The 12 strong Farr Vintners team are in Bordeaux this week to taste barrel samples of the 2015 vintage. We will be tasting over 300 wines over the next few days from this promising year for the region's red and white wines. With us for this trip, once again, is Master of Wine Derek Smedley who has tasted every vintage en primeur here since 1961. Derek is a human encyclopaedia of Bordeaux wines and vintages and gives our team a unique insight into the process of tasting en primeur.
Tasting at the stadium
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We kicked off the week at the magnificent new Bordeaux football stadium which will host several matches in Euro 2016. The Union des Grands Crus chose this venue for it's opening day tasting of over 100 wines from all the appellations. In full view of the pitch, we tasted our way through the samples over a three hour period with time to talk to proprietors and wine-makers about their thoughts on the vintage.
2015 samples
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We followed the UGC tasting with another huge line-up of samples at a negociant tasting where we focussed on Chateaux that are not members of the Union, but we also got to re-taste several wines including early favourites Rauzan Segla and Domaine de Chevalier.
Tasting at Calon Segur
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On Day 2 we were up bright and early for the long trip to the North of the Médoc and a 9am tasting at Calon Ségur. After the purchase of this great estate by an insurance company from the Gasqueton family, there has been a lot of new investment in the winery and there are also long-term plans to re-plant the vineyard with a greater percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon.
Oliver East at Cos d'Estournel
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From Calon Ségur we then worked our way south from chateau to chateau, from Saint Estephe to Margaux. Second stop was Montrose. The Bouygues family have invested heavily here and selection was severe in 2015, with only 37% of production making it into the grand vin.
Lafite
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Our final stop in Saint Estephe was at Cos d'Estournel before visits in Pauillac at Lafite, Mouton Rothschild, Lynch Bages, Latour, Pontet Canet, Batailley and Grand Puy Lacoste. As we ventured further south we sensed that the wines became more concentrated thanks to a lower level of rainfall in September. We were very impressed by Ducru Beaucaillou and probably had the two best wines of the day at Chateaux Margaux and Palmer. Margaux was superb (as was the Pavillon Rouge) but the visit was tinged with sadness following the recent tragic loss of Paul Pontallier. Paul had led this great First Growth with such charm and passion for three decades and will be sorely missed. One of his final acts was to write the notes for the 2015's produced here and they are a fitting tribute to him.
Grand Puy Lacoste
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Many discussions were had amongst our group and with the winemakers themselves as to the style of the vintage. It reminds us a little of 2005 but with finer tannins and a more supple structure. The wines are elegant and refined with the charm of a vintage like 1985 or, for those with very long memories,1953. As a vintage, it is much more along these lines rather than being a match for the power, density and intensity of 2010 or the opulence and ripeness of 2009.
