Today we head over the bridge to the right bank to taste some of the top wines of Pomerol and Saint Emilion. Our first stop of the morning is at Chateau Clinet in Pomerol. In fact, this is my second time visiting Roman. The wines are evolving by the day. Today the wine was even richer than and showing more dimension. Tasting this for the second time really makes you realize that these wines are changing and improving by the moment at this early stage.  While everyone likes to think that a critic’s barrel tasting score is the be all and end all of wine, the truth is that if the same critic could taste the wine a few days later and get a completely different profile depending on whether the wine was recently racked, sulphured, difference in air pressure, etc...  We’re really only looking for elements at this stage.  Does it have structure?  Does it have fruit?  Does it have good texture?  Is the wine in balance?  How it will eventually come together is a matter of pure serendipity.  Tasting these wines at this stage is like watching Michael Jordan at North Carolina.

We get back in the car and drive about 200 feet to Chateau L’Eglise Clinet.  It’s so close to Clinet that we really could have walked!  Like nearby Le Pin, L’Eglise Clinet is a small, modest operation that just happens to make miniscule quantities of one of the most highly rated and sought after wines in all of Bordeaux.  The 2010 L’Eglise Clinet is a searing style of Pomerol.  Intense, powerful , and rich.  This wine is going to go down as one of their great ones.

Since we are in the neighborhood today, we’ve been invited back to Vieux Chateau Certan to taste the 2010 again, this time from barrel.  It was just racked a few days ago so it’s a treat to see another dimension of a wine that I think may be the wine of the vintage.  Tasting it from barrel it’s so pure and even more rich and velvety than the sample from last week.  With a bit of oxygen in the wine it’s easy to see how, given some time, this will flesh out into one of the most massive, voluminous VCC’s of all time.  I’ll say it again, this is a modern day 1950.  Do not miss the chance to put some of this wine in your cellar. This may be the wine of the vintage.

La Conseillante is a property that seemed to be getting more modern over the past few vintages.  While pushing the envelope of ripeness has served many chateaux well, La Conseillante has always been a terroir that best lends itself to balanced, understated wines that emphasize the delicate perfumed violet essence that has historically made this property so distinctive.  The 2010 is a return to form.  Make no mistake though.  This is not a light wine, in the style of the vintage, it is very well structured and will be one of their all time longest lived wines. Truly a spectacular wine.

Next up is a lunch appointment at Troplong Mondot with our dear friends Xavier and Christine Valette.  We start by tasting the 2010 which is a monumental wine, I can’t remember a better Troplong from barrel, this wine has layers upon layers of densely packed dark rich flavors.  Lunch is a fantastic home cooked meal of rouget and veal paired with 2007 and 2001 Troplong Mondot.  The 2007 is still young but drinking great, everything in proportion, versatile enough to work well with the fish course.  I’m pleased to find so many 2007s blossoming into excellent wines.  Tasting them en primeur three years ago, it remained to be seen whether they would put on sufficient weight but it’s clear that this 2007 overachieved.  The 2001 is an excellent vintage for Troplong with savory notes of black truffles and spicy black pepper wafting from a beautifully balanced medium bodied wine just entering its window of maturity.  Over lunch we discuss the future of the chateau.  The family has put a tremendous amount of work into Troplong over past ten years and planted a large parcel of young vines that will soon be ready to go into the grand vin vastly improving the quality and output of the estate.  Their daughter Margaux has also taken to the family business and is constantly travelling to promote the wine around the world.  After many years of hard work, I believe they are producing their best wines ever and the future looks bright at Troplong. 

After lunch we head to Chateau Angelus which has had a string of impressively scaled wines over the past decade.  To be honest, I was prepared for this to be a tannic beast given the style of the house and the vintage, but I was surprised and pleased to find the 2010 a very well balanced rich example of Angelus.

Now we’re on to Chateau Canon La Gaffeliere to taste with Comtes Stephan Von Niepperg, Stephan is always great to visit with. He always has fun and entertaining insights.  His roster of wines seems to grow every year, a testament to his passion and enthusiasm for expressing the many terriors of Bordeaux.  D’Aiguilhe, Clos Marsalette, Clos de l’Oratoire, Canon La Gaffeliere, and last but not least La Mondotte. The wines are always rich with a flamboyant array of varietal fruit. The highlights were Canon La Gaffeliere and La Mondotte.

We make our way up the hill towards “centre ville” of the tiny medieval town of Saint Emilion.  We have the opportunity to stop by Chateau Ausone to taste the 2010 again.  Climbing the windy one car road up the hill to the chateau, it’s easy to see why this is one of the great terroirs of Bordeaux.  The tiny vineyard sits atop a hill of pure limestone, much like the greatest vineyards in Burgundy, and is literally carved right into the hillside.  As the vines descend through the thin layer of topsoil , they hit the bed of limestone and burrow their way through providing maximum struggle for the vines and a distinctive cool, deep mineral character.  As you enter the old caves carved into the hillside, you can actually see roots hanging down from the roof of the cave.  Tasting the 2010 again absolutely confirms that this is a blockbuster Ausone and substantially better than the 2009 and that’s saying something.  It’s showing more intensity and range of flavors today.

Next up is a meeting with proprietor Jean Pierre Janoueix at Chateau La Confession.  Janoueix is a prolific winemaker who owns chateaux Croix Mouton, Le Conseillier and La Confession among other properties.  We have been really successful with this estate at Wally’s and Croix Mouton, and Le Conseillier have been perennial best buys. His 2010s exhibit exuberant fruit and are plush, pleasurable examples of their respective terroirs.  This is definitely an up and coming star winemaker to watch.

It’s hard to think of a better way to end our day than tasting at Cheval Blanc, which sits atop the classification of Saint Emilion as the lone Premier Grand Cru Classe (Top Growth).  There has been some tremendous investment here since it was purchased by LVMH in 1998 and the changes have shown over the past few vintages.  The 2010 is no exception in my mind one of the top wines of the vintage.  It’s hard to compare the ‘10 to any other of Cheval’s top vintages. The wine is so rich, so balanced with tons of powerful fruit.  Totally unique and unprecedented.  As usual we get to taste a sample of Chateau d’Yquem (also owned by LVMH) which is a rounder style with oodles of rich Crème Brulee, and wild flower flavors.  Great acidity will carry this wine for decades.

  After tasting over 500 wines in 8 days with a number of wines tasted numerous times, I really feel we have a great sense of what the vintage has to offer. The top wines are wines of monumental power, intense structure and an incredible amount of deep layered fruit flavors.  We at Wally’s are real believers in the vintage and are convinced that the 2010 vintage is going to go down as one of the true greats.  With smaller yields and less wine and with the almost overwhelming demand, we advise buying your favorites early before they go through the roof.