillac provided us all with some much needed sustenance for the afternoon’s tastings.

Off to Lafite and despite arriving perfectly on time we were informed that due to excessive tasting demand they were running with a short delay so we would have to wait a little longer before we could sample the wines from this great Chateaux. There was talk from critics who had already released their tasting notes for the 2010’s and wine merchant colleagues who has tasted the previous day that Lafite had absolutely nailed it which only added to the anticipation building. Finally we were led into the tasting room immaculately laid out with all sorts of Latite regalia, it was clear that as much attention had been bestowed into the design of the tasting rooms as with the vineyards and winery, a hallmark of the attention to detail that we have come to expect from Chateau Lafite.

We took our places like athletes in the blocks….3 wines to taste, Carruades, Duhart and the Grands Vin itself. Where to start?? A strong effort from Carruades, producing arguably their finest wine to date. Duhart was a cracker, performing well above previous years and its lower than deserved classification and then there was Lafite, an absolute beauty. This was clearly a notch above anything we had tasted so far in the week. So many layers and such depth with a clarity and precision to simply admire. This was approaching something very special indeed with a texture only to behold…this was one wine that certainly lived up to the hype, it was true, Lafite had nailed it. The gauntlet was well and truly laid to Chateau Latour in the battle for the wine of the vintage and we headed there knowing that something magical would have to pass our lips to usurp Lafite from it current claim. Tasting in familiar surroundings at Chateau Latour we were lead in to face the 3 wines on show. Pauillac de Latour was lovely and clearly a well made wine, Les Forts de Latour outstanding and fast approaching the quality we have come to expect from 1st Growths, let alone the 2nd wines of 1st Growth and then it happened. That magic that needed to happen simply did. Latour 2010!! Such density, such purity, such incredible concentrated minerality, you could literally taste the soil, remarkable. This was a masculine Kingly wine to Lafite’s feminine Queen, the perfect juxtaposition, it was simply unfair to place these wines in direct comparison such was their individual quality in such a different style. This Latour was terroir personified and as the woman assisting our tasting yelled with a big grin on her face…”This is Latour, this is our terroir!!” All in all a very happy set of tasters who were more than aware that they had just tasted a couple of legends in the making. A moment in time.

We left Pauillac and headed south for our final rendezvous of the day, the Haut Medoc & Medoc UGC tasting at Chateau Citran.  A tough call to ask these wines to follow the majesty of the 1st Growth giants, but tasting in context there were some delightful wines on show. Poujeaux led the pack and having had such a good experience with it earlier in the week it was good to re-affirm its performance. A real suggestion that this estate had re-discovered some of its magic of yesteryear. Other estates to watch out for are La Lagune, La Tour Carnet (who amazingly seem to have toned this wine down from previous vintages) and Tour de By who may well be a front running contender for best value wine of the vintage. A must buy for every claret lover. With the sun still shining and Day 3 coming to an end we took a moments reflection in the beautiful gardens of Chateau Citran before heading back to our Chateau for some well earned dinner in preparation for our day’s tasting in the Graves tomorrow.