2014 Bordeaux Primeurs: Results(11)
- 2014 Bordeaux dry whites
- The 2014 Sauternes and Barsacs
- The 2014 Bordeaux reds by appellation
- The very good 2014s: 137 wines scored 15.5 and 15.75
- Erratum
- The end of the 2014 reports
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2014 Bordeaux dry whites
Good year, but watch out for acidity!
The cool summer left two distinctive characteristics in this vintage:
- The development of aroma precursors that were revealed as the wine was made.
- A lot of acidity: so much so that a lot of estates carried out partial malolactic fermentation. Notice how the softness that results from this second modification changes the identity of Sauvignon Blanc. With increased softness and greater smoothness this year it feels not unlike Semillon on the palate.
The highest scored wines feature the best combination of a commanding aromatic range and richly supple body, but are also vibrant, which is a vintage-specific characteristic.
The 2014 Sauternes and Barsacs
Good year for Sauternes, a very good one for Barsac
2014 is another year to fan jealousy between the two appellations. I don't remember seeing so many differences between them en primeur.
Just a reminder: Barsac has limestone soils while Sauternes soils are more sandy gravel and clay. During September's heat and drought, the grapes appear to have held on to more lustre in Barsac's limestone, where the vines would have found more water, than in the better drained soils of Sauternes. 2014 Sauternes often display fruit compote on the nose. On the other hand, Barsac wines have never expressed one of their distinctive aromas so strongly: that of lime.
Amongst the Sauternes, the coldest areas or terroirs i.e. with the most clay (in Fargues for example), managed to keep the vitality of their fruit and escaped the compote feature.
After the dry heat of September, botrytis took time to develop. Except for at the very beginning of September, the least patient growers harvested raisined grapes or were tempted to resort to chaptalization or cryoextraction.
Growers had to wait for rain on 8th and 9th October for humidity to trigger botrytis. The warm temperatures that ensued drove up evaporation and the sugar content of the grapes, which ended up candied. The 2014 Bordeaux sweet whites are very often blends of raisined and botrytised grapes. The meticulous harvests are small and scarcely reward the effort – a thorny paradox for this type of wine.
The wines are beautifully rich in residual sugar. The best have ethereal, melting structures induced by fine botrytis with no off-notes, which come with damp years.
The 2014 Bordeaux reds by appellation
Here are my notes scribbled down in real time as I explored the vintage appellation by appellation.
- Pomerol
Very good vintage, but uneven
- Saint-Emilion
Very good uneven vintage
- Fronsac
Great vintage
- Côtes de Castillon
Great vintage, but patchy
- Saint-Emilion Satellites, Côtes, Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieurs
Good vintage
- Pessac Léognan and Graves
Good vintage
- Médoc
- Margaux
Good to very good vintage, but very patchy
- Saint-Julien
Good to very good vintage
- Pauillac
Very good even vintage
- Saint-Estèphe
Very good to great vintage, but patchy
- Médoc and Haut-Médoc
Good to very good vintage, but very patchy
To read more
En Primeurs 2014 see the reports – access the database
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