My Article: 2014 Bordeaux Shows Promise With Top Estates

Yesterday was a good start to 2014 Bordeaux #enprimeur. I tasted about 40 wines and visited about a dozen châteaux. To top it off, Pierre Lawton, a life-long friend and negociant in Bordeaux, organized a cocktail so I could speak to about 30 top winemakers. Even Michel Rolland was there.

People were upbeat about the vintage and rightly so. I was really impressed with the top estates – particularly Latour, Lafite, Rieussec, Leoville-Las-Case, and Ducru-Beaucaillou. Pavillon Blanc du Margaux was also a knock-out.

Of course, making broad sweeping statements about a vintage from a few dozen of the top wines of a vintage is not accurate. All I can say is that I came away very positive about what I tasted. The tastings showed that – at least for the Médoc – it was possible to make exceptional reds as well as dry whites in 2014. And this was no easy matter. Above: 2014 Bordeaux #enprimeur tasting at Lafite

As Bruno Borie, the owner of Ducru said: “We were lucky … again. The summer was mediocre but we worked hard in the vineyards and later with the selection. September and October brought good weather. It’s nothing new. But we succeeded.”

Indeed, he and most of the others whose wines I tasted yesterday more than succeed. I really liked the balance and intensity of the wines. The quality of the cabernets really comes through with beautiful blackcurrant and berry character as well as a minerally, salty, savory character. The tannins are dense yet very polished giving the top wines form and tension, as well as length. Acidity is apparently not that strong in 2014 with pHs around 3.7 to 3.8, but there is an undeniable freshness and brilliance to the young wines.

“There is a richness to the wines but not a sunniness,” says Aymeric de Gironde, managing director of Cos d’Estournel. “The 2014 vintage wasn’t easy. The growing season was difficult. September was the miracle. It started off well and it got better and better and better.”

Above: 2014 Bordeaux #enprimeur tasting at Cos d’Estournel

Below are the links to my first published notes, arranged alphabetically. Any wine that I scored with an upper limit of 95 points or more is marked in bold. Stay tuned for more thoughts on the vintage and tasting notes as well as live updates on the site today with real-time tasting notes grouped under the hashtag #enprimeur 2014.

Aile d’Argent Bordeaux Blanc 2014

Blason de L’Evangile Pomerol 2014

Carmes de Rieussec Sauternes 2014

Carruades de Lafite Rothschild Pauillac 2014

Chapelle de Potensac Médoc 2014

Château Clerc Milon Pauillac 2014

Château Cos-d’Estournel Bordeaux Blanc 2014

Château Cos-d’Estournel St.-Estèphe 2014

Château d’Armailhac Pauillac 2014

Château Ducru-Beaucaillou St.-Julien 2014

Château Duhart-Milon Rothschild Pauillac 2014

Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste Pauillac 2014