Today was ‘Right Bank day’ and we headed off, bright and early, over the rivers Garonne and Dordogne with the hope of finding some welcoming Merlot flesh on the 2011 bones. Our first stop was the offices of Ets Jean-Pierre Moueix where Christian and his son Edouard greeted us warmly with some breakfast Pomerol.
Christian Moueix
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After hearing some rather bizarre stories, at certain Chateaux in the Medoc, about what a great vintage we were tasting, it was refreshing to be on the receiving end of some genuinely honest information here (and some of the best wines of the vintage). Christian came straight to the point. This is a vintage of high acidity, firm tannins and medium-weight fruit that has made good rather than classic wines. I asked the same question as I asked yesterday and he gave me a straight answer. Here’s the great man’s ranking of the last 12 years for his wines:
2009, 2010, 2005, 2000, 2008, 2001, 2011, 2007, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2002.
Christian felt that it had not been possible to produce truly great wines with such a difficult and challenging harvest. For him, the main problem of the 2011 vintage was drought. This was allied to a hot spring and then a relatively cool summer. The result of this was small berries with thick skins and not a lot of juice. Their optical sorting machine came up trumps (after having hardly justified the investment in 2009 and 2010) as it removed both rotten and green berries from the bunches. He warned that over-extraction in 2011 was a recipe for disaster and it had been essential to treat the crop and resultant juice with a gentle hand. He compared 2011 to 1981 (which turned out to be a surprisingly good vintage in Pomerol) and that the best wines here should rival those produced in 2001. For him it’s an average to good vintage but behind the “big four”, as well as 2008.
The team in the new winery at Cheval Blanc
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Next stop was Petrus where the wine was reassuringly good and then on to Cheval Blanc where we visited the stunning new winery (built at a cost of £15 million euros) for the first time. It really is impressive and so was the wine – it’s an archetypal Cheval that was compared to the gorgeous 1983 produced here. Pure silk in a glass. We also got to taste a magnificent Yquem. It may not have quite the class of the mighty 2001 but it’s a hugely impressive, and opulent, glass of Sauternes.
Jacques Thienpont and his new winery at Le Pin
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After this, a quick stop at Vieux Chateau Certan – only a few metres away but a different appellation. Alexandre Thienpont has certainly made one of the wines of the vintage. We then visited our second new winery of the day at Le Pin. Jacques Thienpont had told us that he had decided to treat himself to this as a 65th birthday present – it’s a very impressive new home for the precious twenty or so barrels that he produces every year of this legendary wine. We also tasted his new addition – L’If from St Emilion. This is the French word for Yew (as in the tree) so Jacques’ forest is growing.
Then the highlight of the day - a visit to our old friend Denis Durantou at L’Eglise Clinet. From top to bottom the wines here were brilliant, even the Lalande de Pomerol La Chenade was a star and L’Eglise Clinet itself was simply breath-taking. It is comfortably a rival for Vieux Chateau Certan and right up there with Petrus, Cheval Blanc and Ausone as a contender for red wine of the vintage. What’s for sure is that Pomerol (and a few of the neighbours in Saint Emilion) has produced the most consistently good wines of the vintage. With a glass of L’Eglise Clinet 2010 in hand (believe me, this is one of the greatest young wines that I have ever tasted and an icon in the making), I asked Denis “the question” and here’s his ranking of the last twelve vintages :-
2010, 2009, 2000, 2005, 2001, 2011, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2002
The team at Eglise Clinet with Denis Durantou
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After a hearty lunch and some refreshing Sancerre at Chai Pascal in Saint Emilion, we grappled with extraction and some black-coloured modern wines produced in this mediaeval village, before winding up at Le Tertre Roteboeuf where the magician Francois Mitjavile has made another sensual wine that tastes like nothing else from round here.
Francois Mitjavile
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The day ended with a frantic trip round the Bordeaux Rocade (ring-road) to Merignac airport. Our bus driver Jerome earned a round of applause after getting us there at top speed via the hard shoulder, slip roads and straight through a petrol station. We’re now on the plane to Gatwick and I’m looking forward to a Kernel IPA and an early night.
