We started the day with the three great Chateaux of Saint Estèphe - all of which have changed their management since this time last year.
Calon Ségur overlooks the estuary just outside the village of Saint Estèphe. The 2012 here seems like a typical, traditional Calon with fresh red berry fruit and a tight, lean structure. Classy, and certainly no modern blockbuster. This Chateau has recently been sold to a French insurance company but no major changes have been made so far. No doubt the cranes will be going up soon, and large quantities of stainless steel, marble and crunchy gravel are already on order.
Hervé Berland at Montrose
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Next stop was another Saint Estèphe classic. Montrose is now managed by Hervé Berland, formerly of Mouton Rothschild. The wine is classically structured as usual. Black fruit and a big whack of tannin. Solid and serious.
Then it was on to Cos d'Estournel. Aymeric de Gironde, formerly of Pichon Baron, is a top man and has replaced Jean-Guillaume Prats and inherited his incredible state of the art winery. Cos 2012 is finely balanced and polished. Less of a powerhouse than Montrose but beautiful purity and elegance can be found here.
The Farr Team at Cos d'Estournel
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Then it was just a quick trip down the hill to Lafite where the grand vin is 91% Cabernet Sauvignon - yet light on its feet, delicate and subtle. Duhart Milon performed very well again.
At Mouton and Latour the wines are as great as expected. Both Chateaux are in the middle of major building projects. Latour are building a massive storage cellar as the plan is to hold the next ten vintages in stock for ten years before releasing them onto the market as mature wines. Although the 2012 will not be sold for a decade we tasted it and also the recently re-released Latour 1995, Forts de Latour 2005 and the lip-smackingly good Pauillac de Latour 2009 which hit the market a few weeks ago. This great Estate can do no wrong.
Harry tasting at Mouton Rothschild
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Lunch at Pontet Canet was preceded by a tasting of their 2012 which continues the incredible run of form here. This may not get them their third 100 points in four years but it's impressive stuff.
Melanie Tesseron pours at Pontet-Canet
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After reassuringly successful visits to our old friends at Grand Puy Lacoste, Batailley and Léoville Barton it was time to visit another building site. Pichon Lalande seem to have demolished the entire winery and maybe the recent sale of Bernadotte is financing what looks like an impressive new construction. Let's hope they get it finished in time for the next harvest.
The team climb the steps at Pichon Lalande
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We then headed South to the village of Margaux where we tasted a very sleek and polished Palmer followed by a visit to Chateau Margaux itself. Beautiful wine here, of course, and it sounds like the planned building works at this great First Growth are going to be pretty amazing. Norman Foster has been engaged and those 2009 and 2010 profits are going to be spent on some exciting new buildings - above and below ground.
Our final visit of the day was to our old friend Bruno Borie at Ducru Beaucaillou. It's hard to work out if Bruno loves Farr Vintners so much because of our dedication to promoting the wines of Bordeaux and our great professionalism or he simply adores our charming (all female) Hong Kong Sales team.
Stephen with Bruno Borie at Ducru Beaucaillou
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Bruno was on top form and an incredibly generous host. We tasted 8 great vintages of Ducru back to 1961 and all were sensational. The winner? Maybe the perfect 2005 which combines opulence, power and structure in perfect harmony.
We asked Bruno to describe his new vintage for our customers. His answer makes fascinating and surprising reading :
"2012 is the glorious vintage of the year of the Dragon, its fresh and fruity bouquet, its charm and its grace, its slinky construction, all suggest the delicious curves of the undulating, iconic......Fan Bingbing."
Get googling....You won't be disappointed!
We also asked Bruno to describe a few other recent vintages:
It was a great night at Ducru - which is fast becoming one of our favourite Chateaux in all of Bordeaux. Whilst the mood was light-hearted and fun, there is no denying that Bruno has been producing some sensational wines of near First Growth quality here in recent years.
