Austria’s 2011 vintage, echoed across much of Europe, was characterised by a dry spring (and season overall), tricky June/July followed by a late summer but early harvest of fruit rich in phenolics (tannins), low in acidity, relatively low in alcohol, and with little evidence of botrytis. On paper then a vintage perfectly aligned for the earlier ripening varieties of Gruner Veltliner versus that of Riesling (just as Barbera seemed to shine brighter than Nebbiolo in the Langhe…)

It was a vintage that played into the hands of those whose market relies heavily on the local ‘heuriger’ tradition of drinking the freshest wine, as served in taverns across the land from the important skiing hub of Innsbruck, before the snow’s thawed, through to the swish wine bars of Vienna. Consequently many of the Federspiel-style wines are bottled barely out of the womb of the winery, from January through to March, following the September harvest; the fact that it was an early harvest proving a bonus. Indeed one of the Wachau’s leading estates, Prager, sells almost 50% of its production locally as ‘Federspiel’ (between 11.5% & 12.5% abv), while their riper ‘Smaragd’ (dry, unchaptalized of min. 12.5% abv) wines are largely exported.

Josef Ehmoser is another impressive estate that seems to do quite well out of this tradition, being located on deep, soft loess soils of the Wagram region that lies between the Wachau and Vienna. Wagram’s a new region (to me) of 2,400 ha (vs. Wachau’s 1,400ha) that seems more adept (even more than Kamptal?) at producing creamy, white flower Gruner Veltliners for earlier drinking. And if the quality being produced by young Josef and partner Martina Ehmoser is anything to go by then we shall surely hear more about the Wagram in future, especially as the loess’s ability to retain water favours non irrigation viticulture.

Branching out from the more famous zones of ‘Lower Austria’ (Wachau, Krems and Kamptal), I headed south of Vienna to N. Burgenland where along the sand and gravel ‘banks’ of the Neusiedlersee Lake, undulating with vineyards I came across a strange, cultish movement named ‘Pannobile’; named after the hot Pannonian Plains to the east and the nobility of its native grapes. The Barbera-like Ste.Laurent thrives here while Blaufränkisch struggles in the absence of clay. Ironically the ‘Pannobile’ movement, founded during the mid 1990s, is better known for producing big black, overly-extracted blended wines that pander to a mono-dimensional, international palate. No surprise then to discover that the Pannobile producers have ties with a similarly marketing-oriented, altruistic group of Piedmontese Langhe growers called ‘Insieme’, led by cantina Elio Altare. They too like to talk ‘typicity’ while producing wines that wouldn’t look out of place among the folds of California’s Sierra Nevada Foothills. The plot (and must!) thickens when one learns that a few Austrian (white wine!) producers have adopted the ‘Insieme’ viticultural practice of cutting bunches in half to achieve higher sugar/alcohol and lower acidity levels (at the expense of regional identity and balance)!

Far more convincing are the fine Blaufränkisch reds from the Mittelburgenland (c. 2,000ha) and Südburgenland (500ha) subzones an hour’s drive south. The former benefits from predominantly calcareous clay deposits to give minerally rich noble wines that really do have much in common with Piedmontese Nebbiolo. Since the early 2000s Roland Velich at Moric has been skilfully sourcing the finest fruit from the villages of Neckenmarkt and Lutzmannsburg among others, and vinifying them in a traditional manner (long maceration in large oak) to give statuesque wines.

Further south still, on the border quite literally with Hungary, is the unspoilt enclave of Eisenberg, lying at the heart of the Südburgenland zone; a viticultural zone still emerging from the shadow of former Communist Hungary nextdoor. Its steep, almost overhanging vineyards reminded me of Chablis while the green slate soil, and the lush blueberry character of their Blaufränkisch wines speak more of Central Otago! What’s more there’s a surfeit of old vines on offer as the older generation move on, a few of which are being snapped up by the likes of Christoph Wachter, of Wachter-Wiesler. He’s a young, purposeful type who’s spent his formative years exploring the various ways of vinifying Blaufränkisch to capture its regional identity, and now is content to leave the barrique behind for the botte grande!

‘Next week I’ll be reporting on how the 2009 Barbaresco and 2008 Barolo vintages are looking ahead of our September event and offer’

• 3 things about Burgundy which particularly struck me during the trip (and why):

1. The landscape. It’s one thing to see pictures of vineyards in books but quite another to drive round them, to see how close together the villages are, how subtle the undulations of the land, and how in many instances there isn’t so much as a wall separating one vineyard from another, and no distinguishing features between the rows of vines. We talk a lot, especially in Wine School, about the top of the slope, mid-slope, bottom of the slope, and the differences between the grands and premiers crus but you only realise seeing it in the flesh how tiny the geographical differences are.
2. In contrast to the above point, the soil: books, articles, tasting notes, really don’t emphasise enough how different the soil is within a few hundred metres. They subtly hint at differences in soil, but they don’t show you red soil, white soil, brown soil, soil with enormous stones in it, fine-grained powdery soil, yellow soil etc along a road 5 kilometres in length. I really wasn’t expecting this, I thought that most of the differences in soils were below the surface and barely noticeable so it was a bit of a shock.
3. Working in vineyards is hard work; this I mainly deduced from the very rich local cuisine, clearly a by-product of a high demand for calories. The fact that despite this most vignerons in Burgundy choose to harvest by hand, prune by hand, not use weedkillers etc is testament to how much they really want to look after their vines/ the land.

• 3 producers I visited to enthuse about (and why):

1. Domaine Vougeraie: I think here the juxtaposition of the very traditional and very modern really caught my attention and made me think. Pierre Vincent was so very enthusiastic about biodynamics, the health of the soil, his herb garden, etc and yet at the same time the winery was I think the largest and most modern that we visited, with shiny new equipment, gleaming floors, and clearly a huge amount of investment in a relatively large operation (in Burgundian terms). I had not before associated genuine biodynamic farming with (relatively) large-scale, modern wineries, except in terms of a cynical marketing ploy so it was quite an eye-opener to hear Pierre speak about it, and see that it can be done in a modern way. I also really liked the Vougeraie wines; even the ones that didn’t appeal to my taste still had a certain something about them that made me think I might in future be able to like them.
2. Benjamin Leroux at Comte Armand: M. Leroux was very welcoming, smiling and very relaxed which was lovely; some winemakers are clearly (understandably) a bit nervous having people come and taste their wines and have to explain their philosophy. He seemed very happy to answer even rather basic questions, and was very open about things he’d tried in winemaking that he had concluded wouldn’t work; eg ploughing by horse.
3. Benoit Droin: I particularly liked this tasting as it was very ordered, tasting all his wines from the same vintage in succession. It was amazing to be able to taste the subtle differences in the different Chablis 1er and grand crus, as well as to taste wines from tank. A complete contrast to, for example, Picq immediately afterwards (though tasting older wines was also fascinating).

• 3 wines I tasted (or drank) to enthuse about (and why):

1. Loichet’s 2010 Ladoix, 1er Cru, Les Grechons. I liked this wine for 2 reasons; one, because it’s quite obscure, and I love unusual wines, from lesser-known regions that are cheaper. And secondly the flavour and intensity of the aromas was wonderful; this may perhaps be because we tasted a lot (relatively speaking) of similar wines on the trip, so the Ladoix’s different character made it stand out more. That said it was from the first producer that day so my palate wasn’t too fatigued when we tasted it. I liked the exotic fruit character and a subtle spiciness that reminded me of white pepper. It was very hard to believe it was a white Burgundy and for that reason I thought it was great (breaking the mould).
2. The 1991 Pommard, 1er Cru, Les Rugiens, Domaine Joseph Voillot we had for lunch in Volnay. I’ve not tasted much Burgundy and certainly not many aged wines so this was something of a revelation as the first aged wine of the trip; the nose was amazingly concentrated and the palate completely different to all the wines we’d tasted up to then, with lovely ripe fruit and fantastic complexity and melted oak and a tiny hint of the manure people talk about in Burgundy but in a nice way. Made me understand why some people like Burgundy so much!
3. At the risk of never being allowed on another Berrys’ trip every again I think my 3^rd amazing wine from the trip was the unnamed wine we tasted in Benoit Droin’s winery that he was making in demi-johns for a friend. Obviously this wasn’t the best-tasting wine of the trip, but firstly to see him not only look at and sniff the jugs when he opened them, but also listen to them to see if fermentation had finished was quite amazing, as was being able to see that some of the jugs were cloudy while others were clear. It gave a “view” on winemaking and fermentation that you don’t get with oak or stainless steel. Secondly tasting the wine was fascinating, to be able to smell the malolactic fermentation taking place, and taste how it hadn’t quite had its full effect on the palate yet was amazing. Obviously we had lots of other memorable wines and spectacular grand crus but, though delicious, none of them scored quite such high nerd marks as that wine.

By Barbara Drew

Two issues: terroir, and in particular ‘Crus’, along with the sometimes sticky point of how to communicate the wine’s style (dry through to sweet) seem to be preoccupying the producers. The two would appear to be related: they both influence sales (or the lack of).

The first has arisen, as one of the above pointed out, because of the simple fact that Alsace Grand Crus are not selling out. Everyone knows that when the Alsace Grand Cru system was created in the 1980s it was a botched job that ridiculed the otherwise serious French notion of what a ‘Grand Cru’ meant. Doomed from the start as negociants. Hugel, Trimbach et al. publicly scuppered the process, it played into the hands of the dominant cooperatives who wanted to have their cake and eat it. But then as Severine Schlumberger neatly put it: Alsace effectively missed the ‘train of fame’ (the ‘gravy train’?!) that had already called in at other stations, notably Bordeaux and Burgundy in the early 20^th century. Alsace caught a later (delayed) one during the 1960s by which time it was all about supplying the (domestic) market with volume. Today, of the 6000 domaines only 250 bottle their own wine, yet the domestic market has changed & the cooperatives have been slow to adapt to a new, export world where quality is valued over volume.

Encouragingly, moves to improve the overall quality of Grand Cru wines are in swing, even if the Syndicates of growers overseeing each of the 51 Crus are slow to change. Yields are now at 55hl/ha or 61hl/ha, down from 66hl. Last year, the President of the GC Association, Olivier Humbrecht MW, persuaded its members to accept a ban on acidification and chaptalisation; this has just been agreed by the AVA (Association des Vins d’Alsace) so now must be presented to the INAO before becoming law. Olivier and others are also considering the legalities and technicalities of producing single vineyard or ‘lieu-dit’ wines, whose yields are currently fixed at 68 hl/ha, with a view to creating a Premier Cru classification.

Winegrower, and ex-President of the Grand Cru Association, Jean-Michel Deiss has been banging the terroir drum for thirty years, championing the superior expression of the single vineyard, lieu-dit or Cru over that of any one grape. His range is thus split between single grape AOC Alsace wines, ‘Premier Cru’ (currently illegal!) and Grand Cru; the Crus being blends of grapes (‘complanted’) that since 2005 do not need to be written on the label. Others haven’t been quite so provocative yet it was great news to hear that two leading negociants, Trimbach and Hugel now plan to release single vineyard Grand Cru wines; with Etienne Hugel putting the change of stance down to the change of generation.

From a buyer’s (and seller’s) perspective I would welcome a shift of emphasis in Alsace from that of the grape back to the vineyard (Cru); especially when one considers that the law promoting single variety wines was only passed in 1975.  Take for example the fine Kitterlé vineyard, owned by Schlumberger and Dirler-Cadé among others. I recall tasting Schlumberger’s Gewurztraminer and the Riesling versions but taking away with me only this image of Kitterlé as a great, minerally-pure vineyard; not whether the Gewurztraminer example was better than the Riesling. Logistically, you could thus argue that  there’s sense to wrap all one’s grapes under the same vineyard bottling (rather than split them up between different single varieties) to ensure you’ve a sufficient quantity to vinify; from a tasting perspective I would welcome fewer wines to sample at each property, focussing more on the vineyard attributes; and for sales, surely having fewer labels to sell, as one emphasizes the vineyard before the grape would make for a more effective offer (and year in, year out too!)? Grape labelled wines, or ‘Vins de Fruits – Vins de l’Instant’ as Deiss (and Ostertag) refer to them, would still have a role where blending is required across different terroirs (for volume and early drinking).

The issue of communicating wine style (dry to sweet) still dogs the region. The promoting body CIVA (Conseil Interprofessional des Vins d’Alsace) favours a 9 point scale while the likes of Zind-Humbrecht and Josmeyer favour 5, taking into consideration the combined effects of residual sugar, alcohol, acidity, and pH on the actual (organoleptic) taste of the wine. Makes sense doesn’t it? But then how does one explain to a customer that a young wine showing ‘moelleux’ on its label will in fact be ‘dry’ come the time to drink it, following your advice to lay it down in the cellar!?

Finally, four words about the 2010 vintage: small crop, excellent quality!

Next week I’ll be reporting the latest news from Austria

Olivier’s confidence has grown noticeably over the four years we have been dealing with him and his wines, and with good reason. He knows that he has filled his boots with a superlative range of wines in 2010, with his usual hallmarks of seductive rich fruit nonetheless faithful to each terroir, but now with an extra degree of refinement. As well as his own confidence – and mine – in the wines, he is happy too with the reaction of the international press, notably Allen Meadows, Steve Tanzer and Jancis Robinson.

The recipe begins with close management in the vineyards, where almost all the plots enjoy the benefit of old vines, from 40 years old for the Meursault and Puligny to 80+ for Gevrey-Chambertin Cazetiers and Mazis-Chambertin. Olivier pays according to the maximum permitted yield from a given plot, rather than the low crop level which is actually set. During vinification the wines are very lightly handled, with a good proportion of stems included to maintain a lively thread throughout, while the barrels are made to order by master cooper Stéphane Chassin, who comes to taste the new vintage before deciding what type of toasting will suit each individual wine.

It is hard to pick particular favourites, but as well as the wines mentioned above I really enjoyed the dancing elegance of the Chambolle Lavrottes, the suave and sensual Gevrey-Chambertin les Champeaux, and similarly among the grands crus the precision of Clos de la Roche and the velvet Bonnes Mares. All three whites showed a fresh dramatic tension which sets them apart from earlier vintages.

This morning we spent our last day of Bordeaux 2011 En Primeur week with a 9am start at Ch. la Mission Haut-Brion, tasting both the Grand Vin and La Mission itself. We’d spent the journey from Margaux to Graves preparing ourselves for the final First Growth and discussing that there have been three or four wines that we are really impressed with this week – and that rival some of the Firsts in terms of quality. Ch. Haut-Brion’s viticultural history can be traced back further than its Médoc First Growth counterparts and the wine this year was notably fragrant on the nose and suitably fresh. Interestingly, we also felt La Mission’s deep black cherry and cassis aromas were all nicely balanced and the nose particularly charming. It is certainly one to consider. Haut-Brion found that the Cabernet Sauvignon suffered with the heat and drought in spring which necessitated strict selection in the vineyard and the crop was further reduced by the optical sorting machine which removed an extra 5% of the volume. The properties new wine, Quintus, was well thought of too and as the winemakers start to learn about this different terroir just 20% of the yield was included in the first blend.

The penultimate property we took in on our trip was the wonderful Domaine de Chevalier, who are one of the few properties in Graves to produce both reds and whites – even if reds do account for 80% of the production. The 2011 red Grand Vin is simply oustanding, glorious silky tannins, seductive, silky and a razor-like precision. Really seductive, beautiful Claret and without question one of the wines of the week, a feat we would also bestow on the marvellous wines of Ch. Haut-Bailly. Veronique Sanders has managed to create something special again this year, the wines remain true to their hallmark of smooth, silkiness but this example displays a  lovely fragrant nose, generous wealth of fruit, focus, concentration and exceptional tannins too. This 2011 promises to be a wine to rival all the ‘Super Seconds’ and a couple of the First Growths too. La Parde de Haut-Bailly was really singing as well, with an abundance of generous juicy fruit and richness.

A perennial underachiever, Ch. Smith Haut Lafitte has been transformed in recent times with significant investment in the winery and specialist consultants overhauling practices. The results have been very positive and their 2011 rouge is aromatic with soft tannins and ripe fruit. Their production is down this year to at approximately 100,000 bottles compared to 120,000 last year, which as usual with this vintage is a result of a smaller drop and careful selections. The blanc is generously fresh, backed up by a good weight of fruit.

2011 Bordeaux is not necessarily going to be an easy vintage to comprehend. There are many beautiful wines, but clearly there isn’t the overall level of excellence found in the recent 2009s and 2010s. Those who have taken great care in their grape selection and prudently tended their vines have achieved great success and these are the wines that we would most like to recommend to our customers, with the usual caveat – so long as the price is right. Pleasingly, the feedback we have received from the vignerons suggests the campaign will be customer focussed, quick to get started and fairly priced.

We fly back to the UK this afternoon and we will take time to reflect on the wines we have tasted while the teams who look after our private clients from the UK, Hong Kong and Japan also head to the South West over the next couple of weeks. Once all of the opinions are collected, we will release our vintage report, individual tasting notes and details of which wine we intend to recommend as well as  ‘Best Buy’ categories before the first wines are released.

The evening tasting set us up nicely for the tasting of two other First Growths and many Super-Seconds on Thursday Morning and we started at Ch. Lafite Rothschild (which is typically very difficult to taste En Primeur – Mr Chevalier often mentions that he would prefer to show his wines in June when they have begun to flourish and this is perhaps even more relevant this year). Ch. Duhart-Millon shone, with an abundance of juice on offer. Ch. Montrose was next up and we were particularly impressed by the second wine, La Dame which showed lovely fruit (72% Merlot and 50% of the crop this year, usually just 38% – much stricter selections having taken place). The Grand Vin yield is 10 hectare liters per hectare down this year, at 35 hectare litres, and it is very well integrated with oak, fruit, silky tannins and overall elegance. It is perhaps one of the most harmonious wines yet.

The quality of wines on display this morning was further enhanced by those at Cos d’Estournel (attractive berry fruit perfume on the nose of the Les Pagodes, with seemless tannins and good fruit on the finish – pretty serious for a second wine. Only 30% of the crop went into the first wine this year and it is the smallest production in terms of cases since 1991.  It is very serious, fulsome and brooding). Ch. Pontet-Canet have excelled with a crop which is 25% down on last year (a wonderfully perfumed nose, beautiful integrated tannins, nice ripe and pure fruit), whilst Ch. Mouton Rothschild was rich, decadent, sweet and generous with extraordinary length -a very good wine, which achieves a layered complexity that one would expect from a First Growth wine.

A pleasing morning was rounded off in some style by the wines of Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou, where the La Croix was showing nicely, perhaps the best ever according to our Fine Wine Director Simon Staples. Ducru itself was incredibly delicious, aged for 18 months in 100% new oak, it’s wonderfully fresh and beautifully constructed. Simply a joy to taste.

In the afternoon we were treated to superb tastings at Ch. Haut-Bages Libéral (25% reduced yield in 2011, it is full and juicy with substance and body, lots of black fruit – a very tasty wine), Ch. Léoville and Langoa-Barton (both very much on form and likely to be in our buying lists) and Ch. Léoville-Poyferré (generous fruit, extremely fine tannins and a promising weight on the palate). Ch. Pichon-Baron has also created a super wine in 2011 (perfumed nose, lots of fruit on the palate and a good balancing acidity/level of tannin on the finish) and this completed our portfolio of perfect wines, confirming to us that despite the obvious difficulties, and unfair benchmarking against 2009 and 2010, this vintage has produced some really good wines too this year.

Tonight we spend the evening tasting at Ch. Léoville Las Cases, one of the largest and oldest classified Growths in the Médoc and another 2ème Cru Classé in name who regularly produce 1er Cru Classé quality wines. Look out for our comments about the wines and the experience in tomorrow’s blog.

Our last daily blog will be live this afternoon and for up-to-the-minute tasting snippets and thoughts from the team, follow Simon Staples, our Fine Wine Director, on Twitter @BigSiTheWineGuy.

Starting at the most northerly point of the Right Bank, Bourg and Blaye lie up river near to the southern tip of the great estuary itself, while you have to travel much further south to the banks of the River Dordogne before you stumble across Fronsac and Canon Fronsac, then Pomerol and Lalande de Pomerol, and finally St Emilion and its satellites.

It is the fleshy Merlot grape which dominates this side of the river, which is sometimes supported by Cabernet Franc in the blend (although at the famous St Emilion property Château Cheval Blanc, Cabernet Franc predominates). The soils are more mixed than on the Left Bank, with clay on top of limestone underpinning the rich, fruity wines of Pomerol. Styles vary more in St Emilion, depending on the predominance of sand in the lower lying slopes, or limestone on the hillsides and plateau.

Another difference this side of the river is the size of the wine estates. The grand châteaux of the Left Bank are mostly large estates, whereas the Right Bank properties tend to be much smaller. This is demonstrated by their production: typically Château Lafite-Rothschild will produce 45,000 cases per annum, whereas Pomerol’s Château Petrus makes around 2,000-3,500 cases.

The 1855 Médoc Classification did not include any Right Bank properties, which is why you do not find any First Growths here. However, St Emilion has its own classification system and whereas the Médoc Classification was set in stone in 1855, St Emilion revises and updates its classifications every 10 years or so. Rather than being judged on price, as with the 1855 Classification, châteaux have to apply for inclusion and are judged by a tasting of their wines from the previous 10 vintages. The Classification groups the best wines into two categories, Premier Grand Cru Classé (which is sub-divided into the rather unglamorous tiers ‘A’ and ‘B’), and the less illustrious Grand Cru Classé. St Emilion may boast Bordeaux’s most meritocratic and up-to-date classification, but the names for its various tiers leave a great deal to be desired. It also leads to much confusion between the overly grandiose and frankly misleading use of Grand Cru for wines that are often distinctly ordinary and barely better than basic appellation wine, and the normally vastly superior Grand Cru Classé whose name is virtually the same (the ‘A’ and ‘B’ sub-categories of Premier Grand Cru Classé are clumsy and rarely used)

In the 2006 Classification, the following châteaux were recognised as the best:

Premiers Grands Crus Classés (A)
Château Ausone
Château Cheval Blanc

Premiers Grands Crus Classés (B)
Château Canon
Château Belair
Château Clos Fourtet
Château Trotte Vieille
Château Angélus
Château Figeac
Château Beau-Séjour Bécot
Château la Gaffelière
Château Beauséjour
Château Magdelaine
Château Pavie
Château Pavie-Macquin
Château Troplong-Mondot

There has never been a classification of Pomerol wines, although the following châteaux are considered some of the best:

Château Pétrus
Vieux Château Certan
Le Pin
Château l’Eglise-Clinet
Château la Conseillante
Château l’Evangile
Château Lafleur`
Château Trotanoy
Château Nenin
Château Beauregard
Château Feytit-Clinet
Château le Gay

Perennial Berrys’ favourite Ch. Batailley followed and they have continued their recent form of providing excellent drinking wine.  Ch. Batailley is typically one of the best value wines from Bordeaux and they suggest that 2011 is a year which will demonstrate the importance of terroir and the quality of the winemaker – similar sentiments to those we heard from Thomas Deroux last night. We tasted many wines from the stable and were delighted to see a weight of fruit throughout the range. Our Fine Wine Director Simon Staples found the Grand Vin to be delicious and Alun Griffiths MW commented on the successful management of fine grained tannins which were well balanced alongside fleshy dark fruits. Ch. Batailley believe the fate of the campaign is in the hands of the First Growths and believes that it will commence within the next two and a half weeks. There seems to be widespread recognition that an early (and quick) campaign is necessary this year, which is of course music to our ears.

The splendour of 2011 Ch. Grand Puy-Lacoste completed our morning and this property continues to make a mockery of its 5ème Cru Classé status with their 2011 which is almost ethereal and Burgundian in style with how it integrates good fruit, freshness, minerality, complexity and length. One of the biggest successes so far. Ch. Haut-Batailley was fresh and neatly rounded with good length too. Tasting continued at  Ch. Lynch-Bages just before lunch, where Jean-Charles Cazes explained that he has heard the same reports about First Growths releasing early as we have. He is skeptical about how soon this may be, but agrees it will be earlier than last year and certainly a quicker campaign. We thoroughly enjoyed tasting the blend of our 2011 BOS Pauillac and the Villa Bel-Air, Ormes de Pez and Echo de Lynch Bages showed all of the fruit profile that has been lacking in similar level wines this week. Very complex wine for the price (or at least the price we hope and expect them to be). The Grand Vin is a real powerhouse and shows a density of fruit and complexity which is really lacking in some other wines of this reputation. It is also very intense and persistent which suggests a very effective selection of grapes. Very fine tannins complete the picture for this terrific wine which should benefit from long-term ageing in the cellar.

The afternoon started at Ch. Beychevelle, which boasts one of the most impressive château in the whole of the Médoc (lovely full juicy weight of fruit is found in the 2011 and the sorting and selections have also been very thorough here to enable it – 39 hectare litres produced compared to over 50 in 2004). Our next stop, conveniently, was right across the road at Ch. Brainaire-Ducru, a property that has enjoyed significant investment in recent years and is known for its classic St Julien which is elegant, ripe, supple and well-balanced. This 2011 is a blend of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon,   24% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 4% Cabernet Franc. Their target production is 45 hectare liters per hectare, they achieved 37 in 2011 – again a result of dry weather (which produced small berries) and careful selections. The wine is very precise and intense, with high levels of tannin well hidden amongst a mouthfeel which doesn’t show excessive weight.

The 2ème Cru Classé property of Ch. Gruaud-Larose that produces one of St Julien`s most full-bodied and long-lived wines was our mid-afternoon visit. The Sarget de Gruaud Larose is nice and juicy, perhaps a little short – but could remain to be great value drinking wine if the price remains right. Very hard selection – using optical eye – has reduced the yield of Gruaud-Larose by 25%, and Petit Verdot has been completely counted out. Little extraction took place and this has really helped to produce a tasty wine.

2011, as with most recent Bordeaux vintages, looks set to be a vintage for long-term storage in the majority of cases, but one will need to be carefully selective in choosing their wines – with wines requiring to bought based on the merits of the individual property rather than the commune. The best wines will surely improve over time, allowing their magical fruit to emerge and integrate with firm but fine tannins. It is also worth noting that at this stage we are appraising wines in the context of this vintage, where some really have been on song, and some less so. Tonight we finish the day with a tasting at Ch. Latour, which we will blog about tomorrow.

Look out for our daily blogs and for up-to-the-minute tasting snippets and thoughts from the team, follow Simon Staples, our Fine Wine Director, on Twitter @BigSiTheWineGuy.

To try it out for ourselves, we ran a small tasting yesterday to see just what all the fuss was about, and found, as expected, that this really is a very classy Claret. Comments by Oli Barton, Laura Atkinson, Emma Brown and Lucy Christopher.

Oli: That’s a very vibrant red! Very inviting!

Laura: Yes, there’s a very classic Ruby hue to this, it’s quite lovely.

Emma: It smells darker than it looks though: I’m getting lots of rich, dark berry fruit on the nose.

Laura: Absolutely, it’s almost black and blue on the nose! Blueberries, blackberries and the typical blackcurrant aroma you get from Cabernet Sauvignon.

Emma: There’s also something cherry-ish about it, almost like the sour cherry notes you might get off a Nebbiolo wine, but it blends beautifully with the black fruit.

Oli: It’s very very ripe, and very very rich. That’s a really expressive nose, nothing shy about that at all.

Emma: I definitely agree with the ripeness, I imagine that’s due to the heat of the 2009 vintage in Bordeaux, so that’s probably why we’re getting such heady fruit notes!

Lucy: Personally I love the oak influence on this vintage, it’s really subtle and deliciously creamy.

Oli: Agreed! It’s very complex, as you said the oak is subtle, it’s not like being smacked around the face with a barrel, which you can get from some young Clarets.

Laura: There’s the sweet spicy flavours you’d expect from the oak but there’s almost the tiniest hint of smoke to it as well, which keeps it balanced instead of cloying.

Emma: As the office foodie, I feel obliged to say that this belongs next to a chunk of rare roast beef.

Oli: Yes, I’d say this is very adaptable, and would go with lots of different foods; I’d definitely have this with roasts or a cheese platter.

Laura: What makes this particularly good with food (I imagine, it’s not like we have any beef here unfortunately) is that it’s instantly approachable. I actually tried the magnum of this a few days ago and found it a little more closed and acidic, so I’d definitely recommend decanting that one before serving it with food.

Lucy: I’m sorry I’m not speaking up too much, I’m just too focused on tasting this! It’s gorgeous.

Laura: I have to say this has to be the best Extra Ordinary Claret I’ve ever tasted, even better than the beautiful 2005. Which is saying something.

Oli: I think we can all agree on that. This really is a rich, balanced gem.

To learn more about Extra Ordinary Claret, both the 2009 vintage and the history of the wine, please visit our website.

Joanne is an incredibly atmospheric location to taste wine, their cellars which are decorated with wonderful art and lighting make it really something to behold. We made our selections from the extensive ‘menu-like’ list, donned our bibs and began tasting the Haut-Médocs. There were some lean wines on show that are just a bit short of fruit (probably a result of the cold summer) and displaying a little too much oak. Where wines have been successful, fruit comes to the fore, they show some weight on the palate alongside a little sweetness and there is great complexity and concentration on the finish.

We were also able to taste many wines from Sauternes and Barsac at Joanne and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The wines show outstanding purity and are extremely delicious (perhaps lacking a little acidity). 2011 is definitely a successful vintage for the sweet wines. Our conclusions from tasting over 60 wines is that the wines from 2011 are not consistent, but when the best wines come along they are definitely worth the wait – balance, pure fruit and refreshing finishes being the hallmark of these examples.

After leaving Joanne, we set off straight to Margaux for another afternoon of Château-hopping. We began at Ch. Angludet, which is situated at the 3-way intersection of the Cantenac, Arsac and Labarde communes. The wine is light in style with pretty, crunchy fruit. Very elegant indeed, with no heavy tannins, and very little if no extraction.

Ch. D’Issan was our second stop and seeing the Château’s famous moat instantly gets the pulse racing. We tasted both Blason D’Issan (lovely crunchy red fruit, well balanced and silky smooth) and the Grand Vin, Ch. D’Issan (warm, ripe and sweet red fruits – concentration, balance and grip all supported by finely woven tannins). A very good start to the afternoon.

The wines at 2ème Cru Classé Ch. Brane-Cantenac continue to improve each recent year, with more weight and concentration being found, although they still possess that haunting bouquet and quintessential elegance that characterises the wine of Margaux. Hail damaged part of the crop this year, so the volume of wine is reduced. They use a new Air Tech Wine System after hand-selection which measures the grapes and helps to ensure that those which are selected meet the winemaker’s exact criteria.  The wine is fantastic,  absolutely delicious with a lot more weight of fleshy fruit, and a richness that many other wines in the Margaux commune lack.

We moved on to Ch. Rauzan-Ségla, a property that along with Ch. Mouton Rothschild was considered to be among the leading 2emé Cru Classé properties in the 19th Century. The 2011 wine shows no over-oak, fine tannins and great weight, with a lovely mid palate of red fruit. Hail damaged the crop here too, with 25% less cases produced this year. John Kolasa would like First Growths to come out soon, and recognises that prices need to come down – he didn’t commit to any percentage figures for the reduction though.

We arrived at the famous, grand property of Ch. Margaux in the middle of the afternoon and it was great to see Alexandra (Corinne Mentzelopoulos’ daughter) who spent some time in our UK Marketing deparment last summer during a break from her studies. She talked to us about the vintage and the style of Margaux wines along with Paul Pontallier. Paul suggested that the drought was very severe at Ch. Margaux between March and June which reduced the crop to its lowest level in 20 years. Margaux picked the grapes in early September, the earliest for many years, and employed even more rigorous selection than ever.

Paul thinks the quality and styles of the 2011 wines vary enormously and you have to investigate thoroughly to find the best examples. He describes Pavillon Rouge as not the best ever, but of good quality and reflective of its usual style. The wines have the richest level of tannin ever, so they didn’t over extract, which has helped to preserve the quality of the fruit. Ch. Margaux shows very elegant, tight and fine tannins – it is a wine of great finesse – hallmarks of a great Margaux. Paul thinks 2011 has helped to produce one of the greatest Pavillon Blancs ever. It is a wine of great freshness, with glorious acidity. We think it is fantastic too.

Our last stop of the day was Ch. Palmer, officially classified as a 3ème Cru Classé, but established as a ‘Super Second’ long before the likes of Ch. Léoville Las Cases, Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou and Ch. Pichon-Lalande. Hail, sunburn and drought contributed to a challenging year in the vineyard, and the production is 10% down compared to last year. Whilst tasting the Grand Vin there were numerous nods (and noises) of approval from our team and it was considered to be impressively precise, with fine grained tannins and an impressive balance before a tremendous finish. Alter Ego is displaying a delicious perfume, it is well focussed and has lovely minerality, crunchy red fruit and firm tannins which are nicely integrated.

We have tasted something in the region of 80 different wines today and a recurring theme seemed to be that there is just not enough flesh to the fruit and balance of oak and tannins on the palate. That said, wines that impressed us have indeed shown all of these qualities and the pleasing thing is that there are a number of triumphant 2011s that we have tasted. The Right Bank, along with St Julien and Sauternes have captured our attention so far and appear to be leading the way. As we mentioned in yesterday’s blog, making focussed selections and ‘cherry-picking’ a list of wines is going to be a very important part of the Wine Merchants’ role in this year’s campaign and that is exactly what we intend to do. We still have many wines to taste during the remainder of the week and we are very much looking forward to doing so.

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