First Impressions of 2017 Vintage in Bordeaux After Tasting 750 Wines (Right Bank)
Please take note of this year’s Bordeaux en primeur or futures. The 2017 is by no means the great 2015 or 2016, but neither is it the weak 2013. Despite terrible frosts, most of the top wine estate of Bordeaux made some outstanding quality wines that will deliver beautiful drinking for years ahead. It’s hard to put my finger on similar vintages, but I think that many wineries made wines at the same level or better than 2012 and a number made better wines than 2014.
The tasting at Chateau Trotte Vieille in St.-Emilion showed how top terroirs made top wines. The best wines in the world are all about where they come from after all.
All things considered, I was very surprised by the relatively outstanding quality of the top wines I have tasted so far with my son Jack — about 750 in total, mostly from the Right Bank. I look forward to tasting the top names of the Medoc over the next few days. Stay tuned for social media posts and our complete report on the vintage following more visits of around 40 chateaux and, of course, more tasting.
I think most Bordeaux lovers have heard about the frosts of late April. They decimated the vineyards of numerous wineries through the region. According to some winemakers, the frosts were the worse since 1957. However, a good number of top estates in Bordeaux had no or very little problem with the frost: their vines were just fine. The main problem was the relatively sunless July and to a lesser degree August, which led to vines missing key time for ripening their grapes. The first part of September was adequate until a deluge of rain. In result, the second week put pressure on some wineries to pick early in parts because of botrytis. The bottom line was that 2017 was a cool and fresh growing season at key times (save June, which was very hot), which means the wines are less opulent or complete in comparison to the top years such as 2015 or 2016.
Tastings after tastings, the JamesSuckling.com team is still growing strong. As soon as we get through one tasting, new notes will be posted. Stay tuned!
“The wines lack some richness and depth that top vintages produce in Bordeaux,” admits Olivier Bernard, the owner of the great Domaine de Chevalier and also the head of the Union des Grands Crus, an association representing hundreds of top chateaux in Bordeaux. His words were similar to dozens of winemakers and wine merchants we met over the last week in Bordeaux.
Chateau d’Yquem made what may be the wine of the vintage in 2017.
Of course, I can’t generalize about whether it’s a Left Bank or Right Bank as I haven’t tasted the top wines of the Left Bank yet. But I think that it’s going to be a “great terroir” year where the properties with the best vineyard sites made the best wines. They ripened their crop sooner than most lesser-recognized wineries, many of who made lean and sometimes, rather mean wines. Those smaller wineries who were hit by frost and then nurtured the second generation of grapes really made some below-par wines.
This all said, the whites — both dry and sweet — are very beautiful. Most dry wines producers harvested before the rain and made something comparable in quality to 2016. Sauternes producers say they had a quick development of botrytis and made serious wines. No wonder my wine of the vintage so far has to be Chateau d’Yquem.
Anyway, I have to get ready for my trip up to the Medoc, so I will elaborate another time. We look forward to more tasting. We are only posting the notes on St.-Emilion and Pomerol for now. — CEO/Editor James Suckling