Another early start leaving Bordeaux Lac at 7am we arrived at Calon Segur to a warm welcome from Laurent and Sofie, who presented us with a trio of their 2017 wines. The Capbern was really pretty, vibrant and will potentially be a great value buy for St Estephe. Calon Segur was impressive and beautifully crafted. Luckily no frost here, due to them being close to the Gironde estuary.
It was a mad morning just 30 minutes for each appointment, as we raced across St Estephe and Pauillac. Trying to stay on schedule….. From Calon Segur, we headed to Montrose (Tronquoy-Lalande was impressive, neighbour to Montrose and Meyney and owned by Montrose) all showing well, before we headed to the imposing Cos D'Estournel. Normally a blockbuster, the 2017 has been toned down a little (possibly the vintage rather than intention); it sang and danced on my palate. A brace of first growths were next with Lafite and Mouton Rothschild stable wines which were as expected. If you forced me to choose one, Mouton just had the edge. Then to Grand Puy Lacoste (GPL) one of our favourite Pauillac’s before our last stop of the morning; Pontet Canet. Alfred Tesseron kindly put on a delicious lunch at Pontet Canet, the cheese board (25ft long table of cheese!) is legendary within the UGC wine tasting circles.
After lunch it was onto the UGC St Estephe and Pauillac tasting at Lafon Rochet (Charlie liked Batailley, Les Ormes de Pez while I loved Pichon Comtesse Lalande for it's grace and balance, Lynch Bages for the wow factor and a must mention, Phelan Segur, showed really well) before our 2.30pm appointment at Leoville Lascases. The Domaine Delon wines at Leoville Lascases I always struggle with slightly as I find the tannins from the oak a little aggressive; of course, over time they soften. Having tasted En Primeur for over 20 years you get to understand how to interpret the potential of each wine and the vintage, something that comes with a little age and experience…
Next was Ducru Beaucaillou for Bruno Borie's glitzy wines. Modern style yet plenty of freshness. With 45 minutes to spare we headed for the UGC St Julien tasting next door at Chateau Beychevelle's impressive new building. Gruaud Larose and Leoville Poyferre really impressed me. Charlie also liked the Gruaud Larose and Gloria for a Star Buy. All the wines showed really well. St Julien seems to be very consistent in 2017.
Latour was next, as expected very good but they don’t release on En Primeur. Very generously they let us taste the 2006 Latour, 2012 Forts de Latour and 2013 Pauillac.
After Latour, was Pichon Comtesse Lalande which was definitely one of my star wines of the 2017 campaign and Reserve de Comtesse was also impressive. From Lalande we crossed the road to Pichon Longueville Baron before heading to Leoville Barton to see Lilian and her son Damian who welcomed us to taste the 2017 against the 2016 vintage. The 2016 had the edge with more power and tension, however, the 2017's stood up well.
The time was now 6.30 so we had only 1 hour to drive back to our chalet, get changed and head to the Annual Bordeaux Dinner…
