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BORDEAUX 2015: A Great Vintage Terroir Talks, Extraction Walks By Charles M. Bear Dalton

Is 2015 a Great Bordeaux Vintage? The short answer is “YES!” But that’s a bit simplistic so read on for the more complete - and slightly qualified - but still resoundingly “YES!” answer.

2015 offers charming, easy-to-like wines of balance, often elegance, and even pizzazz with forward, full-range red fruit and plenty of freshness. The fruit character on both sides of the river tends to red and dark red and darker red fruit with almost no black fruit. While I skipped tasting some of the most notorious extractors, I saw much more red color and much less purple-black in these lovely 2015 wines than in recent top vintages. Terroir (place) is a bigger part of the equation in 2015 than it has been in recent great vintages such as 2009 and 2010. Maybe this is a welcome stylistic pendulum swing as seemingly very few chateaux felt the need to overwhelm their terroir with winemaking.

At the top level (which is where we’re focused), these are balanced, mostly elegant wines that are already delicious but have the acidity (freshness) to last and develop. Some say 2015 may be a bit better on the right bank than the left, but I don’t see that. For me, quality (for the top wines) is pretty even across both the Merlot-dominant and Cabernet-dominant wines. Some commentators have described 2015 as a cross between 2009 and 2010 with the charm of the former and some of the structure of the latter. Hmm. Maybe not so much. The 2015s are less marked by an overriding vintage character (such as a uniform ripeness or a defining phenolic profile) and much more marked by (or dependent on) their terroir than any recent great vintage. At its heart, this is a pretty vintage. In fact, 2015 is the best pretty vintage in my experience. Already balanced and approachable, the best wines have the aging potential of the best wines of 2010 or 2009, 2005, or 1995. Of course, the wines I recommend (see BORDEAUX 2015: Scores, Tech, and a little Commentary on starting on page 20) are - at their price points - the best of the best. If you choose your 2015s from within this suggested range, you will enjoy fine drinking for many years to come.

SpecsFineWine.com BORDEAUX 2015: A Great Vintage Page !1

The Wines We Consider There are around 8,000 chateaux producing wine in Bordeaux ranging from the cheapest (under 4 euros in a French supermarket) to the most expensive (including some that will at some point sell for thousands of dollars per bottle). Of those 8,000 chateaux, fewer than 1,000 have much chance of doing any meaningful business in the US. If you gave me enough time and an incentive to do it, I might could name as many as 700 chateaux. Of those, a good number are properties I regularly drive past but gave up tasting years ago. At this point when I taste a new vintage, I’m really looking at no more than 400 wines out of the 8,000 or so possibles – and some of those are tasted for informational purposes only. Ultimately, Spec’s may buy up to as many as 200 different Bordeaux wines in all price ranges from the 2015 vintage. Maybe 100-to-125 of those wines will be from glamorous name chateaux and the others will be fine, more value-oriented wines that actually make up most of the unit sales volume of the Bordeaux category. So, after two weeks of tasting, my evaluation of the 2015 Bordeaux vintage is based on a sampling of the best wines at each price point - but they are the wines you are most likely to encounter in the US market.

What’s Inside . . . Visiting and Tasting in Bordeaux 2 On Tasting, Notes, & Scores 3 Bordeaux 2015 Travelogue 4 Scores, Tech, and Commentary on Individual Wines 20 Bordeaux 2015 Weather Report 31 Map of Bordeaux Appellations 32

http://specsfinewine.com

Visiting and Tasting in Bordeaux During each of the last twenty years, I’ve traveled to Bordeaux to take part in the Union des Grands Crus (UGC) En Premiere week. After almost forty years of working professionally with Bordeaux wines and twenty years of regularly visiting Bordeaux to taste and learn and buy, I know my way around the city and the region and the wines (please see page 4 for my 2015 Bordeaux Travelogue). Thinking back, I realize that with this, my twentieth UGC tasting in Bordeaux, and several other trips with customers, for training and certification as a Bordeaux educator, and for Vinexpo, I have now spent a full year over the last twenty years in Bordeaux. A year in Bordeaux. Twenty years in Bordeaux. Either way, it’s a major milestone. It makes me reflect back on the wines and the people and the places and what I’ve learned about Bordeaux with my cowboy boots on the ground during the second half of my wine career. What a long and wonderful trip it’s been!

Seeing it Fresh When I visit Bordeaux, it’s good to have someone with me who’s never been there. On this trip, I had three of Spec’s wine guys: Richard Malphrus, Robert Boyd, and James Barlow. All are well-traveled, experienced, and have good-book-and-tasting-knowledge of Bordeaux but had never been there. Why is that good? Beyond that they are good company and gained invaluable boots-on-the-ground experience, I get to see it fresh through their eyes - and that keeps me from taking what I am seeing-doing-and-tasting for granted. I pay attention not just to the places and people and wines but also to how these accomplished if a bit wide-eyed wine professionals react and respond.

Making Sausage Much of this trip is about evaluating the 2015s and some is about finding fine, mature wines to sell. Both parts are what everyone imagines and wishes they could be part of. In that regard, the guys I’m traveling with are living the dream.

But another important part of visiting Bordeaux is about the wines of the basic Bordeaux business - which can be about as glamorous as watching sausage making. While there may not be a lot of wine geek interest in reading about a good-but-not-great, sub-$10 Bordeaux rouge or Entre Deux Mers white, those wines still have to be found, tasted, and evaluated. The results are worth the effort but the people so engaged would often rather be doing something else. It helps to have a lot of experience but it also helps to have those fresh eyes mentioned above.



On Tasting, Notes, & Scores An acquaintance in Bordeaux (who is admittedly a bit of a dirty old man) once told me that “Tasting wine is like kissing girls. You remember the best and you remember the worst. For the rest you need a diary.” He went on to allow that many girls “kiss differently each time you kiss ‘em.” He had two points and both, however picturesquely expressed, are valid. 1) Without tasting notes, even great wines begin to run together … but there are wines that – for reasons both good and bad – transcend the need for a note. On the positive side of that equation, the first sips of both 1996 Ch. Margaux (in 1997) and 1999 Ch. Latour (in 2000) come readily to mind. No notes necessary. On the negative side, there were those awful wines from Russia . . . And 2) Wine changes. Young wines can change a lot and quickly. A tasting note is a snap shot of a wine right in the moment when you tasted it. Freezing that moment in a note – like snapping a photograph – does not lock the living, evolving wine into place. The wine will change - so some of the sensory perception information in a tasting note is going out of date the moment the note is completed.

Whenever possible, I taste wines multiple times to get a more complete impression. But even for wines that I only taste once on a given trip, I have – over an-almost-forty-year-career tasting Bordeaux and twenty-years of going to Bordeaux to taste – a frame of reference built of tasting wines from the same property(s) in other vintages, or at the least tasting lots of similar wines.

For me, notes are most valuable when technical data is included because that data - blend, place, notes about technique and aging - combines with a property’s track record to give me a more useful picture. The more developed and stable a wine is, the more useful for a longer period of time a tasting note is. A tasting note on a wine that has moved into the range of bottle maturity may be a good indicator for several years - just as I (at 57 years old) am readily identifiable from a photograph taken five or even ten years ago. However, for very young wines, tasting notes are more likely to offer an impression of overall quality - which is where the score comes in. What’s the identification value of a passport photo of a six-moth-old baby after the child has turned four or five? (Is that really you? You look so young!)

When I taste, I’m most interested in the fruit and balance of the wine. The fruit has to be there from the start. Wines without enough acidity (proper balance) will not develop or even keep. The fruit should not be overwhelmed by winemaking. Color can be a good indicator. Redder wines taste fresher. More purple wines usually indicate more ripeness and extraction. Fine wines should taste of the grapes they are made from and the place those grapes were grown. Fruit, balance, place, and pizzazz are what make up a score and they are most often still there, even after the wine changes.


From right to left: My trusty MacBook Pro open to my tasting note database, wine from Ch. Latour, and the all-important spit cup


BORDEAUX 2015 TRAVELOGUE What We Tasted When and Where TUESDAY (3/29/16) This first day for me was tasting appointments with two negoçiants: Barriere and Ballande et Meneret. Both appointments were more about looking at values and new properties than evaluating 2015s. That actually started in earnest on Wednesday after I picked up my Spec’s colleagues at the Bordeaux airport (aka BOD, aka Bordeaux Merignac).

Highlights of the first day: The few 2015s I tasted were frankly delicious – Ch. BEYCHEVELLE (94+) and 2nd vin AMIRAL de BEYCHEVELLE (92) showing great – but it is way too early to start making pronouncements about the vintage. However, I did taste two non-2015 wines that really got me going.

The first was a basic St. Emilion (not even Grand Cru) that has decided to be all it can be: Ch. TRUQUET, St. Emilion, 2012

A unique blend of 20% Cabernet Sauvignon (yes, Sauvignon – not Franc) and 80% Merlot grown on a gravelly area (rare for St. Emilion) near Ch. Figeac, fermented and aged all in concrete tanks. Deep-red in color with well formed legs; dry, medium-bodied with freshly-balanced acidity and medium phenolics. Supple, fresh, oddly gravelly-Cabby baby Figeac. Delicious red fruit. Fresh and alive in the mouth. Simple (in the best way) and pretty. YUM. BearScore: 91+. This is a find. When it comes in (it will be a while), it will be under $15 a bottle. Could be (along with Ch. Tour Salvet) a new house Bordeaux.

The second was a perfectly aged older wine from a favorite producer: Ch. GRUAUD LAROSE, St. Julien, 1995

A perfectly aged blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petite Verdot. Medium-deep-red in color with well formed legs; dry, medium-bodied with still freshly-balanced acidity and medium-chewy phenolics. Dusty, developed tobacco nose with sweet developed perfectly drinking red fruit, oak, and dusty gravel. Supple and still fresh. Absolutely Delicious. Stunningly good. BearScore: 96+. We tasted this at the office and drank some with lunch. It should be about $160 (assuming a reasonably stable Euro) a bottle when it comes in and it will be coming direct from the chateau.

WEDNESDAY (3/30/16) Welcome to Bordeaux, now get to work. I started with a portfolio tasting (no 2015s) at Clarence Dillon Wines (the Ch. Haut Brion folks) tasting their Clarendelle fine Bordeaux Red, White, and Rosé wines and an excellent Monbazillac Dessert White before heading to BOD to pick up the team. We got a quick, welcome-to-Bordeaux lunch and then headed north to our first appointments at Ch. Latour in Pauillac and Ch. Gruaud Larose in St. Julien.

On Wednesday we tasted more 2015s but, as on Tuesday, it was the older, more developed wines that stole the show.

At Ch. Latour where we tasted both the 2015s (which will not be offered as futures) and the wines Latour is currently selling (Pauillac 2010, Les Forts 2009, and Grand Vin 2000). The PAUILLAC de LATOUR 2015 (92), Les FORTS de LATOUR 2015 (95), and Grand Vin de Ch. LATOUR 2015 (97-99) all showed very well.

Here are my notes on the current releases from Ch. Latour – which has withdrawn from the en premiere system. We tasted the 2015s to get a look at the new vintage (even though the wines won’t be offered for several years) and then tasted these three wines that Ch. Latour is currently offering:

PAUILLAC de LATOUR (3rd Vin de Ch. Latour), Pauillac, 2010 A blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44.5% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Franc. Red-Purple with well formed legs; dry, medium-bodied with freshly-balanced acidity and medium-chewy



phenolics. Supple, juicy; the flavors are developing but the wine is still fresh. Lots of red and darker red fruit with gravel and tobacco and a bit of spice. YUM. 92+. Les FORTS de LATOUR (2nd Vin de Ch. Latour), Pauillac, 2009 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32.5% Merlot, 0.5% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petite Verdot. Red-purple in color with well formed legs; dry, medium full-bodied with freshly-balanced acidity; medium-chewy phenolics. Elegant, supple, developing. Deep red and darker red fruit with tobacco and spice, gravel and dust. 94+. Ch. LATOUR, Pauillac, 2000 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petite Verdot. Red-purple in color, and with well formed legs; dry, medium-full-bodied with freshly-balanced acidity; medium-plus phenolics. Lovely-pure-focused-integrated-complete. Fruit, dry floral, and pencil shavings bouquet. WOW. Beautiful wine. 98.

No firm pricing on any of these as yet, but Spec’s will have all of them. Something to look forward to!

At Ch. Gruaud Larose, we got an interesting tour including a panoramic view of St. Julien from their tower and tasted four wines including the SARGET de GRUAUD 2015 (91+) and the Ch. GRUAUD LAROSE 2015 (95). It’s funny how things work out. Yesterday I gushed over Ch. Gruaud Larose 1995 and today we visited Gruaud. So now I can gush over the 2009 Sarget (the 2nd wine of Gruaud Larose) and the 2001 Ch. Gruaud Larose.

Why the focus on Gruaud? I first became an appreciator of Ch. Gruaud Larose in 1983 when I got to taste from a magnum of 1962 which was then on the wine list at Tony’s in Houston. That 1962 dazzled me and I went back for more. In fact, I drank them out of that wine. And then I started looking at other vintages of Ch. Gruaud Larose.

Which brings me to now. Over the last two years, I have served multiple vintages of Ch. Gruaud Larose (’08, ’09, ’10, ’11, and ’12) at several dinners and tastings and all have showed well, often against more expensive wines. As to the two older vintage wines we tasted:

SARGET de GRUAUD LAROSE (2nd vin), St. Julien, 2009 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc, and 7% Petite Verdot aged 18-months in all French oak barrels (30% new). Red-purple in color, and with well formed legs; dry, medium full-bodied with freshly-balanced acidity; medium-plus phenolics. Delicious, dusty pencil shavings, dark red fruit. spice, tobacco leaf. All in a swirl. Integrating nicely but the pieces are still somewhat defined. 92+. Ch. GRUAUD LAROSE, St. Julien, 2001 A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petite Verdot aged 24-months in all 3-year air-dried French oak barrels (70% new oak barrels). Sensory: red-purple in color, and with well formed legs; dry, medium full-bodied with freshly-balanced acidity and medium phenolics. Pencil Shavings and dark red fruit; ripe and even exotic. Tobacco-spice and dusty gravel. Supple, Alive. Complete. 95+.

Not a bad start to their trip.


Ch. Gruaud Larose


THURSDAY (03/31/16) Get Your Motor Runnin’ Everyone got a good night’s sleep after an early Wednesday dinner at the hotel’s bistro. And so at 8:30am we were off to an office tasting with brothers Archie and Ivanhoe Johnston of Bordeaux negoçiant Nathaniel Johnston before a full day of tasting with Ivanhoe on the Right Bank. Johnston is Spec’s largest supplier of classified growth Bordeaux and a good source for some fine value wines as well. 2015 highlights from the office tasting included: Ch. TOUR SALVET, Haut Medoc, 2015 (90+) A fresh and accessible, dusty-Cabby red from Cussac – Fort de Medoc between Margaux and St. Julien from the team at Ch. Retout. Ch. TOUR SAINT BONNET, Medoc, 2015 (90) Ch. VIEUX CLOS St. EMILION, St. Emilion, 2015 (91) Elegant wine from a sandy terroir to the west of St. Emilion Ch. SOCIANDO MALLET, Haut Medoc, 2015 (91+) Ch. LAGRANGE, St. Julien, 2015 (91+) Ch. d’ISSAN, Margaux, 2015 (93+) Tasted again a week later with a higher score Ch. MALESCOT St. EXUPERY, Margaux, 2015 (92+) Ch. TAILLEFER, Pomerol, 2015 (91+) Ch. BERLIQUET, St. Emilion, 2015 (93) Ch. le GAY, Pomerol, 2015 (92) Ch. GRACIA, Pomerol, 2015 (94+).

Following the office tasting, we were off to Ch. La POINTE (93+, best La Pointe yet?), Ch. CLINET (94), and Ch. GAZIN (92+), before visiting old friend François Despagne to taste his Castillon Ch. AMPELIA (91+) and St. Emilion Grand Cru Classé Ch. GRAND CORBIN DESPAGNE (94).

Then it was on to taste with Jean Philippe Janouiex at Ch. La Confession where we were welcomed with the Texas flag flying and Jean Philippe in boots and a western hat. We tasted Ch. CROIX MOUTON, Bordeaux, 2015 (90+) Ch. le CONSEILLER, Bordeaux, 2015 (90+) 20 MILLE, Bordeaux, 2015 (91+) A 100% Merlot vineyard next to le Conseiller planted to 20,000 vines per hectare (5,000 is standard) CAP St. GEORGES, St. Georges St. Emilion, 2015 (91) Ch. la CROIX St. GEORGES, Pomerol, 2015 (95-96) Wraps around two sides of Ch. Le Pin and, more and more, tastes like it Ch. la CONFESSION, St. Emilion, 2015 (94)

Next stop: Ch. DAUGAY (93 and best Daugay yet) to taste with the irrepressible Jean Bernard Grenie. After which we were off to Ch. Canon la Gaffeliere.

At Ch. Canon la Gaffeliere, we were greeted by self-described “poor, simple, lonely, French farmer” Stephen von Niepperg (who as a chateau owner is, in fact, a farmer) and tasted


My friends Archie and Ivanhoe Johnston


Ch. CLOS MARSALETTE, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2015 (91+) Great value Pessac Leognan Ch. d’AIGUILHE, Cotes de Castillon, 2015 (93) The reference standard for Castillon CLOS de l’ORATOIRE, St. Emilion, 2015 (93) Ch. CANON la GAFFELIERE, St. Emilion, 2015 (95-97) Ch. la MONDOTTE, St. Emilion, 2015 (96-98) Ch. CLOS MARSALETTE, Pessac Leognan Blanc, 2015 (92) Delicious great value in a fresher-style Pessac Leognan white Ch. d’AIGUILHE, Bordeaux Blanc, 2015 (93) Delicious Sauvignon Blanc (grown in Castillon) fermented and aged in all older oak barrels Ch. GUIRAUD, Sauternes, 2015 (94) Yet another delicious 2015 Sauternes

After this great lineup, we finished Thursday in the bar at the Hostellerie de Plaisance overlooking the rainy town of St. Emilion with a glass of Billecart Salmon (aka “Billy Goat”) Blanc de Blancs Champagne (courtesy of Ivanhoe Johnston) to celebrate my 20 years in Bordeaux. There are a lot worse ways to finish the day.

FRIDAY (04/01/16) Just another day in paradise

As did Thursday, Friday started with an office tasting with a negoçiant, this time Compagnie Medocaine, which is owned by international insurance company AXA. While AXA also owns Ch. Pichon Baron and Ch. Suduiraut, among other properties, Medocaine is primarily a source for us of some fine value wines from all over Bordeaux. Most of the wines we tasted there are not offered as futures and were not from the 2015 vintage and so are more the subject of a different report.

Nevertheless, the Medocaine team set up a tasting and lunch for us at Ch. Mauvesin Barton in Moulis where we tasted with owner Lilian Barton Sartorius and daughter/winemaker Melanie Barton Sartorius (as well as with Medocaine boss Georges Haushaulter and Medocaine USA manager Guillaume Clarke). As Ch. Mauvesin Barton is both a wine chateau and a horse ranch (both Barton-Sartorius women are avid equestrians) and the Barton-Sartorious family are most welcoming, I felt quite at home.

Before a lovely family lunch, we tasted the 2015s from Ch. MAUVESIN BARTON (91), Ch. LANGOA BARTON (93), and Ch. LEOVILLE BARTON (94-96).


Hard at work at Compagnie Medocaine

Melanie Barton-Sartorius with her mother and father Lilian Barton-Sartorious and Michel Sartorious


When we left the warm welcome and delicious lunch of Ch. Mauvesin Barton we were already late for Ch. Lafite Rothschild so we were, for the first time on this trip, scrambling. At Lafite, in their professional tasting room, we tasted five wines:

Ch. DUHART MILON, Pauillac, 2015 (92) CARRUADES de LAFITE (2nd vin), Pauillac, 2015 (93) Ch. LAFITE ROTHSCHILD, Pauillac, 2015 (98-100) At this point in the trip, the best 2015 red I’d tasted and the best young Lafite I have ever tasted. CARMES de Ch. RIEUSSEC (2nd vin), Sauternes, 2015 (92) Ch. RIEUSSEC, Sauternes, 2015 (96-98)

After Lafite, we had a long drive back into Bordeaux for another negoçiant office tasting, this time with old friend François Thienpont at Wings. While we buy some classified growth Bordeaux from François, this tasting was more about value wines and some second wines from top chateaux (but not from the 2015 vintage).

Best wine from the Wings tasting: GRAVETTE de CERTAN (2nd vin of Vieux Chateau Certan), Pomerol, 2014 (93, due at Spec’s in 2017).

Biggest surprise of the Wings tasting (and maybe the whole trip): PINS de DUNES, Bordeaux Rosé, 2015 (92+) I wasn’t expecting to taste any Rosé on this trip (drink maybe but not taste) so that was surprise number one. Surprise number two is that, while I liked the 2014 iteration of this wine, I didn’t love it. I do love this 2015 Bordeaux Rosé. Formerly called “Pins de Pyla,” this is a blend of 1/3 Cabernet Sauvignon, 1/3 Merlot, and 1/3 Cabernet Franc made using direct pressing (no saignee) and aged only in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. Pale-pink-rose in color with good legs; dry, light-bodied with fresh, refreshing acidity and scant phenolics. Bubble-gum-dust and Jolly Rancher melon, strawberry, and citrus. Although all that fruit leaves a sweet impression, the vivid acidity and beam of mineral keep it dry, clean, and super refreshing. Delicious.

We finished Friday with dinner at classic Bordeaux brasserie Le Noailles on the Allees de Tourny. I asked the guys to trust me – and they said they did – so we started our meal with oysters-on-the-half-shell and grilled sausages, foie gras, and bone marrow, all served with Sauternes – and they loved it. While Sauternes with foie gras was no surprise and with bone marrow was not much of a stretch, they were blown away by how good Sauternes is with raw oysters, especially when interspersed with bites of the thin grilled sausages that are a specialty of the oyster bars in Bordeaux. You know you want to try it.



SATURDAY (04/02/16) Family Affairs

Saturday right before the official UGC week (which really started on Monday April 4th) is necessarily a bit of a down day as everyone needs a break to get ready for the extremely busy following week. So we had three Saturday morning appointments at three small, family-owned chateaux that were unlikely to have lots of visitors the following week: Vieux Ch. Saint Andre, Ch. Laplagnotte Bellvue, and Ch. Truquet.

Located in Montagne St. Emilion, Vieux Ch. Saint Andre is the long time home of former Ch. Petrus winemaker (and current Ch. Petrus consultant) Jean Claude Berrouet. The wine is made by Berrouet and his son and the winery is an impeccably-designed, spotlessly-clean, jewel-box of a chateaux producing the reference point wine for all the St. Emillion satellites (Montagne, Lussac, St. Georges, and Puisseguin) as well as making a fine, more delicately-styled Lalande de Pomerol called Ch. Samion. Berrouet uses a pump-over fermentation in a mix of concrete and stainless steel tanks, all with temperature control, and ages the wines in barrels. While we tasted other vintages, the 2015 Samion was not available to taste due to where it was in the process. We did taste and quite liked the VIEUX Ch. SAINT ANDRE 2015 (92+).

From there we took the back roads to St. Emilion Grand Cru property Ch. Laplagnotte Bellevue where we tasted with Arnaud de Labarre, his wife Virginie, and their whole young family. Arnaud’s mother, Madame Claude Labarre, bought the property with its classic clay-over-limestone terroir and 70% Merlot – 30% Cabernet Franc (with a few Sauvignon vines) plantation in 1990 when she was still the major shareholder and manager of Ch. Cheval Blanc. Arnaud came aboard in 1996 (the first vintage I tasted at the chateau) and has steadily improved the wines since. The fermentations are in temperature-controlled concrete tanks with pump-overs, and the wines are aged in all French oak barrels, 25-to-30% of which are typically renewed each year. This Ch. LAPLAGNOTTE BELLEVUE 2015 (93) is the best I have tasted to date - and I have tasted every vintage from 1990 on.

Our last stop on Saturday was at St. Emilion Ch. Truquet which is a property I had never before visited. I had tasted the wine before in the negoçiant offices of Barriere on two occasions scoring the 2011 at 91 both times and scoring the 2012 at 91+. I like the wine at the price point (under $15) so much that I asked to visit the property where we met Madame Hebert-Maison and got to re-taste the 2012 as well as a sample of the 2015 which we watched her pull the components of from each of her three tanks. The wines come from a plantation of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon on a gravel-and-sand terroir that is an extension of the terroir of Ch. Figeac which is just across the road from Truquet’s Cabernet Sauvignon block. Fermentation and aging are in concrete tanks. The draw here is purity and freshness with distinctive (if unusual for a lower-priced St. Emilion) Cabernet Sauvignon-on-gravel fruit.Think of Ch. TRUQUET 2015 (91+) as a sort of baby Figeac. Houston, we have a value-priced winner!



SUNDAY (04/03/16) Sleepin’ In, Eatin’ Large

Sunday Morning, 8am. Still sleeping. Sunday Noon. Now we’re talking. We’re headed out for a little lunch before an office tasting at

Fourault. Since it’s Sunday, we’re listening to my Sunday playlist (think Hank Williams, Jr. and the Blind Boys of Alabama singing I Saw the Light) as we drive through intermittent rain and sun to find that the city of Bordeaux is almost barricaded closed. Why? Because on the-first-Sunday-of-the-month, much the center of Bordeaux is closed to automobile traffic so as to encourage pedestrian traffic. Who knew? Apparently, this is a new thing. Grumble, grumble.

Eventually, we got some lunch at Comptoir Cuisine (across from the Opera House) and then headed over to meet negoçiant Eric Fourault and taste in his office. Eric had about fifty wines he wanted us to taste. After I de-selected some, we tasted 34. Of those (Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Champagne), most were pretty good. The most noteworthy of his 2015 Bordeaux wines were: Ch. MALMAISON (Baronne Nadine de Rothschild), Moulis en Médoc, 2015 (93) and Ch. CLARKE (Baron Edmond de Rothschild), Listrac Médoc, 2015 (93), both of which were the best examples of these wines I have yet tasted. Could it be the influence of Bordeaux’s best consultant Eric Boissenot who is now working with both properties?

Then we headed back to the hotel to suit-up for dinner at Ch. Batailley all the way up in Pauillac. Little did we know it would turn out to be the . . .

BEST. WINE. DINNER. EVER. So. Me and the boys (that would be

Richard Malphrus, James Barlow, and Robert Boyd, all of Spec’s) were invited to this dinner at Ch. Batailley celebrating the launch of the new 2nd wine of Ch. Batailley – Lions de Batailley. These folks – the Castejas and their manager Noel Richard – have been friends for a long time. And I love the wines of Ch. Batailley (a fifth classified growth Pauillac) so saying yes was a no-brainer. Also, I’ve been in the cellar at Batailley so I know that there is a wealth of older vintages available to serve at a special dinner. I envisioned 2010, 2009, 2005, 2000, 1995, 1990, and maybe 1982 with traditional Bordelaise food. That would have been a great line-up with fine food.

But no. Try Ch. Batailley 1881, 1900, 1904, 1929, 1945, 1949, 1961, 1982, 2000, 2003, 2005, and 2010 plus Ch. D’Yquem 2007 plus Michelin-three-star chef food (and that doesn’t even include the 2002 Pol Roger from magnum served as the aperitif wine). Philippe Casteja raided his cellar for these stunning vintages and hired Chef Michel Gerard of Michelin thee star restaurant Les Pres de Eugenie (in Eugenie les Bains) to come to Pauillac to cook a five-course meal which included an obscene amount of truffles incorporated into the first four courses. I’ve never eaten better food and have never had a better, more consistently excellent selection of wines. In addition, the pairing of the wines in multi-vintage flights with the food was brilliant.



I’m stingy with 100 point scores but I will allow that – on this night – at least eight, and maybe nine, of these wines (none of which had ever left the cellars of the chateau) warranted 100 point scores. And the other three or four deserved scores of 95 or more. ALL of the wines improved in the glass. The first bottle of 1900 was corked. Too bad, so sad? No. They opened another bottle which turned out to be brilliant. All in all, a legendary evening.



MONDAY (04/04/16) And then it all went south …

Monday Morning, 8am. One of my guys is down with a stomach bug and can’t go that day. We figure he can sleep it off and this too shall pass - and the rest of us head out to Pessac Leognan (which actually is south of Bordeaux) for the day starting at Ch. CARMES HAUT BRION (95-96). After a great visit (tasting their super Cabernet Franc-dominated wine from a unique clos inside the city of Bordeaux) and being asked not to publish or post any pictures of the visually-arresting-but-site-appropriate-ultra-modern new winery designed by Phillip Stark, we headed to Ch. La Mission Haut Brion. There we tasted through Domaines Clarence Dillon’s three red second wines: DRAGON (92), La CHAPELLE (93), and CLARENCE (95-97), three red grand vins – Ch. QUINTUS (95-96, best Quintus yet), Ch. La MISSION HAUT BRION (96-98), and Ch. HAUT BRION (98-100), and three white wines – CLARTE (92), Ch. La MISSION HAUT BRION Blanc (97-99), and Ch. HAUT BRION Blanc (98-100).

As we were leaving La Mission, another of the guys started down the stomach bug path. Instead of going on to our next appointment at Thomas Jefferson favorite Ch. Carbonnieux – which we tasted later in the week and found both the red (94-95, and maybe the best Carbonnieux red ever) and the white (also 94-95) to be excellent, we took him first to the coolest McDonald’s ever (big golden arches, ‘50s diner decor and a pink Cadillac in the outdoor seating area) for a Coke in a futile attempt to settle his stomach. That didn’t work so it was back to the hotel - followed by a trip to the local grocery store for some stomach-settling food and drink (for when they were ready) and to the pharmacy for anti-stomach-problems drugs.

Once they were somewhat settled, my last guy and I headed back out to Ch. HAUT BAILLY (95-96 with the most Cabernet Sauvignon they have ever put in the blend). We then stopped in at Domaine de Chevalier where we tasted samples that were in less than peak condition (although later in the week both the red (94+) and white (94) tasted much better. We finished up at Ch. SMITH HAUT LAFITTE where both the red (95-96) and white (95-96) rocked.

All good but, as we were leaving Smith, my stomach was beginning to rock, too. Back to the hotel, call and cancel on a dinner at Ch. Haut Brion with Prince Robert of Luxembourg (I don’t even want to know which wines were served). By 7pm, I went from feeling rocky to I-want-my-mommy. Being alone-and-sick in a hotel room sucks.

And now you know why my BearOnWine.com blog posts were so late in coming.


My notorious hat and necessary umbrella upstairs at Ch. Smith Haut Lafitte


TUESDAY (04/05/16) And the Wheels are Still Off …

Tuesday Morning, 8am. Still too sick to go. Cancel morning appointments and reschedule Ch. Margaux from 11am to 2pm. Go back to bed and pray to feel better.

Tuesday, 1:10pm. We cowboy up and get back on the road. First stop: Ch. Margaux for a 2015 tasting in their blending room on the second floor of the new Norman Foster-designed winery building (stunning - both practical and beautiful). Really excellent PAVILLON ROUGE (95-96+), outstanding Ch. MARGAUX (97-100), and stunning PAVILLON BLANC (96-99). So-far-so-good. Thank you Ivanhoe Johnston and Aurelien Valance of Ch. Margaux for accommodating/working out that rescheduling.

On to Ch. Ferriere where we were greeted warmly by owner/winemaker Claire Villars Lurton and treated to a tour of her absolute jewel box of a Margaux estate along with a fine tasting of the wines she and her husband Gonzague Lurton make at their various properties: Ch. La GURGUE (91+), Ch. FERRIERE (93), Ch. DURFORT VIVENS (93), and Ch. HAUT BAGES LIBERAL (Pauillac, 93+).

On to St. Julien and Ch. Branaire Ducru (30 minutes late) where we are greeted by and taste with owner Patrick Maroteaux (one of the true gentlemen of Bordeaux). His 2012 Duluc (the 2nd vin) is showing very well (91+), as are the 2011 (92+) and 2012 (93+) Ch. Branaires but the 2015 Ch. BRANAIRE DUCRU (95-96+) was the star of the show.

Then a quick stop to taste Ch. GLORIA (93+, as good a Gloria as I can remember) and Ch. SAINT PIERRE (94+).

And so on to St. Julien’s Ch. Leoville Poyferre to taste with Anne Cuvelier and Thierry Gramon. Here we got Ch. Le CROCK (St. Estephe, 92), Ch. MOULIN RICHE (93), and Ch. LEOVILLE POYFERRE (96-98) along with a warm welcome and an American flag flying at the chateau.

After stops to taste Ch. SENEJAC (Haut Medoc, 92+), Ch. TALBOT (St. Julien, 94+), Ch. CAMENSAC (Haut Medoc, 92), and


Bear Dalton and the mules of Ch. Margaux

Patrick Maroteaux at Ch. Branaire Ducru


Ch. CHASSE SPLEEN (Moulis, 91+), we headed back to Margaux (now 45 minutes behind schedule) to taste at Ch. Pontac Lynch.

At 6:45pm, we pulled into Ch. Pontac Lynch in a cloud-of-dust to meet owner Marie-Christine Bondon and her team, including my favorite dog in Bordeaux, Bijoux (who is beginning to show his 10 years, but is still up for greeting visitors and getting his ears scratched). Here we tasted her located-on-sandier-terroir, just-east-of-the-Margaux-appellation, behind-Ch. d’Issan-Haut-Medoc Ch. Pontac Phenix 2012 (91) and 2014 (91+) first. Then we tasted the touching-Ch. Margaux-on-the-north-and-Ch. d’Issan-on-the-south-east-and-Ch. Palmer-on-the-south-west-and-Ch. Rauzan-Segla-on-the-west (How’s that for a good address?) Ch. Pontac Lynch 2014 (93) and Ch. PONTAC LYNCH 2015 (94++). While this 2015 was far from the highest score of the day, it was my favorite wine of the day and this was my favorite stop of the day. Why? Because Pontac Lynch is a throwback. The winery is old school (compact, concrete tanks, basket press, non-fancy barrel room) and the wines (both the Pontac Phenix and the Pontac Lynch) are that very pure, very elegant, all-fruit-and-terroir, non-extracted, lighter-colored style (which I love) that you don’t see much at all anymore. They are a pure pleasure and frankly delicious.

WEDNESDAY (04/06/16) Back in the saddle again?

Wednesday Morning, 8am. All present and accounted for. None of us ate much for breakfast and we started the day sipping Cokes as we headed out to Libourne to taste at the offices of JP Mouiex with Christian Mouiex and his son Edouard. In years past, this has been a difficult start to the day as it is a lot of wines to taste at a first (9am) stop and the samples tend to be not-just-cool-but-cold. Also, these are big wines that take some thought. Well, this year was easier. We were well-greeted and welcomed and ushered-into-a-private-room where we (along with François Thienpont with whom we spend Wednesday) tasted through fifteen not-overly-cold-but-still-cool 2015 St. Emilion and Pomerol wines to start the day. Highlights included

Ch. PUY BLANQUET, St. Emilion, 2015 (91+) Ch. PLINCE, Pomerol, 2015 (91+) Ch. La GRAVE, Pomerol, 2015 (92) Ch. BOURGNEUF, Pomerol, 2015 (93) Ch. LATOUR a POMEROL, Pomerol, 2015 (93) Ch. CERTAN de MAY, Pomerol, 2015 (93+) Ch. La FLEUR PETRUS, Pomerol, 2015 (94-96) Ch. TROTANOY, Pomerol, 2015 (95-96) Ch. BELAIR MONANGE, St. Emilion, 2015 (95-96) Some of these scores may have suffered for all the competition present in the room. Before we left, I

spoke with Eduoard Mouiex about scheduling a-whole-morning-plus next year to actually visit all these properties (they are cheek-by-jowl) to get a better feel for each of their specificities. He’s onboard. And isn’t that why I go to Bordeaux?

After the Mouiex office tasting, it is straight on to Ch. Cheval Blanc to taste Ch. QUINAULT l’ENCLOS (94 and the only St. Emilion in the city limits of Libourne), Ch. CHEVAL BLANC (98-100, no 2nd wine was made; This is a top-three-red-wine of the vintage), and Ch. d’YQUEM (98-100, Utterly Stunning).


Pontac Lynch owner Marie Christine Bondon and Bear Dalton


Next stop: Ch. Figeac – which is just across the street from Cheval Blanc on the most gravel terroir in St. Emilion. The PETIT FIGEAC (94, 2nd wine) was so good I almost forgot I wasn’t yet tasting the grand vin. And the Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant Ch. FIGEAC (97-99, Ethereal) is clearly one of the great wines of the vintage.

Next stop: Ch. Pavie Macquin to taste the Thienpont wines with François, his older brother Nicolas who manages the family estates - Ch. PUYGUERAUD (91) and Ch. La PRADE (91) as well as Ch. BERLIQUET (93), Ch. LARCIS DUCASSE (94+), Ch. PAVIE MACQUIN (95-96), and Ch. BEAUSEJOUR DUFFAU (95-96), and his nephew Cyrille (son of Nicolas). There were two whites shown here that may be offered as futures: Ch. PUYGUERAUD Blanc (90+, 40% Sauvignon Gris, no oak) and Ch. CHARMES GODARD Blanc (91+, 25% Sauvignon Gris, all in barrels). After Pavie Macquin we stayed in the “Mondot” area of St. Emilion to stop in at l’IF (not “Ch. l’If” - just “l’If” - pronounced “leaf”) to taste Jacques Thienpont’s (owner of Ch. Le Pin which is not being shown yet due to a late malo-lactic fermentation) 2015 l’IF (96-97+).

Are we having fun yet? We think so. Next stop: Lunch at Ch. Grand Barrail which is a fabulous restaurant and hotel on the north side of St. Emilion. Great food, but I was the stereotypical ugly American drinking coke with my lunch (trying to settle my stomach). I got up from the table feeling both rocky and wobbly. Our next stop was Ch. PETRUS (97-99) but I had a tough time with it (my problem, not theirs).

After Petrus, we went to VIEUX Ch. CERTAN (97-100, also known as “VCC”) and tasted with estate manager/winemaker Alexander Thienpont (another of the great gentlemen of Bordeaux). Afterward, I think I remember walking out of VCC and driving back to the hotel to be alone in my misery. The guys continued on tasting with François Thienpont and went on to the Commanderie de Bordeaux dinner that night (where Richard won a bottle of 1999 Ch. Haut Brion). I went back to I-want-my-mommy.

Great wines. Rough day.

THURSDAY (04/07/16) Gentlemen, Start Your Livers …

Thursday Morning, 8am finds us on the road to Pauillac which is a full hour north of where we’re staying at Bordeaux Lac on the north side of Bordeaux (not far from the old German U-Boat pens).

First stop, Ch. Pichon Baron to taste the AXA-owned chateaux, arriving in the rain. Much to my surprise, AXA managing director Christian Seely (who does office at Ch. Pichon Baron) is standing behind the tasting bar to pour the wines. This is new. First comes Ch. PIBRAN (90+) and then the two 2nd wines of Pichon: the merlot dominant Les TOURELLES de LONGUEVILLE (92) and the Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant Les GRIFFONS de LONGUEVILLE (92+) followed by Ch. PICHON BARON (94+) and Ch. PETITE VILLAGE (91) and finally Ch. SUDUIRAUT (93). Are these scores too low? Maybe. Quite possibly. It could be that I was still a bit out of sorts that morning. Or it could be that that is just how they showed. I did not have a second chance to taste these wines – and we did not have time to linger – so I’m stuck with what I’ve got.

From Ch. Pichon Baron to Ch. Grand Puy Lacoste is maybe five minutes, and in that time the sun came out and the skies cleared. Warmly greeted by the ebullient and professional François Xavier Borie


Four Thienponts: François, Jacques, Nicolas, and Cyrille (who did not get the red pants memo) at l’If


(yet another of Bordeaux’s great gentlemen) and his daughter Emelie (who is quite popular with certain elements of the Houston fine wine scene), we tasted 2nd vin Ch. LACOSTE BORIE (92+), Ch. HAUT BATAILLEY (93+), and Ch. GRAND PUY LACOSTE (96-98+ and wow, wow, wow!).

On to Ch. Lynch Bages where we were greeted by the limping (scooter accident) but ever genial and entertaining Jean Charles Cazes who several years back took over the properties from his father – University of Texas alumnus (petroleum engineering) and former Pauillac mayor – Jean Michel Cazes. We tasted St. Estephe Ch. Les ORMES de PEZ (92+), Pauillacs ECHO de LYNCH BAGES (92+) and Ch. LYNCH BAGES (95), and Bordeaux BLANC de LYNCH BAGES (94).

Next came Ch. Mouton Rothschild were we tasted Ch. d’ARMAILHAC (93), Ch. CLERC MILON (93+), PETIT MOUTON (94), and Ch. MOUTON ROTHSCHILD (97-99) and then across the road to Ch. PONTET CANET (96-98) before we stopped (in the rain) for a lovely lunch with the delightful Veronique Dausse of/at Ch. PHELAN SEGUR (94+).

There is a lot of talk, especially from producers in Pessac-Leognan and Margaux (where they didn’t get as much late season rain) that “poor St. Estephe and Pauillac and St. Julien” got too much rain too late and so are less good. It appears that, at least at those chateaux with well-draining deep gravel-sand terroirs, that late rain wasn’t much of an issue. This 2015 is the best Phelan Segur I’ve ever tasted.

Leaving Phelan (and still raining), we headed for Ch. COS d’ESTOURNEL (94-96), then Ch. Montrose to taste Ch. TRONQUOY LALANDE (91+), La DAME de MONTROSE (92), and Ch. MONTROSE (94-96) before a sprint over to Ch. Calon Segur. At Calon, we tasted Ch. CAPBERN (92+, from a separate terroir close to Tronquoy Lalande), 2nd vin MARQUIS de CALON (93+, another of those 2nd wines that can be mistaken for a grand vin), and Ch. CALON SEGUR (95-97+).

I’d say St. Estephe made a more than respectable showing. And so on to one more Pauillac, Ch. Pichon Lalande before we finished the tasting day in St. Julien.

With estate manager Nicolas Glumineau (formerly of Ch. Montrose) who has really improved the process here, we tasted RESERVE de la COMTESSE (93) and Ch. PICHON LALANDE (96-98).

After Pichon came Ch. Ducru Beaucaillou where we tasted Bruno Borie’s two Listrac wines – Ch. DUCLUZEAU (90+) and Ch. FOURCAS BORIE (91) – which are among the cleanest, least funky wines of Listrac, followed by his St. Julien wines Ch. LALANDE BORIE (90 here, but a better sample the next day at Joanne got 91+), La CROIX DUCRU BEAUCAILLOU (93, and now a separate property, no longer a 2nd vin), and Ch. DUCRU BEAUCAILLOU (97-99, and the best young Ducru I have ever tasted. Weightless. Ethereal).

We ended the tasting day at Ch. Leoville las Cases running only 25 minutes behind (which unfortunately is about normal). Normally this is not one of my favorite tastings as 1) it always seems to come at the end of a long day and 2) I have sometimes (often?) struggled to understand these wines. Not this year. The two Medoc-appellated wines from just north of the Haut Medoc appellation of St. Seurin de Cadourne - CHAPELLE de POTENSAC (91+) and Ch. POTENSAC (92+) - were fresh and lively. The St. Julien former 2nd-vin, now-separate-property CLOS du MARQUIS (94+) now has its own second wine called La PETITE MARQUISE du CLOS du MARQUIS (92). Which brings us to the main event: 2nd vin Le PETIT LION (94) and Ch. LEOVILLE Las CASES (96-98, and the most enjoyable young Leoville las Cases of my career).


François Xavier Borie of Ch. Grand Puy Lacoste


At this point we were all feeling healthy enough to go to the river front in Pauillac and sit outside during a break in the rain for a sip of Champagne and nibble of jambon before the drive back to Bordeaux. Nothing cleans your mouth up – and gets the purple off your teeth – after a long day of tasting young red Bordeaux like Champagne.

A great day despite the rain – but it’s not over. We had an hour-plus drive ahead of us to get to a party at negoçiant Archie Johnston’s house where the Champagne and oysters flowed freely, the conversation about the new vintage and Bordeaux in general was intelligent and lively, and later in the evening some jewels like 1982 Ch. Haut Brion and 1955 Ch. Lafite got drunk (as opposed to tasted).

FRIDAY (04/08/16) The Home Stretch

Friday Morning, 8am. Everyone seems to be on-their-game today and that’s good thing because we’re heading out to the offices of Bordeaux negoçiant Joanne for a warehouse tasting where we’ll pick up some of the wines we’ve missed and re-taste a few more.

The idea of UGC week is that the trade comes to Bordeaux and cycles through a number of large tastings organized at designated chateaux where trade members can taste the wines of 20 or more chateaux from a given area (say Margaux for instance) in one location. It started off as a good idea but there were/are problems. A lot of the people pouring the wines either had no technical information on the wines or were indifferent to the people they were pouring for. Sometimes the samples were off and often they were off-temperature, but again, the pourers were generally indifferent. And, as often happens at big, annual events, the social aspect began to get in the way of efficiently tasting and recording tasting notes. So to taste better samples and gather more information, I began to schedule more and more tastings at chateaux - but we still had to attend the big cattle call tastings to taste everything we needed to evaluate. Then came an invitation from Joanne to visit their warehouse where we’d have the opportunity to taste ALL the UGC wines in one location while seated at a table with the option to plug in the computer for note taking, and with someone there to provide technical information (such as the blend) on all the wines. Doing this would free up more time for more appointments at more chateaux. So we scheduled to visit Joanne on Friday morning of UGC week. That was five years ago and I have never looked back.

When we walked into Joanne, we were escorted to a private tasting area for just our group (and maybe a couple of others – this year with two friends from the Liquor Control Board in Ontario). We were handed a catalogue of all the wines available to taste and we checked off the ones we wanted to taste. Then the fun began. University interns poured the wines so we could rock through a lot of wine in a fairly short period of time. This year, we tasted through over forty wines in under three hours. Some were re-tastes, but most were wines we had missed, either knowing we would taste them at Joanne or because of the stomach bug – the “Grand Mal (big bad) de Bordeaux” (or GMdeB)– that had been going around all week. Here are the highlights of the Joanne tasting: Ch. CANTEMERLE, Haut Medoc, 2015 (92) Ch. La LAGUNE, Haut Medoc, 2015 (91+) Ch. du TERTRE, Margaux, 2015 (91+) Ch. CANTENAC BROWN, Margaux, 2015 (93+) Ch. GISCOURS, Margaux, 2015 (94+) Ch. d’ISSAN, Margaux, 2015 (93+) Ch. BRANE CANTENAC, Margaux, 2015 (94+) Ch. RAUZAN SEGLA, Margaux, 2015 (94-95) Ch. LASCOMBES, Margaux, 2015 (93) As these and our other scores for Margaux wines show, this was fine year for that appellation. Ch. LALANDE BORIE, St. Julien, 2015 (91+) A re-taste from the day before with much better results due to a better sample. Ch. BEYCHEVELLE, St. Julien, 2015 (94+) Ch. MEYNEY, St. Estephe, 2015 (93+) Ch. LAFON ROCHET, St. Estephe, 2015 (93++) A wine to reckon with this year due to improved facilities and a new consultant in the person of former Petrus winemaker Jean Claude Berrouet.



Ch. PAPE CLEMENT, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2015 (94+) Tasted at the behest of Joanne’s Dan Snook. Quite enjoyable 2015 after some years of way too much extraction. Ch. CARBONNIEUX, Pessac Leognan Rouge Rouge, 2015 (94-95) Ch. CARBONNIEUX BLANC, Pessac Leognan Blanc, 2015 (94-95) Best young Carbonnieux wines of my career. DOMAINE de CHEVALIER, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2015 (94++) Much better here than at the chateau on Monday. Ch. CANON, St. Emilion, 2015 (95-96) The guys tasted this (and loved it) on Wednesday but I was by that time a casualty. Ch. CLOS FOURTET, St. Emilion, 2015 (95 Ch. la DOMINIQUE, St. Emilion, 2015 (95) Tasted on the recommendation of Joanne’s Dan Snook. Improved facilities and new team have made a big difference. Ch. TROPLONG MONDOT, St. Emilion, 2015 (94-96) Ch. NENIN, Pomerol, 2015 (94) Ch. DOISY VEDRINES, Barsac, 2015 (93-95) Ch. COUTET, Barsac, 2015 (94) Ch. DOISY DAENE, Barsac, 2015 (94+) Clearly 2015 is a fine vintage for Sauternes.

After Joanne, we had two more appointments: 3:30pm back at Ch. Haut Brion so James Barlow – who had missed Haut Brion on Monday due to the “GMdeB” – could experience bliss and 5:15pm at Borie Manoux as we had all missed getting good notes on those wines for the same reason.

At Ch. Haut Brion, the wines were consistent with Monday with the reds as a group maybe showing a bit better on Monday morning (across the road at La Mission) and the whites as a group maybe showing a bit better on this afternoon visit to Haut Brion.

Finally, we went to Borie Manoux to taste through the range of chateaux owned by the Casteja family (who were our hosts for that fabulous dinner on the Sunday prior). Owner Philippe Casteja himself actually poured and provided the technical details for our tasting.

Here are the highlights of the Borie Manoux tasting: Ch. BEAU-SITE, St. Estephe, 2015 (91+) Brilliant white gravel and sand terroir overlooking Calon Segur. Les HAUTS de LYNCH, Haut Medoc, 2015 (90+) 2nd wine of Lynch Moussas with some of the grapes coming from outside the Pauillac appellation. Ch. LYNCH MOUSSAS, Pauillac, 2015 (92) LIONS de BATAILLEY, Pauillac, 2015 (91) New 2nd wine of Ch. Batailley. Ch. BATAILLEY, Pauillac, 2015 (94+) My “reference standard” in Pauillac. Ch. la CROIX du CASSE, Pomerol, 2015 (91+) DOMAINE de l’EGLISE, Pomerol, 2015 (93+) La DAME de TROTTEVIELLE, St. Emilion, 2015 (91+) Ch. TROTTEVIELLE, St. Emilion, 2015 (96-98) Premiere Grand Cru Classé St. Emilion at a very high level with a small part of pre-phylloxera vines.

Whew! What a day. What a trip. With that, all the tasting is done but the fun is just beginning.


My hat at Borie Manoux


The Best of 2015? Ch. Lafite Rothschild (98-100), Ch. Haut Brion (98-100), and Ch. Cheval Blanc (98-100), were my top three red wines of the vintage. They were followed closely by Vieux Ch. Certan (97-100) and Ch. Margaux (97-100), then Ch. Ducru Beaucaillou (97-99), Ch. Figeac (97-99), Ch. Latour (97-99), Ch. Petrus (97-99), and Ch. Mouton Rothschild (97-99). My top dry white was Ch. Haut Brion Blanc (98-100) with Ch. La Mission Haut Brion Blanc (97-99) and Pavillon Blanc du Ch. Margaux (96-99) close behind. My top sweet white was Ch. d’Yquem (98-100) with Ch. Rieussec (96-98) not far behind.

Other 2015s That Made the Biggest Impressions*:Ch. GRAND PUY LACOSTE, Pauillac, 2015 (96-98+) Ch. la MONDOTTE, St. Emilion, 2015 (96-98) Ch. la MISSION HAUT BRION, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2015 (96-98) Ch. LEOVILLE POYFERRE, St. Julien, 2015 (96-98) Ch. PONTET CANET, Pauillac, 2015 (96-98) Ch. PICHON LALANDE, Pauillac, 2015 (96-98) Ch. LEOVILLE las CASES, St. Julien, 2015 (96-98) Ch. TROTTEVIELLE, St. Emilion, 2015 (96-98) L’IF, St. Emilion, 2015 (96-97+) Ch. CALON SEGUR, St. Estephe, 2015 (95-97+) Ch. CANON la GAFFELIERE, St. Emilion, 2015 (95-97) Le CLARENCE de HAUT BRION (2nd vin Ch. Haut Brion), Pessac Leognan, 2015 (95-97) PAVILLON ROUGE du Ch. MARGAUX (2nd vin de Ch. Margaux), Margaux, 2015 (95-96+) Ch. BRANAIRE DUCRU, St. Julien, 2015 (95-96+) Ch. la CROIX St. GEORGES, Pomerol, 2015 (95-96) Ch. les CARMES HAUT BRION, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2015 (95-96) Ch. QUINTUS, St. Emilion, 2015 (95-96) Ch. HAUT BAILLY, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2015 (95-96) Ch. SMITH HAUT LAFITTE BLANC, Pessac Leognan Blanc, 2015 (95-96) Ch. SMITH HAUT LAFITTE, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2015 (95-96) Ch. TROTANOY, Pomerol, 2015 (95-96) Ch. BELAIR MONANGE, St. Emilion, 2015 (95-96)

Ch. PAVIE MACQUIN, St. Emilion, 2015 (95-96) Ch. BEAUSEJOUR DAUFFAU, St. Emilion, 2015 (95-96) Ch. CANON, St. Emilion, 2015 (95-96) Ch. LEOVILLE BARTON, St. Julien, 2015 (94-96) Ch. La FLEUR PETRUS, Pomerol, 2015 (94-96) Ch. COS d’ESTOURNEL, St. Estephe, 2015 (94-96) Ch. MONTROSE, St. Estephe, 2015 (94-96) Ch. TROPLONG MONDOT, St. Emilion, 2015 (94-96) Ch. RAUZAN SEGLA, Margaux, 2015 (94-95) Ch. CARBONNIEUX, Pessac Leognan Rouge Rouge, 2015 (94-95) Ch. CARBONNIEUX BLANC, Pessac Leognan Blanc, 2015 (94-95) Les FORTS de LATOUR (2nd Vin de Ch. Latour), Pauillac, 2015 (95) Ch. GRUAUD LAROSE, St. Julien, 2015 (95) Ch. LYNCH BAGES, Pauillac, 2015 (95) Ch. PONTAC LYNCH, Margaux, 2015 (94++) DOMAINE de CHEVALIER, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2015 (94+) Ch. BEYCHEVELLE, St. Julien, 2015 (94+) Ch. LARCIS DUCASSE, St. Emilion, 2015 (94+) Ch. PICHON BARON, Pauillac, 2015 (94+) Ch. PHELAN SEGUR, St. Estephe, 2015 (94+) Ch. GISCOURS, Margaux, 2015 (94+) Ch. BRANE CANTENAC, Margaux, 2015 (94+) Ch. BEYCHEVELLE, St. Julien, 2015 (94+) Ch. DOISY DAENE, Barsac, 2015 (94+) Ch. BATAILLEY, Pauillac, 2015 (94+)

*These are not necessarily the highest scores but they did make the biggest impressions.



BORDEAUX 2015 Scores, Tech, and Commentary Listed alphabetically within appellations, here are my recommended wines from the 2015 vintage. We tasted a lot more than these but, for various reasons (style, an off sample or just not good), the others are wines I don’t/won’t recommend. Scores are in parentheses. Bolded wines are particularly highly recommended. Whether a wine appears in bold type does take into account its projected price.

RECOMMENDED 2015 RED WINES by Appellation MARGAUX Ch. BRANE CANTENAC, Margaux, 2015 (94+) Ch. CANTENAC BROWN, Margaux, 2015 (93+) 61% Cabernet Sauvignon and 39% Merlot Ch. d’ISSAN, Margaux, 2015 (93+) 65% Cabernet Sauvignon and 35% Merlot (50% new oak barrels) Ch. du TERTRE, Margaux, 2015 (91+) 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Petite Verdot from Claire Villars and Gonzague Lurton Ch. DURFORT VIVENS, Margaux, 2015 (93) 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, and 1% Cabernet Franc from Claire Villars and Gonzague Lurton. Very Cabby tasting Ch. FERRIERE, Margaux, 2015 (93) 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petite Verdot farmed using Biodyamic principles (45% new oak barrels but 75% new oak in this sample) from Claire Villars and Gonzague Lurton Ch. GISCOURS, Margaux, 2015 (94+) 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, and 5% Petite Verdot Ch. La GURGUE, Margaux, 2015 (91+) 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot, and 2% Petite Verdot, (20% new oak barrels) from Claire Villars and Gonzague Lurton Ch. LASCOMBES, Margaux, 2015 (93) 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 47% Merlot, and 3% Petite Verdot, (70% new oak barrels) Ch. MALESCOT St. EXUPERY, Margaux, 2015 (92+) 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot Michel Rolland consults Ch. MARGAUX, Margaux, 2015 (97-100) 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petite Verdot, (100% new oak barrels) 35% of the production went into this grand vin. A top five wine of the vintage. PAVILLON ROUGE du Ch. MARGAUX, Margaux, 2015 (95-96+) 2nd vin de Ch. Margaux 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petite Verdot, (60% new oak barrels) 23% of production. More than a 2nd wine, Pavillon Rouge is the 2nd best (after the grand vin of Ch. Margaux) wine of the appellation. Ch. PONTAC LYNCH, Margaux, 2015 (94++) 35% Merlot, 5% Petite Verdot, and 60% a blend of Cabernets Sauvignon and Franc. This is a lesser-known wine from a great terroir (it touches Ch. Margaux, Ch. Rauzan Segla, Ch. Palmer, and Ch. d’Issan). Lighter-colored, more-traditional style with fine purity of fruit and an elegant balance. A delight in the mouth and a personal favorite. Best Pontac-Lynch yet? Ch. RAUZAN SEGLA, Margaux, 2015 (94-95) 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petite Verdot



SAINT JULIEN Ch. BEYCHEVELLE, St. Julien, 2015 (94+) 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 47% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Petite Verdot, (50% new oak barrels) AMIRAL de BEYCHEVELLE, St. Julien, 2015 (92) 2nd vin de Ch. Beychevelle 67% Cabernet Sauvignon and 33% Merlot, (30% new oak barrels) Ch. BRANAIRE DUCRU, St. Julien, 2015 (95-96+) 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Petite Verdot, (65% new oak barrels) Ch. DUCRU BEAUCAILLOU, St. Julien, 2015 (97-99) 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Merlot, (all new oak barrels) Easily the best Ducru I have ever tasted and one of the best wines of the vintage. Ethereal, weightless, stunning. La CROIX de DUCRU BEAUCAILLOU, St. Julien, 2015 (93) 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot, and 3% Petite Verdot, (60% new oak barrels) Note: “La Croix” had been the second wine of Ch. Ducru Beaucaillou but is now from a defined terroir that was part of Ducru Beaucaillou. Ch. GLORIA, St. Julien, 2015 (93+) 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, and 7% Petite Verdot, (40% new oak barrels) Best Gloria in a long time. Ch. GRUAUD LAROSE, St. Julien, 2015 (95) 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, and 9% Cabernet Franc, (70% new oak barrels) Made using a mix of punch-downs and pump-overs. SARGET de GRUAUD LAROSE, St. Julien, 2015 (91+) 2md wine of Ch. Gruaud Larose. 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 8% Petite Verdot, (35% new oak barrels) Made using a mix of punch-downs and pump-overs. Ch. LAGRANGE, St. Julien, 2015 (91+) 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and 8% Petite Verdot Ch. LALANDE BORIE, St. Julien, 2015 (91+) 45% Cabernet Sauvignon and 55% Merlot from the team at Ducru Beaucaillou Ch. LANGOA BARTON, St. Julien, 2015 (93) Ch. LEOVILLE BARTON, St. Julien, 2015 (94-96) Ch. LEOVILLE las CASES, St. Julien, 2015 (96-98) 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc (record Cabernet) (85% new oak barrels) Most enjoyable young Leoville las Cases of my career. PETIT LION (2nd vin de Leoville las Cases), St. Julien, 2015 (94) 2nd vin de Ch. Leoville las Cases 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 60% Merlot (30% new oak barrels) CLOS du MARQUIS, St. Julien, 2015 (94+) 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, (50% new oak barrels) La PETITE MARQUISE du CLOS du MARQUIS, St. Julien, 2015 (92) 2nd vin de Clos du Marquis 52% Cabernet Sauvignon and 48% Merlot, (25% new oak barrels) Note: Clos du Marquis was the 2nd vin of Ch. Leoville Las Cases but now comes from a defined terroir. La Petite Marquise is the new for 2015 2nd wine of Clos de Marquis. Ch. LEOVILLE POYFERRE, St. Julien, 2015 (96-98) 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Petite Verdot, (80% new oak barrels) Yum! Ch. MOULIN de BRIDANE, St. Julien, 2015 (91+) 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Petite Verdot, (33% new oak barrels) Ch. MOULIN RICHE, St. Julien, 2015 (93) 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 11% Petite Verdot, all 2nd use barrels Ch. SAINT PIERRE, St. Julien, 2015 (94) 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc, (50% new oak barrels)



Ch. TALBOT, St. Julien, 2015 (94+) 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, and 3% Petite Verdot, (50% new oak barrels) CONNETABLE de TALBOT, St. Julien, 2015 (91) 2nd vin de Ch. Talbot 36% Cabernet Sauvignon and 64% Merlot, (15% new oak barrels)

PAUILLAC Ch. BATAILLEY, Pauillac, 2015 (94+) 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 3% Petite Verdot LIONS de BATAILLEY, Pauillac, 2015 (91) 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petite Verdot, (45% new oak barrels) First vintage for this new 2nd wine. Ch. CLERC MILON, Pauillac, 2015 (93+) 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petite Verdot, 1% Carmenere, (50% new oak) Ch. d’ARMAILHAC, Pauillac, 2015 (93) 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petite Verdot, (38% new oak barrels) Ch. DUHART MILON, Pauillac, 2015 (92) 73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, (50% new oak barrels) Ch. GRAND PUY LACOSTE, Pauillac, 2015 (96-98+) 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, and 3% Cabernet Franc, (75% new oak barrels) Brilliant Pauillac. A top ten wine of the vintage. Ch. LACOSTE BORIE, Pauillac, 2015 (92+) 2nd of Grand Puy Lacoste 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and 10% Cabernet Franc, (50% new oak barrels) Ch. HAUT BAGES LIBERAL, Pauillac, 2015 (93+) 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Merlot from two blocks (next to Latour and behind Pichon Baron on the Bages Plateau (45% new oak barrels) Biodynamic From Claire Villars Ch. HAUT BAGES MONPELOU, Pauillac, 2015 (90+) 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petite Verdot, used to be part of Duhart Milon. Made at Ch. Batailley but is a separate property. Ch. HAUT BATAILLEY, Pauillac, 2015 (93+) 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, (60% new oak barrels) Ch. LAFITE ROTHSCHILD, Pauillac, 2015 (98-100) 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, (all new oak barrels) Ethereal. Weightless. Classic. One of the top three wines of the vintage. CARRUADES de LAFITE (2nd vin de Ch. Lafite), Pauillac, 2015 (93) 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, (20% new oak barrels) Ch. LATOUR, Pauillac, 2015 (97-99) Les FORTS de LATOUR, Pauillac, 2015 (95) 2nd vin de Ch. Latour 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35.6% Merlot, .5% Cabernet Franc, and .9% Petite Verdot PAUILLAC de Ch. LATOUR, Pauillac, 2015 (92) 3rd vin de Ch. Latour Note: The three wines from Chateau Latour are no longer released as futures but are held until the chateau feels they have reached optimum stages of drinkability. Ch. LYNCH BAGES, Pauillac, 2015 (95) 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petite Verdot, (75% new oak barrels) ECHO de Lynch Bages , Pauillac, 2015 (92+) 2nd vin de Ch. Lynch Bages 66% Cabernet Sauvignon and 34% Merlot Ch. LYNCH MOUSSAS, Pauillac, 2015 (92) 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, (60% new oak barrels)



Ch. MOUTON ROTHSCHILD, Pauillac, 2015 (97-99) 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, (100% new oak barrels) PETIT MOUTON (2nd vin de Ch. Mouton Rothschild), Pauillac, 2015 (94) 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, (50% new oak barrels) Ch. PIBRAN, Pauillac, 2015 (90+) 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Merlot, (50% new oak barrels) Ch. PICHON BARON, Pauillac, 2015 (94+) 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, (80% new oak barrels) Very much as expected Les GRIFFONS de LONGUEVILLE (2nd vin de Ch. Pichon Baron), Pauillac, 2015 (92+) 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot Les TOURELLES de LONGUEVILLE (2nd vin de Ch. Pichon Baron), Pauillac, 2015 (92) 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 55% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Petite Verdot (per Christian Seely) Note: Les Griffons (expressing more Cabernet Sauvignon and gravel) and Les Tourelles (expressing more Merlot and clay over limestone) are both 2nd wines of Ch. Pichon Baron. Ch. PICHON LALANDE, Pauillac, 2015 (96-98) 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petite Verdot, (60% new oak barrels) Stunningly good wine. RESERVE de la COMTESSE, Pauillac, 2015 (93) 2nd vin de Ch. Pichon Lalande 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petite Verdot (25% new oak barrels) Ch. PONTET CANET, Pauillac, 2015 (96-98) 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petite Verdot certified Biodynamic aged 50% in new barrels, 15% in 2nd use barrels, and 35% in amphoras Pure and lovely and everything it is supposed to be.

SAINT ESTEPHE In 2015, it rained more and later in St. Estephe than in the southern Haut Medoc but the gravel terroir dealt with it. There is real quality here across the board. Ch. BEAU-SITE, St. Estephe, 2015 (91+) 73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petite Verdot, (35% new oak barrels) From the Borie Manoux team at Ch. Batailley. Ch. CAPBERN, St. Estephe, 2015 (92+) 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, and 4% Petite Verdot, (60% new oak barrels) from the team at Ch. Calon Segur Ch. CALON SEGUR, St. Estephe, 2015 (95-97+) 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, 2% Petite Verdot, (all new oak barrels) MARQUIS de CALON SEGUR, St. Estephe, 2015 (93+) 2nd vin de Ch. Canon Segur 33% Cabernet Sauvignon, 57% Merlot, and 10% Cabernet Franc, (50% new oak barrels) Ch. COS d’ESTOURNEL, St. Estephe, 2015 (94-96) 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23.5% Merlot, and 1.5% Cabernet Franc, (60% new oak barrels) A return to elegance. Ch. LAFON ROCHET, St. Estephe, 2015 (93++) Jean Claude Berrouet (formerly of Petrus) is the new consultant and there is a new cuverie which together may explain the jump in quality here. Ch. Le CROCK, St. Estephe, 2015 (92) 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, 7% Petite Verdot, (25% new oak barrels) From the team at Ch. Leoville Poyferre. Ch. les ORMES de PEZ, St. Estephe, 2015 (92+) 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 49% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petite Verdot, (45% new oak barrels) From the team at Ch. Lynch Bages.



Ch. MEYNEY, St. Estephe, 2015 (93+) 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, and 8% Petite Verdot Best Meyney in a long time Ch. MONTROSE, St. Estephe, 2015 (94-96) 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, and 4% Cabernet Franc La DAME de MONTROSE, St. Estephe, 2015 (92) 2nd vin de Ch. Montrose 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, and 4% Petite Verdot, (30% new oak barrels) Ch. PHELAN SEGUR, St. Estephe, 2015 (94+) 53% Cabernet Sauvignon and 47% Merlot, (50% new oak barrels) Bravo Veronique Dausse. Best Phelan Segur of my career. Ch. TRONQUOY LALANDE, St. Estephe, 2015 (91+) 37% Cabernet Sauvignon, 55% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Petite Verdot, (30% new oak barrels) From the team at Ch. Montrose.

MEDOC and HAUT MEDOC with MOULIS and LISTRAC BRULLIERES de BEYCHEVELLE, Haut Medoc, 2015 (91+) 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 65% Merlot, (20% new oak barrels) An Haut Medoc from just south of St. Julien from the team at Ch. Beychevelle. Ch. BEAUMONT, Haut Medoc, 2015 (90+) 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 47% Merlot, and 3% Petite Verdot, (30% new oak barrels) Ch. CAMENSAC, Haut Medoc, 2015 (92) 57% Cabernet Sauvignon and 43% Merlot, (70% new oak barrels) west of St. Julien Ch. CANTEMERLE, Haut Medoc, 2015 (92+) 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Petite Verdot, (40% new oak barrels) from Pian de Medoc south of Margaux Ch. CHASSE SPLEEN, Moulis, 2015 (91+) 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Petite Verdot, (40% new oak barrels) Ch. CLARKE (Baron Edmund de Rothschild), Listrac Médoc, 2015 (93) 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon (all new oak barrels) projected 18 months of oak aging. Eric Boissenot now consults. No longer overtly rustic. This is far and away the best Ch. Clarke I have ever tasted. Ch. du RETOUT, Haut Medoc, 2015 (90+) 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, and 4% Petite Verdot in Cussac. Traditional, more rustic style of Haut Medoc. I get it ... but it is not my style (I prefer their Ch. Tour Salvet). Ch. DUCLUZEAU, Listrac, 2015 (90+) 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 85% Merlot, (20% new oak barrels) Ch. FOURCAS BORIE, Listrac, 2015 (91) 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 75% Merlot, and 15% Petite Verdot, (20% new oak barrels) Note: Ch. Ducluzeau and Ch. Fourcas Boire are from Bruno Borie and the team at Ch. Ducru Beaucaillou Ch. GOULEE, Medoc, 2015 (90) 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, 77% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, (15% new oak barrels) From the team at Ch. Cos d’Estournel Ch. HAUT MADRAC, Haut Medoc, 2015 (89+) 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, (30% new oak barrels) From the team at Ch. Batailley Ch. La LAGUNE, Haut Medoc, 2015 (91+) From the southern Haut Medoc just south of the Margaux appellation. Ch. MALMAISON (Baronne Nadine de Rothschild), Moulis en Médoc, 2015 (93) 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon (30% new oak barrels) Eric Boisenot now consults. he has tamed the earthiness. This is the best Ch. Malmaison I have ever tasted.



Ch. MAUVESIN BARTON, Moulis, 2015 (91) 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petite Verdot (33% new oak barrels) Owned but the Barton-Sartorious family of Ch. Leoville Barton Ch. POTENSAC, Medoc, 2015 (92+) 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot, 17% Cabernet Franc, (33% new oak barrels) CHAPELLE de POTENSAC, Medoc, 2015 (91+) 2ns vin de Ch. Potensac 23% Cabernet Sauvignon, 71% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petite Verdot, (10% new oak barrels) Ch. SENEJAC, Haut Medoc, 2015 (92+) 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Petite Verdot, (30% new oak barrels) from Pian de Medoc south of Margaux From the team at Ch. Talbot Ch. SOCIANDO MALLET, Haut Medoc, 2015 (91+) 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Franc from St. Seurin de Cadourne Ch. TOUR SAINT BONNET, Medoc, 2015 (90) 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, 76% Merlot, and 5% Petite Verdot Ch. TOUR SALVET, Haut Medoc, 2015 (90+) 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and a whooping 19% Petite Verdot aged in a mix of oak barrels (some new) and concrete tanks. A more modern fruit oriented style Haut Medoc from the Cussac vineyards and team of Ch. Retout. A personal favorite for everyday drinking. Les HAUTS de LYNCH, Haut Medoc, 2015 (90+) 2nd vin de Ch. Lynch Moussas (Pauillac) with some grapes from vineyards just outside the Pauillac appellation. 76% Cabernet Sauvignon and 24% Merlot

PESSAC LEOGNAN Rouge Ch. CARBONNIEUX, Pessac Leognan Rouge Rouge, 2015 (94-95) 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 8% Petite Verdot, (30% new oak barrels) Best and most enjoyable Carbonnieux red I have ever tasted. Ch. CLOS MARSALETTE, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2015 (91+) 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 48% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Franc farmed at 40 hl/ha (all French oak barrels; 40% new oak barrels) Ch. HAUT BAILLY, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2015 (95-96) 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, and 4% Petite Verdot (50% new oak barrels) very Cabby tasting La PARDE de HAUT BAILLY, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2015 (92) 2nd vin de Ch. Haut Bailly 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 60% Merlot, and 10% Cabernet Franc (30% new oak barrels) Ch. HAUT BRION, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2015 (98-100) 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, (78% new oak barrels) Beautifully integrated Pure pleasure already A top three wine of the vintage Le CLARENCE de HAUT BRION, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2015 (95-97) 2nd vin de Ch. Haut Brion 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 57% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc, (33% new oak barrels) After Haut Brion and La Mission, this 2nd wine is the next best wine of the Pessac Leognan appellation. Terroir talks! Ch. la MISSION HAUT BRION, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2015 (96-98) 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 58% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, (78% new oak barrels) The clear runner up to Haut Brion in Pessac Leognan. LA CHAPELLE DE LA MISSION, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2015 (93) 2nd of La Mission Haut Brion 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc, (35% new oak barrels) Ch. Le PAPE, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2015 (91+) 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 75% Merlot, (30% new oak barrels) a separate pessac Leognan property from the team at Ch. Haut Bailly.



Ch. Le THIL, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2015 (90+) 100% Merlot on clay and limestone (20% new oak barrels) A separate Pessac Leogan property from the team at Ch. Smith Haut Lafitte. Ch. les CARMES HAUT BRION, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2015 (95-96) 24% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 44% Cabernet Franc grown on a unique terroir in a contiguous Clos (a walled vineyard) entirely within the city of Bordeaux cropped at 25 hl/ha 35% whole clusters Aged in “80% new barrels, 10% one use barrels, and 10% amphora plus some in oval foudre” (I know the math doesn’t add-up but that’s what they said.) Le CLOS de CARMES HAUT BRION, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2015 (93) 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 75% Merlot from a separate property between Ch. Carbonnieux and Ch. Smith Haut Lafitte all oak barrels (70% new oak barrels) Ch. PAPE CLEMENT, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2015 (94+) Tastiest Pape Clement in years. The great terroir is showing through. Ch. SMITH HAUT LAFITTE, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2015 (95-96) 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petite Verdot, (65% new oak barrels) PETIT HAUT LAFITTE, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2015 (91+) One of two second wines of Ch. Smith Haut Lafitte 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, (25% new oak barrels) DOMAINE de CHEVALIER, Pessac Leognan Rouge, 2015 (94++) 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and 5% Petite Verdot (35% new oak barrels) Better at Joanne than at the chateau (maybe a fresher sample)

POMEROL Ch. BEAUREGARD, Pomerol, 2015 (93+) 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc from the team at Ch. Smith Haut Lafitte. Ch. BOURGNEUF, Pomerol, 2015 (93) 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc grown on gravel and clay. Moueix team Ch. CERTAN de MAY, Pomerol, 2015 (93+) 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, 80% Merlot, and 16% Cabernet Franc grown on clay and deep gravel. From the Moueix team Ch. CLINET, Pomerol, 2015 (94) 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 90% Merlot, and 1% Cabernet Franc, (65% new oak barrels) Ch. GAZIN, Pomerol, 2015 (92+) 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc, (50% new oak barrels) Ch. GRACIA, Pomerol, 2015 (94+) 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 80% Merlot, and 15% Cabernet Franc Ch. HOSANNA, Pomerol, 2015 (92) 82% Merlot and 18% Cabernet Franc grown on on gravel and clay terroirs Moueix team Ch. LAFLEUR GAZIN, Pomerol, 2015 (91) 98% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc Ch. La CROIX du CASSE, Pomerol, 2015 (91+) 91% Merlot and 9% Cabernet Franc grown on thin red clay over limestone toward St. Emilion south of the village Ch. La CROIX St. GEORGES, Pomerol, 2015 (95-96) 91% Merlot and 9% Cabernet Franc from a vineyard that wraps around two sides of Ch. Le Pin and more and more tastes like it. (50% new oak barrels - 20% 300 liter cigar barrels) Ch. La FLEUR PETRUS, Pomerol, 2015 (94-96) 92% Merlot, 7.5% Cabernet Franc, and .5% Petite Verdot Moueix team Ch. La GRAVE, Pomerol, 2015 (92) 91% Merlot and 9% Cabernet Franc grown on gravel and clay terroirs. Moueix team Ch. La POINTE, Pomerol, 2015 (93+) 84% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc, (50% new oak barrels) Hubert de Bouard is the consultant.



Ch. LAGRANGE, Pomerol, 2015 (88) 96% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc Ch. LATOUR a POMEROL, Pomerol, 2015 (93) 96% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc grown on gravel clay and sandy gravel Moueix team Ch. Le GAY, Pomerol, 2015 (92) 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc barrel fermentation with pigeage Ch. NENIN, Pomerol, 2015 (94) 67% Merlot, 33% Cabernet Franc on Sand terroir (35% new oak barrels) Ch. PETITE VILLAGE, Pomerol, 2015 (91) 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 71% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, (60% new oak barrels) Ch. PETRUS, Pomerol, 2015 (97-99) 100% Merlot (50% new oak barrels) Ch. PLINCE, Pomerol, 2015 (91+) 74% Merlot and 26% Cabernet Franc grown on sand Moueix team Ch. TAILLEFER, Pomerol, 2015 (91+) 85% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc Ch. TROTANOY, Pomerol, 2015 (95-96) 93% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, , and on mixed Clay with gravel and black clay over iron Moueix team DOMAINE de l’EGLISE, Pomerol, 2015 (93+) 94% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc, (50% new oak barrels) from Borie Manoux VIEUX Ch. CERTAN, Pomerol, 2015 (97-100) 1% Cabernet Sauvignon, 80% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc, (66% new oak barrels) A top five wine of the vintage

ST. EMILION Ch. BEAUSEJOUR DAUFFAU, St. Emilion, 2015 (95-96) 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc cropped at 34 hl/ha (60% new oak barrels) from Nicolas Thienpont Ch. BELAIR MONANGE, St. Emilion, 2015 (95-96) 88% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Franc grown on limestone and clay over limestone Ch. BERLIQUET, St. Emilion, 2015 (93) 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc, (50% new oak barrels) from Nicolas Thienpont Ch. CANON la GAFFELIERE, St. Emilion, 2015 (95-97) 7% Cabernet Sauvignon, 55% Merlot, and 38% Cabernet Franc, (55% new oak barrels) fully organic From Stephan von Niepperg Ch. CANON, St. Emilion, 2015 (95-96) 78% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc Ch. CHEVAL BLANC, St. Emilion, 2015 (98-100) 55% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Franc at 29 hl/ha (all new oak). No 2nd vin this year Ethereal. One of the three best wines of the vintage. Ch. CLOS FOURTET, St. Emilion, 2015 (95) Ch. CLOS SAINT MARTIN, St. Emilion, 2015 (87) 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 90% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc Ch. DAUGAY, St. Emilion, 2015 (93) 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 60% Merlot, 32% Cabernet Franc farmed at 45 hl/ha; (all French oak barrels; 25% new oak barrels) Ch. FIGEAC, St. Emilion, 2015 (97-99) 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, and 28% Cabernet Franc grown on gravel terroir. Made using pump-overs and submerged cap. After Cheval blanc, the best wine of the appellation and one of the very best wines of the vintage.



PETIT FIGEAC, St. Emilion, 2015 (94) 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, (30% new oak barrels) So good I forgot I was tasting a 2nd wine. Ch. GRAND CORBIN DESPAGNE, St. Emilion, 2015 (94) 1% Cabernet Sauvignon, 75% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Franc, (all French; 50% new oak barrels) Ch. la DOMINIQUE, St. Emilion, 2015 (95) 2% Cabernet Sauvignon, 85% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc This is a wine I had quit tasting but I’m glad I was prompted to try this. Living up to the potential of its terroir. Ch. LAPLAGNOTTE BELLEVUE, St. Emilion, 2015 (93) 74% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Franc, Aged 12 months in (25% new oak barrels) Ch. LARCIS DUCASSE, St. Emilion, 2015 (94+) 87% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc, (60% new oak barrels) from Nicolas Thienpont Ch. la CONFESSION, St. Emilion, 2015 (94) 71% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Franc (all French; 40% new; 25% Cigar barrels. The new oak barrels had Malo in barrels. The rest of malo was in tank. From Jean Philippe Janouiex who also makes Ch. Croix St. Georges in Pomerol. Ch. la MONDOTTE, St. Emilion, 2015 (96-98) 85% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc Ch. PAVIE MACQUIN, St. Emilion, 2015 (95-96) 2% Cabernet Sauvignon, 84% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, (60% new oak barrels) from Nicolas Thienpont Ch. PUY BLANQUET, St. Emilion, 2015 (91+) 95% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc Ch. QUINAULT l’ENCLOS, St. Emilion, 2015 (94) 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, 69% Merlot, and 12% Cabernet Franc grown on gravel with a little clay in a warmer microclimate in the city of Libourne. (50% new 450 liter barrels) Ch. QUINTUS, St. Emilion, 2015 (95-96) 76% Merlot and 24% Cabernet Franc from the former Ch. Tertre Daugay and Ch. l’Arrosee now owned and made by Domaines Clarence Dillon (Haut Brion) (37% new oak barrels) Best wine yet from this new venture. Le DRAGON de QUINTUS, St. Emilion, 2015 (92) 2nd wine of Ch. Quintus. 1% Cabernet Sauvignon, 76% Merlot, and 23% Cabernet Franc, (33% new oak barrels) Ch. TROPLONG MONDOT, St. Emilion, 2015 (94-96) Ch. TROTTEVIELLE, St. Emilion, 2015 (96-98) 2% Cabernet Sauvignon, 49% Merlot, and 49% Cabernet Franc (some of the Cabernet Franc is pre-phylloxera and so on its own roots) 100% new oak barrels an under-appreciated Premiere Grand Cru Classé St. Emilion La DAME de TROTTEVIELLE, St. Emilion, 2015 (91+) 2nd wine of Ch. Trottevielle 58% Merlot and 42% Cabernet Franc 70% new oak barrels Ch. TRUQUET, St. Emilion, 2015 (91+) 20% Cabernet Sauvignon (yes, Sauvignon - not Franc) and 80% Merlot grown in a (rare for St. Emilion) gravelly area near Ch. Figeac fermented and aged all in concrete tanks. Ch. VIEUX CLOS St. EMILION, St. Emilion, 2015 (91) 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 55% Merlot, 5% Malbec grown on a sandy terroir CLOS de l’ORATOIRE, St. Emilion, 2015 (93) 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc 40% new French oak barrels from Stephan von Niepperg L’IF, St. Emilion, 2015 (96-97+) 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc (50% new oak barrels) Newish chateau from Jacques Thienpont of Ch. Le Pin and Cyrille Thienpont (son of Nicolas Thienpont)



OTHER RED APPELLATIONS 20 MILLE, Bordeaux, 2015 (91+) 100% Merlot planted at 20,000 vines per hectare (5,000 is standard) from Jean Philippe Janouiex Ch. AMPELIA, Cotes de Castillon, 2015 (91+) 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc all French oak barrels 35% new Next door to Ch. d’Aiguilhe from François Despagne of ch. Grand Corbin Despagne CAP St. GEORGES, St. Georges St. Emilion, 2015 (91) New from Jean Philippe Janouiex Ch. CROIX MOUTON, Bordeaux, 2015 (90+) 98% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc from Jean Philippe Janouiex Ch. d’AIGUILHE, Cotes de Castillon, 2015 (93) 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc cropped at 30 hl/ha on clay over iron clay all French oak barrels, 30% new 20 hectares in organic farming This is the reference standard for Castillon. Ch. La DAUPHINE, Fronsac, 2015 (90+) 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc Rustic with some black fruit. Ch. la PRADE, Cotes de Francs, 2015 (91) 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc (33% new oak barrels) Ch. le CONSEILLER, Bordeaux, 2015 (90+) 100% Merlot from Jean Philippe Janouiex Ch. PUYGUERAUD, Cotes de Francs, 2015 (91) 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Malbec (25% new oak barrels) Defines Francs. VIEUX Ch. SAINT ANDRE, Montagne St. Emilion, 2015 (92+) 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc (20% new oak barrels) The home of former Ch. Petrous winemaker and now consultant Jean Claude Berrouet.

RECOMMENDED 2015 DRY WHITES Vivid, balanced, fresh, refreshing dry whites from all over the map. BLANC de LYNCH BAGES, Bordeaux Blanc, 2015 (94) 50% Sauvignon Blanc, 33% Semillon, 17% Muscadelle, 30% tank 70% oak barrels (all new oak barrels) Fresh, alive, vivid. Ch. CARBONNIEUX Blanc, Pessac Leognan Blanc, 2015 (94-95) 75% Sauvignon Blanc and 25% Semillon, 25% new oak barrels Best Carbonnieux Blanc yet. Ch. CHARMES GODARD Blanc, Francs – Cotes de Bordeaux, 2015 (91+) 25% Sauvignon Blanc, 50% Semillon, 25% Sauvignon Gris, no ML, 500 liter oak, 10% new oak barrels. Fresh, focused, exotic. The Gris makes a difference. Ch. CLOS MARSALETTE Blanc, Bordeaux Blanc, 2015 (92) 65% Sauvignon Blanc, 35% Semillon, 30% new barrels A sort of baby Haut Brion Blanc. Ch. d’ AIGUILHE Blanc, Bordeaux Blanc, 2015 (93) 100% Sauvignon Blanc grown in Castillon, barrel fermented in all seasoned oak. Fresh, exotic and delicious. Ch. HAUT BRION Blanc, Pessac Leognan Blanc, 2015 (98-100) Stunning swirl of mineral, fruit, and oak. Easily the best dry white wine of Bordeaux. Ch. LA MISSION HAUT BRION Blanc, Pessac Leognan Blanc, 2015 (97-99) 33% Sauvignon Blanc, 67% Semillon, 50% new barrels Dimensional. Swirls in mineral and fruit and a touch of the exotic. Le CLARTE de HAUT BRION, Pessac Leognan Blanc, 2015 (92) 2nd vin of both Ch. Haut Brion & Ch. La Mission Haut Brion Blanc 27% Sauvignon Blanc, 73% Semillon, (55% new oak barrels) Ch. MALARTIC LAGRAVIERES Blanc, Pessac Leognan Blanc, 2015 (92) 85% Sauvignon Blanc and 15% Semillon, 65% new barrels Freshness personified Ch. PUYGUERAUD Blanc, Francs - Cotes de Bordeaux, 2015 (90+)



60% Sauvignon Blanc and 40% Sauvignon Gris fermented using no malolactic in all stainless steel tanks The Sauvignon Gris rocks. Ch. SMITH HAUT LAFITTE Blanc, Pessac Leognan Blanc, 2015 (95-96) 90% Sauvignon Blanc, 5% Semillon, 5% Sauvignon Gris, (50% new oak barrels) Les HAUTES de SMITH, Pessac Leognan Blanc, 2015 (91) 100% Sauvignon Blanc, Aged 12 months in all oak barrels (all French ; 50% new oak barrels) PETIT HAUT LAFITTE Blanc, Pessac Leognan Blanc, 2015 (92+) 80% Sauvignon Blanc, 20% Semillon, (50% new oak barrels) COS d’ESTOURNEL Blanc, Bordeaux Blanc, 2015 (90) 75% Sauvignon Blanc, 25% Semillon, all oak barrels (15% new oak barrels) DOMAINE de CHEVALIER Blanc, Pessac Leognan Blanc, 2015 (94) 75% Sauvignon Blanc, 25% Semillon, (50% new oak barrels) PAVILLON BLANC du Ch. MARGAUX, Bordeaux Blanc, 2015 (96-99) 100% Sauvignon Blanc cropped at 20hl/ha 20% new oak with some barrels 400 liter and 500 liter rather than the standard 225liter Used only 1/3 of fruit from vineyard. The rest was sold in bulk. Best dry white wine of Bordeaux without the words “Haut Brion” on the label.

RECOMMENDED 2015 SWEET WHITES A great vintage offering, for the most part, for a fresher, livelier style. Ch. BASTOR LAMONTAGNE, Sauternes, 2015 (92) From the team at Ch. Smith Haut Lafitte. Ch. COUTET, Barsac, 2015 (94) 23% Sauvignon Blanc, 75% Semillon, and 2% Muscadelle (50% new oak barrels) Fresh and alive. Ch. d’YQUEM, Sauternes, 2015 (98-100) 25% Sauvignon Blanc and 75% Semillon, (100% new oak barrels) Absolutely Stunning. Ch. DOISY DAENE, Barsac, 2015 (94+) Ch. DOISY VEDRINES, Barsac, 2015 (93-95) Fresh and delicious with a fine mineral core. Ch. GUIRAUD, Sauternes, 2015 (94) Delicious, vivid. Sweet but not too sweet. Ch. RIEUSSEC, Sauternes, 2015 (96-98) 14% Sauvignon Blanc and 6% Semillon. Fresh, Lively, and Delicious. Wow. CARMES de Ch. RIEUSSEC (2nd vin), Sauternes, 2015 (92) 7% Sauvignon Blanc, 87% Semillon, and 6% Muscadelle, Ch. SUDUIRAUT, Sauternes, 2015 (93) 6% Sauvignon Blanc and 94% Semillon A heavier style of Sauternes

But Wait! There’s More! Keep going for a scintillating Bordeaux weather recap and a map of Bordeaux!



For My Fellow Bordeaux Geeks: Bordeaux 2015 Weather Summary “In Bordeaux, sunny summers produce great vintages.”

Before that sunny summer of 2015 came: - A cold January and February that led to an early April bud break. - Near ideal flowering conditions in late May and early June. Followed by a hot, dry June and July and then . . . - A cooler, wetter early-mid August. - Dry late August through early September. - Dry white harvest began in late August - Rainy mid-September - Dry late September. - Merlot harvest begins after the rains. - Some rain in early October followed by a longer dry period in which the Cabernet harvest was

completed.

- Only in August did rainfall exceed the 30-year-average. - The rain and break in heat in August served to refresh the vines which slowed ripening a bit and

preserved acidity. - April thru October rainfall was well below the 30-year-average (375mm vs. 497mm). - April thru October rainfall was between that of 2005 (366mm) and 2009 (383mm).

Red wines - The Merlot grapes were mostly harvested the last ten days of September - The Cabernets mostly were picked in the first and second weeks of October with some brave souls

holding out into the fourth week of October.

Dry white wines - The first white grapes were picked at the end August.

Sweet white wines - Rain in Sauternes stayed well below the 30-year-average. - Some Sauternes estates began picking as early as mid-September (most unusual) with plenty of botrytis

under very good conditions.

For LOTS of Bordeaux 2015 weather detail, please go to https://e767cb5f8a24933f1193-10d7789927afb962c5fef2cb2f4d8412.ssl.cf3.rackcdn.com/Gavin_Quinney_Bordeaux_2015_Weather.pdf

See Also http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/bordeaux-2015-harvest-continues-the-rule-of-five



https://e767cb5f8a24933f1193-10d7789927afb962c5fef2cb2f4d8412.ssl.cf3.rackcdn.com/Gavin_Quinney_Bordeaux_2015_Weather.pdf

http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/bordeaux-2015-harvest-continues-the-rule-of-five

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