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Posts with the label "bordeaux 2015 en primeur"


Bordeaux 2015: Beauties and the Beast

Bordeaux 2015: Beauties and the Beast

Saturday 10th March 2018
by Tom Jenkins

Not even the ‘Beast from the East’ could dampen spirits at our annual Bordeaux tasting. Our stoic growers packed their finest winter woollies and put on another great show.

The Royal Society of Chemistry in Burlington House played host for the 2015s, and for those, and there were many, who braved the snow, were treated to a spectacular selection from this luxurious vintage. There were star wines wherever you looked, the sumptuous Calon Segur proved that those who wrote off St Estephe were a little hasty – this was packed with charming sweet fruit and rippled with muscle. Domaine de Chevalier was gloriously decadent and polished, the Mouton brace of d’Armailhac and Clerc Milon were a sheer joy, brimming with lavish fruit, they are glorious expressions of this vintage.

Bordeaux 2015: London UGC Tasting

Bordeaux 2015: London UGC Tasting

Wednesday 18th October 2017
by Tom Jenkins

The British wine trade descended on Lindley Hall in Westminster yesterday for the annual London UGC. It was the turn of the much anticipated 2015s to flaunt their newly bottled wares. And they didn’t disappoint!

In truth, this is not the most flattering time to display, often there is a bit of bottle shock that subdues the exuberant fruit one might recall from barrel tastings. The 2015s had no such issues. These are extrovert wines packed with sweet, succulent fruit, and swathed in gloriously generous tannins. There is certainly a more noticeable tannic structure post elevage, but this can only be a positive. Charming and delicious as these will be in their youth, they possess the presence to last for medium and even long-term drinking.

Vintage Report: Bordeaux 2015 - a vintage without comparison

Vintage Report: Bordeaux 2015 - a vintage without comparison

Wednesday 13th April 2016
by Tom Jenkins

There is nothing as dull as a thorough day by day metrological account of a vintage, so we’ll spare you the details and stick to the salient points. 

A cold winter preceded an early and rapid budburst; aided by the ‘strongest, longest and broadest spring anticyclone on record’. A warm period at the end of May and beginning of June resulted in a fast and ‘efficient’ flowering. All was going perfectly according to plan, although a worrying lack of precipitation was beginning to cause some concern. 

Now came the heat… June and July were both exceptionally hot and dry. Initially the vines coped well with what transpired to be the 4th hottest July in 100 years, but eventually some vines, particularly on the more porous soils began to suffer hydric stress. To the relief of everyone, especially those with forest fires approaching their properties - August provided some welcome showers and cooler conditions. Véraison was completed by the second week of August, the earliest in Bordeaux since the 2009 vintage. So far so good… 

UGC Week: Bordeaux 2015 - Day four, the long and winding road to Moulis…

UGC Week: Bordeaux 2015 - Day four, the long and winding road to Moulis…

Monday 11th April 2016
by Tom Jenkins

Our team was still in good spirits on day four - a good barometer of the vintage. There was no palate fatigue and we were eager to discover more about the 2015s. 

We left what has become our home from home in the Medoc, Chateau Pomys and headed to Mauvisan Barton. Langoa Barton didn’t set out hearts alight. We understand that some less successful Merlots from Leoville Barton were put into the blend and it just appeared a bit lacklustre. The same can’t be said for Leoville. This is one serious Cabernet dominated wine. It is initially quite introverted, however, its presence grows into a magnificent finale. It is a serious, tightly wound wine, full of power and poise.

UGC Week: Bordeaux 2015 - Day three, It’s grim up north… far from it!

UGC Week: Bordeaux 2015 - Day three, It’s grim up north… far from it!

Friday 8th April 2016
by Tom Jenkins

We started up north with a St Estephe trio: Calon Segur, Montrose and Cos d’Estournel. 

Now much has already been said about the weekend of the Medoc marathon – some vignerons in these parts are blaming the runners for the rain. It happened, there’s no point in denial, about 120 mm fell on the Northern Medoc over the weekend of the 12th and 13th of September. It changed the profile of the vintage in St Estephe, but it most certainly didn’t ruin the quality. These wines are all highly successful, elegant wines, which perhaps lack a little of the exuberance and opulence other communes displayed, but they should by no means be dismissed, they are classical, beautifully structured and most alluring. 

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