Bordeaux 2009 – The final furlong

Okay, so we’ve tasted both banks and we are impressed. Day four was an opportunity to re-taste some of our favourite wines and also venture into Pessac and Sauternes. Before we left St Emilion we decided to pop into Chateau Pavie for an impromptu tasting. Hew charmed his way in and we washed away the taste of Sensodyne with some seriously tannic St Emilion. The Perse style is big, extracted, impressive and won’t be for everyone (including us...)

Then we headed to Fargue Saint Hilaire for a tasting with one of our key negociants. Here we had the opportunity to re-taste a huge selection of 2009s comparatively. This was fascinating. The super stars were Leoville Las Cases, Pontet Canet, Pichon Lalande, Forts de Latour, Grand Puy Lacoste, Leoville Barton, Calon Segur, Montrose and Conseillante. Best values included Chateau Reynon, Chasse Spleen, Durfort Vivens and Cantemerle. Again, we were impressed by the overall quality of St Estephe, Pauillac and St Julien; the wines from the Medoc, Listrac and Moulis were big over achievers, but again, we found many of the Margaux were un-typique.

UGC Pessac Leognan presented some lovely wines. Domaine de Chevalier was exceptional, Haut Bailly - silky smooth, Smith Haut Lafitte - powerful and refined, Pape Clement - enormous and massively impressive, and Malartic Lagraviere continues its recent run of success. The whites were striking too. Domaine de Chevalier has wonderful purity and intensity. We liked Malartic Lagraviere and we thought Picque Caillou was delicious and could be great value.

A quick foray into the misty depths of Barsac and Sauternes. Yquem was magnificent, our buying director and Chairman believes this to be the best young Yquem he has ever tasted, superior to the extraordinary 2001. As well as wonderful quality, Yquem has recorded its biggest ever harvest at 22hl/ha. We tasted ten barrels at Climens. Bérénice Lurton is clearly delighted with what turned out to be a harvest of quality and quantity; a splendid wine.

Our final appointment was at Haut Brion; a glorious selection of wines here. Clarence is fine textured and is undoubtedly the best Clarence ever; La Mission was so seductive, a splendid wine of purity and power; Haut Brion was enormously endowed, a vast wine built for the long haul. The whites are marvellous too; concentrated, mineral, energetic and wonderfully fresh - a great way to finish our week.

When we get back to the UK we will be posting more `Hew’s views`, video interviews and our top wines of the vintage.

Working lunch...

It’s not every day that you are invited to lunch with Bernard Magrez at Joël Robuchon’s London restaurant... Monsieur Magrez rather modestly admits to owning a mere 35 wine estates and Monsieur Robuchon is in possession of a staggering 25 Michelin stars! So it was some lunch. The pre-lunch tasting included a flight of Bernard’s flagship Chateau, Pape Clement. It was extraordinary to see the progress that he has achieved here; the recent vintages are staggeringly good!

1986
Plumy, with hints of leather, sweet berries and herbs. On the palate, this possesses ample sweet fruit; it is still quite robust with noticeable tannins. 15/20

1988
More attractive aromatically. Ripe berries, sandalwood, and a hint of tobacco. On the palate this is fresh, beautifully pure and structured. V good. 16/20

1995
Like many 1995s, this is a little closed on the nose, hints of high toned berries, liqueur, menthol and herbs. Beautifully pure fruit on the pate. Very sophisticated, long, refined fruit. Layer upon layer of complexity. V good indeed. 17/20

2004
Very modern, punchy, flashy nose. Flamboyant stuff, packed with brooding cassisy notes. Big fruit core, suave, packed with plumy, soft fruits, multi-layered. Very impressive. Focused, pure, complex and long. V good indeed. 17+/20

2005
Dark, brooding, massive nose. Enormous depth. Deep, savoury, meaty notes are interspersed with high toned hedgerow fruits, minerals and crushed rocks. The palate is even more sumptuous and impressive. Multidimensional; a veritable smorgasbord of flavours. Pure, refined and extremely long. 45+ second finish. Although a wine of massive proportions, it is wonderfully balanced, with sweet, rounded tannins. A wonderful wine. 19/20.

2006
Sweet, high toned nose of cassis, blackcurrant fruit pastels, minerals and herbs. The palate is very sexy, with an abundance of sweet ripe fruit. Beautifully pure, refined Pessac. A wine of real elegance and finesse. Whilst not as massive of impressive as the 2005, the 2006 is a worthy successor. 18/20

This flight is easily split in two. The '86, '88 and '95, which have a Cabernet dominance, and the '04, 05, 06, where plantings in the vineyards are close to 50:50 (Cabernet/Merlot). I don't think the change to the cepage is that relevant to the vast improvement in quality in the last decade. This is more attributable to improved wine-making techniques and the massive investment in the vineyard and the chai. The recent vintages of Pape Clement Rouge really are of top super second quality and even rival the wines of La Mission Haut Brion and Haut Brion as the most impressive of the appellation.

With lunch, Bernard generously served his 2005 Pape Clement Blanc (100% new oak), which was mighty impressive, although, it could do with a little more time. Then he treated us to magnums of Pape Clement Rouge 2000 and an imperial of Pape Clement Rouge 2003; both were delightful.

It would be extremely remiss not to mention the food. Joël Robuchon’s (multiple) dishes were all exquisite. The presentation, subtle flavours and wonderful textures were a real treat to the senses! It’s well worth a trip to West Street...