This time last year I reported on a blind tasting of the 2001 First Growths. Last week we repeated the exercise with the same 8 wines in the 2002 vintage.
To remind you of the history of this event.....The late Edmund Penning-Rowsell (b.1913, d.2002) was a fascinating man. A communist, yet the owner of a great cellar of fine wine. He is regarded as having been one of Britain’s leading wine writers and a great expert on the wines of Bordeaux. He was chairman of The Wine Society from 1964 to 1987. He was the wine columnist for the Financial Times for 23 years and also wrote regularly for Marxism Today. His books include the seminal “The Wines of Bordeaux” which was first published in 1969.
Every year, he and his wife Meg used to arrange a dinner with their friends Michael and Daphne Broadbent to taste all the First Growth clarets at 10 years of age. Nobody quite remembers when this annual event started but it was some time in the 1960’s and it ran until his death some forty years later. The Penning-Rowsells and Broadbents were joined by a second couple Jancis Robinson MW and her husband, the restaurant critic Nick Lander, from 1981 (when the wines tasted were from 1971). Jancis, of course, became the wine critic of the Financial Times after “EPR’s” retirement.
Michael Broadbent and Paulo Pong
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Our friend The Hong Kong wine merchant and restaurateur Paulo Pong recently suggested that this annual event should be revived and Jancis and the Broadbents agreed and I was delighted to be invited to join them.
This year's tasting of the 2002 vintage was held in early November 2012 at Jancis and Nick’s house. Once again we were joined by the great Michael Broadbent. Now 85 years of age, he is still as on the ball as ever. This is the man who created Christie’s wine department in 1966 and whose “Vintage Wine” remains, in my view, the greatest set of tasting notes ever printed.
The wines were served blind and in completely random order. The 8 wines were decanted 2 hours in advance and are listed here in the order in which they were served. The scores are my own (not the average of the group).
Bottles and decanters line up
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Margaux - Some fade, this has the lightest colour of all the eight wines that are lined up here. It has a fragrant nose, bright red fruits with quite high acidity. Fresh red berries, some oak and a fairly dry finish. Lean and to be honest a little bit green. Certainly the most delicate wine in the tasting. Some charm but rather upstaged by the other wines. Lightish and lacks flesh. Score 15.5
Mouton Rothschild - Quite a contrast here. This has the deepest colour of the tasting. It's really black and big with a rich beefy, burly nose. Excellent concentration that makes it tower over the Margaux. A fabulously concentrated mouthful of plump black fruit. Great richness and ripeness. Nothing lean here. This doesn't taste like a 2002. Plump and rather voluptuous for this rather lean vintage. Score 18+
Winner Mouton Rothschild takes centre stage
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Latour - This also has a deep colour, black at the centre. Quite restrained and brooding on the nose. On the palate this is dry, quite lean, tight, muscular and controlled but there is an impressive depth of hidden fruit. This a wine that develops in the glass. Serious but still needs time. Will blossom in a couple more years I suspect. Impressive but still a bit shy and dry. Score 17.5
Ausone - This has a medium deep colour, solid at the centre. The appearance and the nose are quite youthful. On the palate it is dry, structured and quite firm. There is some serious depth and power here but it's not very expressive right now. This is hard to love at the moment but, although lean, there is clearly very good depth of fruit. Needs time. Serious rather than charming. Score 16.5
Lafite - A medium/deep colour with a little fade at the rim, but adark centre. Strong and strapping to start with but opens up. Minty Cabernet Sauvignon style, very Pauillac. Black fruit, olives and damsons. Serious, classic and grippy to start with but after a couple of hours it softens. nevertheless it's still a pretty lean wine and really not a lot of fun. Dry and a bit charmless. Score 16
Cheval Blanc - This has some noticeable fade at the rim. Sexy and opulent on the nose with notes of leather and roasted meat. This is certainly the most attractive and spicy nose of the night. The palate has a lovely smoky and creamy character. This is approachable and inviting with good complexity and length. Ready, but plenty of life ahead. A lovely drink but even this is a little lean at the finish. Score 16.5
Petrus - A medium to deep colour with some fade. This is exotic on the nose with liquorice aromas and almost a hint of American oak. This is opulent and decadent for a Bordeaux and stylistically it reminds me a little of California, Australia or Rioja. Undeniably sexy stuff. Mature and attractive. Exotic. This is the most hedonistic wine of the night. Score 18
Haut Brion - This is still dark at the centre with only a slight fade. Rich and powerful on the nose, this wine seems to be both serious and yet charming and also a touch exotic. Quite strapping to start with but has opulence too and gains complexity in the glass. Lots of character and drinking nicely. Score 17
8 wines tasted blind
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Conclusions:
2002 is a pretty dry, lean vintage and the wines have fairly short finishes. Even at First Growth level, the wines are a bit pinched. They are perfectly decent with mid-weight fruit but, to my mind, this is the least good vintage of the decade. I would rate the Bordeaux vintages of the first decade of the 21st Century in this order :
Nevertheless it must be said that the wines are probably better than 1999, comparable to 1998 (except on the right bank) and better than 1991,1992, 1993,1994 and 1997.
