Pavillon Blanc du Château Margaux, 2011

As usual Pavillon Blanc is 100% Sauvignon Blanc, with the 2011 weighing in 13.4% abv. It was, Paul Pontallier explained, the earliest harvest at the estate since 1893, not for fear of rot (the conditions were the driest in all of Bordeaux), but because of the precociousness of the entire growing season. The “pea sized berries” they harvested, starting on the 25th August, could have been at risk of heat exhaustion had August been as hot as it the norm. But of course it was cool, along with July, which has given rise to a 2011 that is intense, dense, powerful, yet beautifully fresh and mineral with cool stones, freshly cut flowers and bright Sicilian lemons. A long and haunting gem of a Pavillon Blanc.