Bordeaux tasting highlights quality potential in lesser vintages

“We are back to Bordeaux,” declared Vieux Château Certan director Alexandre Thienpont, referring to the results of the 2012 vintage during a tasting of his wines in London earlier this month.

Speaking during an event organised by the Institute of Masters of Wine, Thienpont explained that 2012 was a more typical Bordeaux vintage after the exceptional 2009, 2010 and 2011 harvests – three years which he grouped together for their quality and fruit ripeness.

Comparing these great harvests to the latest vintage – which will form the focus of Bordeaux’s April en primeur campaign – he continued, “That’s not to say we were in foreign countries, but 2012 is less powerful, more sensitive.”

He also described it as an “elegant vintage” and “a Cabernet Franc year” at the Pomerol estate, before admitting that 2012 reminded him of 2006 – a vintage he also said was comparable to 1996 (a year previously described as “a favourite of the Thienpont family” by Fiona Morrison MW, wife of Jacques Thienpont, who is owner of nearby Le Pin and Alexandre’s cousin).

Unlike a tasting of Cheval Blanc later that day, Thienpont chose not to bring barrel-samples of the 2012 to taste with the audience of UK press and MW students, but poured some lesser vintages from Bordeaux to highlight both the style of such years, but also the quality achievable in difficult harvests when strict selection is employed.

“When I suggested we taste the 2008 and 2002, there were slight rumblings from the Institute,” began Morrison, who sat between Alexandre and Jacques to discuss the wines and answer questions.

“’Surely we will only be tasting the best’, they must have thought, but we thought it would be interesting to see what you can pull out in years that are difficult.”

Stressing the difference between an easy and difficult harvest in Bordeaux, she added, “If 2005 was a deckchair vintage – you just sat back and watched the grapes ripen – 2008 was a really difficult vintage: in 2008 we worried about too much heat, too much drought and then rain during harvest.”

Jacques Thienpont, Fiona Morrison MW and Alexandre Thienpont captured after the tasting, which was held on 5 February at Trinity House in London.

Nevertheless, Morrison said, “But we have great grapes for this vintage, and I love this wine, and, sadly, it’s one of the last affordable vintages in Bordeaux.”

Explaining further her feelings on the wine, she said, “It’s what we call un vin digeste, because it helps you digest: it has a crunchy, easy quality to it.”

Similarly, Thienpont said, “With the 2005 you can taste the effect of the sun’s rays on the vine, while in 2008 you can almost feel the effect of the rainwater on the grapes, it is cooler, and we are happier with it.”

Also sampled during the event was the 2006 vintage from the Pomerol estate, which, like 2008, is another year overshadowed by the more famous 2005 vintage.

Recalling the harvest, Thienpont said, “The worst thing in 2006 was the rain, and when we started picking the young vines there were two storms, one with 40mm [of rain] and then another with 60mm, meaning we had 100mm in one day.

“The vineyard was like a swimming pool, but the forecast for the rest of the week was good, so we waited to get rid of the dilution and started picking again one week later.

“We did lose a lot of the yield to rot – we had just 30 hl/ha in 2006 – but we picked the grapes at optimum ripeness,” he added.

As for the concept of optimum ripeness, when questioned, Thienpont said it was difficult to define, but involved striking a balance between ripe flavours in the pulp and the grape skins.

“You can pick grapes green, or ripe for the juice, but not for the skins, or ripe for the skins, but then it can be overripe for the juice… the decision is made by tasting [the grapes] and analysis.”

Morrison was quick to agree and commented, “In the 2006 you find a slight note of Cabernet Franc greenness, and there is this idea of noble bitterness – it is more important to capture that, than have the fear of overripeness.”

Indeed, Thienpont noted that during the blending process, it seems counterintuitive to add Cabernet Franc to the luscious Merlot.

“You have to fight [with yourself] to put in Cabernet Franc because it dominates the smiley part – the Merlot – but after four months the complexity comes through.”

Then, summing up her thoughts on the vintage, Morrison said, “If someone was to ask me what does Vieux Château Certan tastes like, I would say taste the 2006, it is textbook Vieux Château Certan – it uses the potential in all the parcels.”

The audience was also served the 2002 vintage from Vieux Château Certan – a year when, as Morrison joked, “the summer never existed”.

Rainfall both before and after veraison ensured this was a difficult – and probably the hardest – vintage in Bordeaux in the last decade.

Despite such conditions, the wine was, Morrison said, “Ripe but with a slightly crunchy structural quality of a vintage that has rain.”

Continuing she commented, “We know what to do with a bad vintage, and the 2002 shows you what an estate can do when it’s at its full potential… it is an interesting lesson.”

Other years poured during the tasting, such as 1996 and 2001 were those with a higher reputation for quality, but also vintages following celebrated harvests.

But, speaking of the latter year, Morrison said that she was “much more convinced of the quality” of the 2001 vintage on the Right Bank than the more famous 2000.

“In 2001 Vieux Château Certan you have this elegance because there is the wonderful vein of Cabernet Franc freshness,” she stated.