The 2015 vintage of Bordeaux is clearly a Right Bank year, but that doesn’t diminish great wines produced from the Left Bank, mainly from Pessac-Léognan and Margaux. Margaux, in particluar, is the strongest from the Médoc region. We interviewed 18 winemakers of Left Bank’s famous estates including first growths Mouton, Margaux, Latour and Lafite, for their comments on the vintage. Check out details below.
Jean-Luc Zuger, owner of Château Maléscot-St-Exupery
“It is to me better than 2005, with some sexy notes like 2009, not powerful as 2010 but nothing is missing; it is a complete wine.”
Philippe Dhalluin, general manager of Château Mouton Rothschild
“Harvest ended earlier than usual on October 2nd. We didn’t perceive dilution in our berries. Even if we had important rainfall in September, the average temperature was higher than in a regular year, which led to consequent water evaporation.”
“2015 witnessed the longest harvest ever made at Mouton Rothschild in our records. The long ripening period helped produce expressive wines with great balance between freshness, softness and concentrated, polished tannins.”
Emeline Borie, co-owner of Château Grand-Puy Lacoste
“2015 is an outstanding vintage showing some similarities with 2009 in terms of warmth and concentration. Its structure and freshness remind me more of 2010. Without being exuberant, all is about balance in this vintage.”
Jean-Charles Cazes, general manager of Château Lynch-Bages
“2015 is a notch above our 2014. It is a homogeneous vintage with great concentration and freshness that are already very pleasant to taste En Primeur and will give the wine true ageing potential.”
Jean Michel Comme, winemaker at Château Pontet-Canet
“Since 2010, we didn’t have a perfect July month as in 2015, which helped to achieve perfect ripeness with rain in August triggering the véraison.”
“We could harvest earlier thanks to our biodynamic vineyards; we were therefore not really affected by the rain. On the contrary, we think that the rain helped to soften and bring delicacy to the wine.”
Emmanuel Cruse, general manager of Château Pédesclaux and Château d’Issan
“2015 shows fruit purity and intensity in this irrational year where the growing period was tumultuous. We are very happy about the expression of the wines.”
Eric Kohler, winemaker at Château Lafite Rothschild
“2015 is a rather hot vintage where we benefited from the ocean and river influences, helping to produce a fresh, concentrated, balanced wine at Lafite.”
Hélène Genin, technical director at Château Latour
“A unique vintage for us : 1. First year that vineyards of the Grand Vin are worked organically. 2. A year of contrasts – despite the drought, some parcels were prone to mildew. Also the phenolic ripeness process started closely between merlots and cabernets and took distance from one another closer to the harvest time. The cabernets were harvested later and offered optimum ripeness. In style, 2015 is close to 2014 with more elegance, freshness and finesse. “
Nicolas Glumineau, general manager of Château Pichon Comtesse de Lalande
“Ironically, September’s rainfall saved us. It provided the necessary water to bring softness and elegance to the wines.”
“Reminds me of the great Pichon Comtesse wines of the 1980s. A classic Pauillac with elegance and roundness brought by the merlot grape, typical at Comtesse de Lalande.”
Christian Seely, general manager of AXA Millésimes
“What I like about this vintage is the exuberance and ripeness as well as a great freshness that can be found in many examples. Our pomerol Petit-Village is one of our best ever made. At Pichon Baron, it was a classic vintage of the Left Bank that offers plenitude.”
Bruno Borie, owner of Château Ducru Beaucaillou
“2015 is a more accomplished wine than 2014. Wonderful complexity found in those savory and tasty wines.”
Jean-Hubert Delon, owner and CEO at Domaines Delon
“Wines are easy to approach and understand with concentration, good alcohol levels and freshness. On the Right Bank, the wines are close to 1998, a classic year. Overall I would say that all my wines have an intense and tasty finish. Las Cases is often hard to understand during primeurs and this year it was interesting to see that the power of the fruit was dominating the oak at early stages. It reminds me of 1986 with 10 years of bottle ageing. Bright expressions of the cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc grapes with anesthetic feeling like cloves on the palate.”
Thomas Duroux, general manager of Château Palmer
“I won’t call it a ‘rocking chair vintage’ but we basically let the nature take its course, producing fantastic grapes responsible for a layered and complex wine. We were just here to guide the all process.”
Aurélien Valance, Senior VP Commercial Director at Château Margaux
“We are very proud of our Pavillon Rouge this year, in which we made an important selection of grapes with more cabernet sauvignon in proportion than usual. It really has a Margaux identity.”
“The Grand Vin starts slowly on the palate and accelerates, leading to an intense finish with red flowers, cherry and fine spice notes.”
Philippe Delfaut, general manager of Château Kirwan
“A true Margaux and an authentic Kirwan. It has the freshness, the delicacy and balance that we always seek in our wines.”
Alexander Van Beek, general manager of Château Giscours and Château du Tertre
“Most intense we ever had in color. Gentle and powerful at the same time. This is one of our best Giscours since the 1970s.”
“We have always been loyal to the vintages and Giscours 2015 is a reflection of 2015 in Margaux.”
Philippe Dambrine, general manager of Château Cantemerle
“Vines replanted in the early ’80s are now fully matured. Richness, cool character and mineral notes are part of Cantemerle’s signature and are revealed in this 2015 vintage.”
– Alexandre Centeleghe
