Primeurs Bordeaux

Last year, as soon as the harvest was over, the Bordeaux authorities sent out a press release specifying the exceptional nature of the vintage. It's true that 2015 was a particularly high-quality vintage, and the words chosen, albeit a little superfluous, described it as the "vintage of the century". A rather ambitious claim, admittedly. The Gault&Millau report on the vintage was, in its time, the cause of this general enthusiasm.

For 2016, on the other hand, it's all quiet. No press release, no desire to set the tone for the vintage. It has to be said that the Bordeaux authorities are particularly serene, as the coming vintage promises to be superb, and, admittedly, a little embarrassed, as it's not very usual to announce the vintage of the century two years in a row. It's just a matter of semantics, with which the Bordelais sometimes go into literary circonvolutions. But never mind.

Vintage of the century?

Vintage of the century, then, this 2016 vintage? Indeed, it is and will remain a vintage apart, an uncommon vintage giving it a distinct singularity. Let's take a look back at a vintage saved from the waters.

To do so, we need to look back to the summer of 2015. Quite often, in writings and climatological analyses, the production year is considered to begin in January and end with the harvest. Nothing could be further from the truth. The vines begin their inflorescence in the preceding summer. So it's worth remembering the favorable climate of 2015 to recall that the flowering and summer took place under fine auspices, auguring a "2016" inflorescence - we'll call it that - of quality. Everything looked positive from 2015 onwards.

In the spring of 2016, rain fell heavily, prompting Pierre Lurton, director of Château Cheval Blanc and Château d'Yquem, to say that "the water table has been largely rebuilt". The only hope was a week of uninterrupted fine weather, just at the moment of flowering, which prevented coulure and millerandage. Hopes were high. Unfortunately, the rain came down again, without interruption, flooding some plots of vines in the least well-drained terroirs. An abundance of rain, suggesting another vintage, 2013. Hopes and spirits are not high, all the more so as in the early days of April, the vineyards suffered a severe blow with some morning frosts.

From June onwards, and especially in July, temperatures began to rise, creating perfect weather conditions that were particularly conducive to the degradation of vegetal aromas, without blocking growth. Rainfall was light and infrequent, and temperatures in line with normal.

Given these ideal temperatures for holidaymakers and high spring rainfall, veraison took its time (the stage when the grapes swell and turn from green to red), a sign of low water stress.

August was a true summer month. The sun shone and the weather was warm (+30% more light than normal and +5°C warmer than normal), but there was no rain, which led to the onset of water stress (and therefore a halt in grape ripening) in some areas. Fortunately, nights were cooler than average, limiting the degradation of grape aromas and acids. It is important to note, however, that the talented Axel Marchal, researcher at Bordeaux's ISVV and winemaker/consultant, notes in his report that "young vines, high-yield plots and shallow soils are experiencing excessive water stress".

In the most leaf-thinned vineyards, those where "Northern European viticulture is practiced whereas we are in Southern Europe" as Olivier Berrouet, winemaker at Château Petrus, likes to remind us, the spectre of blocked ripening is significant, especially as the beginning of September is scorching hot. The first thirteen days of the month were the hottest since 1950, with a peak of 37°C in Sauternes on September 12. The following day, in the late afternoon, a line of thunderstorms moved up from the Basque country, bringing three days of low-pressure weather and 40 mm of rain in the wettest areas. On September 20, the sun made a comeback, never to be seen again until the harvest.

This rainy spell, very beneficial for the vegetation, kick-started the ripening process, preventing the Cabernet Sauvignon and the latest Merlot plots from collapsing under the oppressive heat.

As in 2015, October is decisive. The ever-present sun provides plenty of light, the average temperatures are a source of satisfaction and, above all, the cool nights preserve phenolic compounds (and therefore color) while preserving aromas and acidity. This wide range between cool nights and warm, but not scorching, days is the key to the vintage. A slow ripening of the berries, with patience and serenity, resulted in an exceptional vintage, full of fruit at its best.The result was an exceptional vintage, full of fruit aromas, with high acidity (and therefore low pH) and a mouthfeel close to fleshiness, a blend of density and freshness.

The cool, dry month of October was particularly beneficial to the Cabernet Sauvignon grape variety, giving the Médoc region a slight advantage over the Right Bank. If there's an advantage, it's this one.

Harvest

Harvesting of the dry white grapes began in early September, about a week later than in 2015. The grapes were in perfect health, even if the summer's water stress had left its mark. Overall, the vintage is more than satisfactory, though not as exceptional as for the red grapes.

For the latter, harvesting began as early as the third week of September for the Merlot on the earliest-ripening terroirs. Some plots were even harvested at the very beginning of November, with Cabernets of great beauty.

In contrast to other regions such as Beaujolais, Champagne and especially Chablis, Bordeaux harvests are particularly favorable in terms of quantity. This is due to perfect flowering, which resulted in a high number of berries per cluster, rather than to berry size, which remained modest.

A perfect harvest, all the more so as the low malic acid content of the grapes augurs fairly easy vinification.

As for Sauternes, the grapes were first raisined before being colonized by noble rot, thus bringing real concentration. The rainy episodes of September 13 and 30 initiated the development of noble rot on perfectly ripe, healthy grapes. The second sorting was thus the most abundant, constituting the core of quality for harvests that sometimes ended in November, with particularly high yields for some, such as Château d'Yquem, with a royal 22 hl/ha!

Whites and reds...

Overall quality, as we have seen in this summary, promises to be exceptional. And it is. Even if the white wines, with their lower acidity than in the last three vintages, are the poor cousins, the quality is nonetheless there. Sauvignon Blancs, which this year produced in large quantities, suffered from stress and overproduction, while Semillons, the noble varietal of Bordeaux white wines, found ideal conditions. Unfortunately, unloved and therefore misused, they are rarely found in many Bordeaux white wines. However, the best have fleshiness and mellowness, with low acidities that can sometimes make them seem a little soft, but we're confident that intelligent ageing will reduce this sensation. The Pessac-Léognan appellation, a great purveyor of top-quality white wines, can display a certain optimism.

In Sauternes, the situation is different. The late arrival of botrytis cinerea (noble rot) on raisined grapes has resulted in a different profile, which some mistake for average quality. Just because Sauternes has a certain tension and aromas that differ from previous years doesn't mean that the quality isn't there. No, 2016 is a very fine vintage in Sauternes, bringing higher acidities than usual, so wines that are tauter, more digestible, more gourmet. Who could complain?

As for the reds, they are superb. The hot, bright days of summer have totally degraded the presence of molecules with the barbaric name of "isobutylmetoxypyrazine", which bring notes of green bell pepper and vegetal that some English Masters of Wine (the world's toughest wine diploma) insist is the hallmark of Bordeaux wines and that we, in our outrageous resistance to our British friends, consider a flaw.

The cool nights ensured high acidity and a feeling of freshness, while preserving phenols, particularly anthocyanins, the active ingredients of color. Summer's high temperatures and saving rains produced impressive densities, fleshy sensations and magnificent juiciness.Thanks to the cool nights, they also retain superb aromatic qualities that give Bordeaux wines the luscious fruitiness often lacking in their prime.

While the Médoc boasts a greater degree of homogeneity than the right bank, the latter is of a magnificent standard. However, across Bordeaux as a whole, the lesser-quality terroirs, those with less water retention and a little too much drainage, are still lagging behind. Some wines, in less prestigious appellations, experienced severe stress, which affected their quality and sometimes even diminished it. That's why this vintage is so special. Singular in its climatology, as we have just seen, but also singular in that, unlike in previous years, there is less homogeneity between the second-rate terroirs and the great terroirs. The gap is widening in favor of the exceptional terroirs. In the latter case, it has to be said that the vintage is a true marker of great terroir, as it embraces and magnifies the great terroirs. For those who believe that Bordeaux is a single terroir, 2016 is here to remind them that there is much more diversity in this region than popular vindictiveness would sometimes have us believe.

Let's face it, all this is the result of special conditions. That's why 2016 is so special, and why it will forever be remembered as a vintage made for great terroirs. Singular and terroir-enhancing, in conclusion.

Saint-Emilion and Saint-Emilion Grand Cru

Pomerol

Margaux

Saint-Julien

Pauillac and Saint-Estephe

Listrac and Moulis

Haut-Médoc and Medoc

Graves and Pessac-Léognan

Sauternes

Lalande de Pomerol and Castillon

Satellites of Saint-Emilion

Other appellations