2011 Bordeaux: in the balance
Our week of 2011 Bordeaux tasting ends in style at Restaurant Chiopot - conveniently located for Gare St-Jean and the TGV. A fabulous bottle of Clos Fourtet is an appropriate accompaniment: it was 2001, the closest parallel to the infant vintage in barrel, according to what we'd learnt.
Arriving in Bordeaux the previous Sunday evening our expectations were low, just as they'd been three years previously when we went to taste the 2008s. But that was just the beginning of the association. If 2001 was the closest parallel then 2008 was second. In contrast to the last two years, this was to be a good old fashioned primeurs week, where the professional and journalists alike had to concentrate and call upon their experience to separate the class from the pretenders. And I suspect that, like 2001 and 2000, 2004 and 2003, and even 2006 and 2005, many drinkers will eventually find that they prefer the vintage immediately following the highly prized one. To the European palate, it is the Bordeaux vintages which border on the under-ripe, rather than the overripe, which often provide the most enjoyment.
And there's no doubt that attaining proper maturity was a challenge in this difficult vintage. The first problem was drought, the six months to the end of March yielding just 60% of the normal rainfall in St-Julien. Then it was heat (remember the deck-chairs at Branaire-Ducru during last year's UGC week), causing a dramatic acceleration in the growth cycle, and culminating with a spike of over 40C at the end of June. Some parts of Margaux were hit by a violent hailstorm at the beginning of June, which would drastically reduce yields. Next came a cool and humid July and August. Things finally changed for the better at the beginning of September, which - apart from the hail which hit parts of Pauillac and St-Estephe - could hardly have been better. Taken together, it was a hot year, the hottest since 1900 according to Gonzague Lurton at Durfort-Vivens, and on a par with 2003.
This made for a challenging year in the vineyard. Canopy management was crucial to protect the grapes from the sun. Burnt grapes - whose development was blocked - had to be removed - had they not already fallen off. Merlot was susceptible to rot during the damp days of July and August. As the crop came in, sorting had to be rigorous. Benjamin Sichel explained how at Angludet they suffered unripe grapes hidden inside bunches - some of them pink, making them very difficult to spot. Cheval Blanc saw the first real benefits of their electronic sorting machine to remove such grapes, and at Brane-Cantenac Henri Lurton told us that his new machine removed 10% of the Merlot - after it had already been hand-sorted twice! But with sufficient effort, Merlot could still impress: Palmer, 55% Merlot, was one of our favourite wines of the vintage, albeit from just 20 hectolitres per hectare, their lowest yield since '61.
The Cabernets were much better suited to the growing season. The best properties harvested their Merlot early in September to preserve the balance but then made the most of the fine weather to bring their Cabernets to optimum maturity. At Vieux Chateau Certan, Alexandre Thienpont explained that Cabernet Franc is affected less by drought than by heat. He rejected fruit from the most vigorous vines in favour of that from the old vines around the chateau - the longer it takes to mature, he says, the greater the finesse. He used 25% more Cabernet Franc than usual, so that it makes up 30% of the 2011 blend.
But the problems weren't confined to the vineyard. Xavier Borie at Grand-Puy-Lacoste told us that you had to look at ten other vintages to make sense of the chemical analysis. The level of dry matter is very high - analytically similar to 09 & 10, said Patrick Maroteau at Branaire-Ducru. In 1995 and 1996 the wines had an IPT of 57; it's now 75! And the tannins are more angular than the last two vintages, without the glycerine to coat them. It has a smaller silhouette, said Xavier; there was no point cladding it in shoulder pads. It's all about balance, and gentle extraction was the key. There's no doubting the quality of the most successful wines. "Classic" was a frequently used word, and here are some of the parallels used by the chateaux themselves:
Palmer - Structure and tannin quality of 2010/balance of 2008
Angludet - A light 2010/2008 with more "spark"
Cheval Blanc - 2010 with less opulence/2001
Canon - 2008
Brane-Cantenac, Lynch-Bages & Saint-Pierre - 2008/2006
Grand-Puy-Lacoste - 2008 "plus"/2001
Haut-Brion - 2008/2001
Leoville-Poyferre - 2008 "plus plus"/1986
Pichon-Baron - 2001, but better
Mouton-Rothschild - 2001/1996
La Tour de By - 1995
Cos d'Estournel - 1986
Vieux Chateau Certan is our wine of the vintage, but while Pomerol as a whole is impressive, we think the sweet spot lies in St-Julien and Pauillac, where favourites included Branaire-Ducru, Gruaud-Larose, Leoville-Barton, Saint-Pierre and Batailley, Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Duhart-Milon, Lafite, Lynch-Bages, Mouton, Pichon-Baron respectively.
Of course, there's more to this vintage than reds. Several of the sweet wines are outstanding, and it appears to be a great vintage for the dry whites, which gained freshness from the cool July and August. Many tasters consider 2011 the finest Pavillon Blanc they have tasted; Domaine de Chevalier appear to have surpassed their extraordinary 2007; La Mission Blanc is sublime.
The 2011 en primeur campaign itself hangs in the balance. Despite claims to the contrary by the most illustrious properties, there seemed to be far fewer visitors than the last two years, and much less excitement. As the week progressed, there was more talk about prices and release dates than about the actual wines. Reports of 200 to 300 euros for the first growths were widespread, and we heard how super-seconds are applying pressure on the firsts to release early and low. In contrast to the last two years, some chateaux may do better to release before Parker publishes his scores at the end of this month. Four French bank holidays in May, as well as Vinexpo in Hong Kong, will inevitably cause disruption to the pattern of releases. Then there are rumours that Parker's verdict will be more favourable than expected. But chateau proprietors know that prices have to come down. The question is: how much? /AR
Most of the wines we will be offering are now listed: to view them, use the Search, or click on the link below. We shall be adding tasting notes and scores as they are published and then sending offers by email as the wines are released between now and June. In the meantime, we'll be delighted to receive pre-orders - under no obligation - in person, by phone or email, or via the 'Order' function on individual product pages.
