In 2017 there’s no avoiding the ‘F’ word. It has been more than a quarter of a century since frost last devastated a Bordeaux crop, so it is inevitable that this was a major talking point. However, cruel as the frost was on some, it doesn’t really determine the quality of the vintage.

Life isn’t fair and neither is nature. As the earth gets warmer, flowering gets earlier, and the risk of frost damage becomes greater. Not many winemakers can recall the frosts of 1991 first hand, but their legacy is still haunting. When the meteorologists predicted a cold blast on the nights of the 27th and 28th of April, there was a genuine sense of panic. Most with the means deployed bougies, wind turbines, helicopters, lit hay, took whatever measures they could - the rest left it to chance.

We were all in high spirits following our annual tasting of the latest Piedmont vintage in London. This year it was the turn of the 2014s; wines that deliver bright and lively vineyard characters while being fresh, energetic and easy to taste young. 

Buoyed though we were from that tasting, the bar was about to rise. For one night only, Justerini & Brooks had reserved the entire Rex Whistler restaurant, part of the esteemed Tate Britain gallery. A London institution amongst wine lovers, the Rex Whistler is celebrated for its generous and mature list of fine wines, impeccable service, and hearty, enjoyable food. It was the obvious choice for a “Piedmont Paulee”.

For the first time in its history one of the UK’s most lauded art institutions would have a full-blooded, boisterous Italian installation on its lower ground floor. Fifteen of the region’s top producers including Giuseppe Mascarello, Elio Altare, Paolo Scavino, Fratelli Brovia, Castello di Verduno, Marco Marengo, Piero Busso, Azelia, Roberto Voerzio, Davide Carlone, Matteo Correggia, and new kids on the block Luigi Oddero, would be joined by forty five eager Nebbiolo enthusiasts for a bespoke four course meal to be enjoyed with innumerable bottles generously donated from one another’s personal cellars.

We thoroughly enjoyed our week tasting 2017s from barrel. We loved the style, the aromatics, the precision and the freshness of the best wines. 

We thought it would be a vintage that would appeal to those who like restraint and charm, dare we say it, something for a European palate (we are still European for the time being…). Lisa Perrotti-Brown, the new Bordeaux correspondence for the influential Wine Advocate is also smitten, awarding three wines 97-100 points and numerous scores into the high nineties. Please find an overview of her thoughts below.

From 1st May 2018, Justerini & Brooks takes back the exclusive distribution in Great Britain of its house whisky J&B Rare, after a 21 year gap. 

The whisky will sit alongside Justerini & Brooks’ existing portfolio of fine wines and rare malts. Promoted as the wine merchant’s whisky, Justerini & Brooks created J&B Rare in the early 1930s. The whisky rose to prominence from its public association with the Hollywood Rat Pack of the 1950s and ‘60s. By 1997, the last year Justerini & Brooks distributed J&B Rare, the whisky was selling 6 million cases a year; making it the second biggest selling Scotch whisky in the world.

The pedigree bottling of J&B Rare still retains its signature blend of prestigious single malt and grain whiskies from across Speyside, featuring ‘heart malts’ from Knockando, Auchroisk, Strathmill and Glen Spey. J&B Rare’s return to Justerini & Brooks marks a pivotal moment in the company’s long-standing association with its house brand.

Discover the whisky online at Justerinis.com 

In 2017 the going was hard in Sauternes and Barsac, frost being particularly vindictive in the latter.  

At its most extreme the vintage yielded no Grand Vin at all, Climens, who made just 35 barrels, being the most prominent example in Barsac. The picture in Sauternes was complicated, too, if not always quite as dramatic.  Where frost struck, it struck hard but otherwise there was hope.  Though not untouched by frost Coutet reported that in their best parcels they managed to achieve a pretty healthy 17hl/ha. 

In Tour Blanche, by contrast, they made just fifty barrels.  End of August and early September rains brought on botrytis and the first “tries” were carried out until grey rot started to appear and the harvest stopped.  Warmer, drier weather arrested any further ignoble rot development and concentrated what was left on the vine.  The harvest restarted and largely finished in the second week of October, by which time the berries showed significant concentration.   

Owing to such conditions it is not a straightforward vintage and far from uniform. The challenge was, as ever, to find the right balance in the wines and not simply concentration.  Having enough of the fresher lighter fruit to pick in the early part of the harvest and using the right amount of the later, more concentrated October berries (if you were lucky enough to have any)  was crucial. It cannot be considered a great vintage but there are a clutch of very good wines that show a lovely weighting of richness alcohol and freshness.