2015 Bordeaux: dinner with the President

11 May 2016

Alexander Van Beek

2015 Alter Ego, du Tertre, La Lagune

Last night, dinner with Domaine de Chevalier proprietor and President of the Union des Grands Crus Olivier Bernard, who was full of wit and wisdom:

· Red wine is a man, white is a woman (which is pc in France, apparently)
· Of the 9,000 chateaux in Bordeaux, only 30 are over-priced, which leaves 8,970 for us to enjoy
· 2014 offers the best quality/price ratio of any recent Bordeaux vintage; buy it now before the prices go up (good job we bought so much)
· Everything will be better in 20 years, including all of us

When I suggested that maybe some chateaux should follow Latour's lead and simply not release en primeur - rather than do so at ludicrous prices - he reacted testily. He welcomed Pape-Clement's effective return to the fold and stressed that producers must leave some margin 'for the market'. He wouldn't be pressed on Chevalier's release, but fears that two of his neighbours will be too greedy with their 2015 releases.

All of which brings us neatly to one of our favourite chateaux in everything but pricing. Chateau Palmer has made a very classy 2015 but the grand vin will be priced accordingly. For a less princely sum, Alter Ego is a reasonable imitation. This is the second vintage of the entire vineyard being biodynamic. The wines are at the more hedonistic end of the Margaux spectrum and I found this juicy, succulent and incredibly pretty.

Also this morning, du Tertre, which seems to be getting better each vintage. General manager Alexander Van Beek had a smile on his face and so he might: he has an excellent wine in this and its more masculine sibling, Giscours. Denis Dubourdieu is the consulting oenologist and the vineyard is in conversion to biodynamics parcel-by-parcel. From a little further south, we have the recently fashionable La Lagune, though it comes at a considerable premium to rival Cantemerle. /AR

Offered subject to remaining unsold; available 2018