UGC Week: Bordeaux 2016 - Day two, Moving on

We wrapped up the Right Bank with a few morning visits. Our tasting at Chateau Teyssier was perhaps a little disappointing. The Teyssier itself is good and honest and there’s plenty to admire.

The flagship Le Dome seems to have taken a backward step. Recent vintages have lent more towards elegance and a less-extracted style. It seemed like the 2016 was a super-charged, massive Le Dome, although probably made with greater precision than wines of the past. The tannins are big and gravelly – time will tell if this works.

Frederic Faye welcomed us to Figeac, an estate reborn. In truth, the wines never really went off the boil, but their over-ambitious pricing in 2009 and 2010 lost them a few friends. Now working with superstar oenologist, Michel Rolland, the wines are better than ever and are becoming much sought after. We loved the 2016 and it sent us on our way to La Pointe for the UGC Pomerol in good spirits. Alas, this mood was short lived. The UGCs on the Right Bank are becoming a bit of an irrelevance for us. So many of the top estates have excused themselves, there’s only a handful of wines to taste, and many of these don’t cut the mustard. Gazin was the standout star in Pomerol – a really handsome, serious wine with a good future ahead. One of the estates that has headed for the door was La Conseillante, so we dropped in for a quick unscheduled stop, and we were very glad that we did. After a string of disappointments (for us anyway), the 2016 sees Conseillante back to its very best – a really classy, refined Pomerol with just the right amount of make-up; it’s authentic, pretty and very well groomed.

Our final appointment was at the St Emilion UGC. Again, the good wines were sparsely distributed. It turned out that Nicolas Thienpont has withdrawn his wines from the UGC tasting, so we had yet another unscheduled stock at Pavie Macquin. The wines are impressive and chunky, but are not the most graceful examples. One can certainly taste the quality terroir at Larcis Ducasse (right next to Pavie) – there is serious depth and class here.

The Right Bank done, we set off for Pessac and the grand Chateau of Haut Brion. Jean-Philippe Delmas presented the 2016s. He had the relaxed aura of a man who is very confident in his wines. The Chapelle de la Mission is sensational and if this is correctly priced, this is a definite buy. The Mission continued in the same vein –a sensational, profound wine, but with a grace, charm and generosity that makes it almost immediately drinkable. The Haut Brion by contrast is a closed book. You need to be a mystic to see what this is going to become. It’s all there it’s just a bit impenetrable at the moment. Plus ça change….

Moving deeper in to Leognan, we lunched with the charming Olivier Bernard at Domaine de Chevalier. This is always a firm Justerinis’ favourite, offering lots of drinking pleasure and class without breaking the bank. The 2016 is impressive, but less immediate that it normally is: time will tell…

The UGC at the rather charming Chateau Carbonnieux was a bit of a mixed field. The front runners were a seriously good Pape Clement (bravo Monsieur Magrez, this was one of the best Pape Clements we’ve tasted, deep and concentrated, but still lifted, elegant, floral and finishing with tannins laced with fruit) and the perennial overachiever, Picque Caillou. Pauline Calvet keeps on producing excellent wines from his vineyard just to the north-west of Haut Brion. Another positive surprise was Les Carmes Haut Brion. We keep hearing good news from this Pessac, but it never really lives up to its billing. The 2016 is not the finished article, but it is impressive and they seem to have tamed the tannins – there’s probably a good future here.

Post UGC, it was time to tackle two of our favourite estates, Smith Haut Lafitte and Haut Bailly. Both are equally good, albeit in opposing styles. Daniel and Florence Cathiard’s Smith Haut Lafitte is as sumptuous and sexy as ever. They always seem to produce a gloriously perfumed, opulent wine with lavish fruit and velvety tannins. The 2016 is no different; it marries the tension and fluidity of the vintage to their rich style perfectly – a real joy to taste. By contrast, Haut Bailly is usually a wine for the purists. It’s much more reserved and delicate and can be quite difficult to assess from barrel. The 2016 appears to be more giving, but it’s in no way tarty, this is still true to itself, a demure and sophisticated wine which will blossom with time. It’s a style that will win over doubters and still appeal to the traditionalists. A real beauty.