Just landed...our Bordeaux shipment for the final weeks of 2024...a few new wines and vintages. This follows my recent trip to the Medoc and St Emilion to visit some of the estate owners, talk shop, and taste new offerings.

So…..Bordeaux….what a great trip….I was Joined by Sandra (Claygate), Rob & Lottie (Northamptonshire) and met up with our Bordeaux Agent Helene. 2 days of tasting, a trip to St Emilion town and a night out in Bordeaux. And yes, I made it back in 1 piece.

We started @ Chateau Panigon, up in the Haut Medoc…almost all the way to the Atlantic, almost 90 mins from Bordeaux centre. Here the wine I know is Chateau Amour, but we were also introduced to the original cuvee of Chateau Panigon by Corinne and Georges Dadda, the current owners. With 53 hectares under vine, the vineyard has been classified as HVE (sustainable)…so almost organic, low sulphur. Corrine very helpfully pointed out that she doesn’t get headaches from drinking her own wine….and I can honestly concur, because I have tried….a lot. The Chateau Panigon is perhaps the most traditional of the 2 wines from this part….richer, deeper, more structured, whereas the Chateau Amour is made to be more immediately pleasurable, with a softer, fruitier style. With the Chateau Amour, rather than leaving the wine endlessly in barrel, it is tank matured, but with an oak barrel stave inside the tank…..a new thing for me to witness.

On our return route to Bordeaux we headed for Margaux. One of the interesting aspects of this side of the river (the left bank) is that the land is pretty flat. This is quite unusual for a top quality wine region. The best bits of the Mosel, Northern Rhone, the Douro (port) and more almost seem vertical. Large deposits of gravel site under ground and this helps with drainage. The proximity of the river and the Atlantic are also huge influencers on the style and quality of the wines here. The slight undulating waves of vineyards are a mark of the top sites, and this difference of pitch gives individuality.

Chateau Deyrem Valentin Margaux….This château was excluded from being a grand cru way back in 1855, and under current ownership, cannot be included. If the vineyards were sold to, say Chateau Margaux, due to their quality (and the strange rules of the Cru system) they would automatically be upgraded. This is a huge frustration for many, especially Christelle Sorge, current owner of the Chateau. However, she is passionate about her wine, and is constantly seeking to improve the quality of what she produces. A small tweak in 2018, leaving the wines in barrel for an extra 3 months…so 15 months in total…has softened the wines and allowed the fruit to more easily come to the fore. I met Christelle almost 20 years ago, and have tasted many vintages since, and definitely the 2018 is a change of style….the better for it.

After a night out in Bordeaux, morning time was a ride to Chateau Reaut, Cadillac Cotes de Boreaux, on the other side of the river. Here the land is quite different, rising up from the river to an altitude of 100m…quite a contrast to the previous day. With vineyards facing south west, and on a good slope, sun capture and drainage are both good. The vineyard itself was established very recently…2000…by Champagne Roederer and then sold to Yannick Evenou, our host for the morning. It was harvest time, so we got to witness the grapes arriving in the chais, destemming and selection and pumping up into tank. An unusual design feature (almost unique in Bordeaux) is the shape of their tanks….almost like the bow of a ship…so wider at the top than the bottom. As Yannick explained in great detail, with many diagrams and arrows, the extra width of the top allows the juice to penetrate the top cap of grapes more evenly, ensuring that flavour and fruit extraction from the grapes is richer and more flavoursome. Still with me…I too need drawings and arrows to explain fully!

They have invest in clay amphora, in which they make single varietal wines, lots of new oak barrels and much more. A few years ago the decision was made to go fully organic. A subsequent loss of 40% of their harvest over 3 years nearly bankrupted the Chateau, and so now they have returned to Sustainable viticulture. We tasted, amongst others, their 2018 red and really enjoyed the richness of the wine. This is definitely one to try.

After a lovely lunch in St Emilion (my favourite place) and some Chateau Franc Mayne 2012 Grand Cru, it was off to Chateau La Rose Perriere, Lussac St Emilion. What a lovely property. Owned by the Sylvain family…coopers who make some 40,000 oak wine barrels a year! The attention to detail here is incredible. The amount of investment, and the way they make their wine is akin to a grand cru classe. The price they can charge, because it is not one, is lower than they really need. However, part of the purpose is to demonstrate to their barrel customers, what can be achieved using the barrels they make. And they are works of art. They have 1 small barrel room where they experiment…so Pinot Noir with carbonic maceration (as per Beaujolai Nouveau) in an oak barrel. Had they left me there, turned off the light and locked to door, I would have been extremely happy.

We have shipped the wines from here for more than 10 years, and seeing it all first hand, with the strive for excellence, ensures that we will continue. We tasted Chateau La Perriere, Chateau La Rose Perriere, Les Grandes Versannes St Emilion Grand Cru and their white wine, which was excellent.

So 2 days of viewing and tasting followed by a day off having some fun in Bordeaux…..vibrant, great restaurants and bars, and a pretty water front.

So Bordeaux and elite sport…..well it’s the constant drive for excellence. Seeking the marginal gains to improve quality. So think sport and think improvement in diet, equipment, training, funding, tactics…all to be one step ahead of the nearest rival…to be quicker, have better endurance, score more points. This is what we witnessed in Bordeaux in all 4 of the vineyards…a constant desire to be better than previous years, or other Chateaux. Whether the barrel, the tank, the pruning, the pumping over…..20 plus years ago this quality was not produced in places like Chateau Amour and Reaut and Lussac St Emilion, and vineyards in places like Margaux could rely more on reputation.

So next time you have a glass of wine, ditch any guilt, as you are part of the drive for sporting excellence!