Baron, Chevalier, Cos, Durfort, Feytit-Clinet, d'Issan, Lafon, Lynch, Phelan, Pontet, Poyferré
With the sun shining and chateau owners keen to get to the beach, Bordeaux en primeur is stampeding towards the finale. In St-Estèphe, the new team at Lafon-Rochet has hit its stride, and the 2022 is excellent. Phelan Segur is 'a star in the appellation,' according to Jane Anson, which would 'make it into a new version of the 1855 classification if one ever came around'. Cos is stunning. In Pauillac, Super-Second Lynch-Bages has turned out an impressively powerful 2022, with the structure to age for decades. Pichon Baron is one of the vintage's monumental wines. We've only just had the pure, intense, focussed Pontet-Canet.
In St-Julien, Leoville-Poyferre is concentrated and creamy, but also with an electric tension. In Margaux, quality has been soaring at Durfort-Vivens since 2009, when Gonzague Lurton understood the extra vibrancy that biodynamic management can bring to vineyards. D`Issan combines the gloriously fresh, lifted aromatics of the vintage with sweet, dark fruit. In Pessac, 2022 marks Oliver Bernard's 40th vintage at Domaine de Chevalier, and he has happily marked it with some stunning wines. The rouge is a lovely, archetypal Pessac, intense, long and lifted.
And while the left bank has crowded the frame this week, over in Pomerol we had Feytit-Clinet, long an Uncorked favourite. The work that owner Jeremy Chasseuil has done since he took over twenty years ago has been remarkable; his 2022 is lovely. /NT
Offered subject to remaining unsold; for shipment Spring 2025
