2018 pichon baron6/3/2023 Some estates controlled the volume and consistency of tannin very well and made classical wines. Neighbouring St Julien has also performed very well. Ch Ducru Beaucaillou and Ch Leoville Lascases probably lead the pack but Ch Leoville Barton, Ch Leoville Poyferré, Ch Gruaud Larose, Ch Talbot and Close de Marquis are all exceptionally well made wines Their second wines Les Forts de Latour, Petit Mouton and Carruades are also of very high quality. The first growths Ch Latour, Ch Mouton Rothschild and Ch Lafite Rothschild are very impressive. There are many outstanding wines from Pauillac including Ch Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, Ch Pichon Longueville Baron, Ch Lynch Bages, Ch Batailley, Ch d’Armailhac and Ch Grand Puy Lacoste. They are not at all sinewy or soupy and hence when the tannins settle down the wines will be exceptional. ![]() This year the wines are particularly dense and inky with plentiful graphite tannins. I always think of Pauilac as being the reference for Bordeaux. Typically the wines are extremely expressive with pure cassis cedar aromas and fine grainy tannins. It also stands for something that is worthwhile and important. The wine is markedly different from wines like Ch Latour or Ch Pichon Lalande, but its overall buoyancy and richness of fruit is compelling. It suffered terribly from mildew and has produced only a third of the crop. Ch Pontet Canet is an outlier because of its approach to biodynamic viticulture. The combination of better micro-climatic conditions, wealth and physical resources helped with the result. They are powerfully expressive with pronounced ripe tannins and pure fruit flavours. In my opinion the strongest sub regions are Pauillac and St Julien – which have both produced wines of great consistency and classicism. Despite the amazing tannin density, saturated colours and flavours, the wines are actually quite easy to taste, indicating remarkable balance and life. The concentration, weight, and vitality of the wines are impressive. If this is the case, this is not just an exceptional vintage, this is something beyond the norm. For some people with long memories they believe the vintage is like 1947 or 1961. The narrative of the growing season will inevitably create a negative impression, but few people will remember the details in years to come. ![]() Mother Nature has been particularly cruel of late. When one considers that this estate lost its whole crop in 2017 from frost, the shock must be keenly felt. At Ch Climens in Sauternes Barsac I would estimate the crop being around 20% of the average. But they vary from almost nothing to less than a third. It is difficult to truly understand the overall crop losses as producers are understandably quite cagey. The colours, flavours, density and acidities are really impressive and as a consequence the vintage is generally quite exceptional. The growing season was near calamitous but long warm sunshine hours over summer cleaned everything up and allowed the grapes to ripen very really well. As usual the vintage will be exaggerated. We have pretty tasted a good amount of primeurs wines now. After the devastating frost events of 2017 and the challenges created by hail and mildew during 2018, there is a feeling that climate change may well have an unpredictable impact on future Bordeaux vintages. In two weeks we have seen dormant vineyards and trees spring to life. The growing season is starting a touch early and of course people are worried about the chances of frost. The weather until a few days ago has been clear with bright sunshine, warm days and a cool breeze. Temperatures have fallen now with more cloud cover and intermittent rains. While driving from Sauternes to St Emilion we drove through light hail but not enough to cause too many problems. In some instance I have tasted wines a few times enabling me to cross reference. Nowadays it is difficult to taste the wines blind but density of colour, aromatic freshness, tannin density and overall balance are obvious indicators. ![]() All sub regions produced examples of really good wines, but some performed better than others. Generally the very top estates made exemplary wines illustrating that the human factor and wealth can have a major impact on terroir! Over the last few weeks I have tasted around 350 to 400 wines, sometimes in large format forums like the UCG tastings or at various Chateaux. The Bordeaux whites and sauternes are very good, but from an Australian perspective the excitement is all in the red wines. 2018 Bordeaux Vintage Report and recommendationsĢ018 is an exceptional year.
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