It is perhaps expected to provide some indication of which commune has been victorious, which one should take the title of most successful for 2007. Other than saying each of the communes displays a remarkable ability to disappoint, however, I am not sure what accolades should be handed out.
First off the blocks therefore is St Estèphe, a chronically under-represented commune in the annual UGC tastings as Montrose, Cos d'Estournel and Calon-Ségur do not engage in UGC activities. That leaves just four estates flying the flag, the only two remaining cru classé properties and two 'lesser' estates, for want of a better description, After all, it is not unusual for one or both of the latter pair to outshine the first two. In this tasting, however, none really shone at all.
Moving onto Pauillac, the tone of the vintage began to ring clearer and clearer as I moved along the wines. There are only so many ways that you can write the word 'lean'. There was one notable success in this commune though, from Pichon-Baron, a harmonious offering which was attractive, perfumed and certainly a super effort in the context of the vintage. Its stablemate Pichon-Lalande as well as Pontet-Canet also showed a little promise and all three will benefit for a little time in the cellar, although not too long for the Pichon twins, this is not a vintage that will benefit from extended cellaring. Pontet-Canet, with its thick background of tannins, may need a little longer to soften up though; I only hope the fruit holds out.
Further south again and I thought I found a little more uniformity in St Julien, where as a group the wines displayed a smidgen more substance and flesh, and the classic St Julien trio of Langoa and the two Léovilles (by which I mean Poyferré and Barton - like the St Estèphe super-seconds, Léoville-Las-Cases does not partake in UGC events) all showed good efforts. But they are only good in the context of the vintage of course. And in truth I think Pichon-Baron is superior to all of these efforts.
These first three communes seemed to establish a trend of improving quality, starting with the dismal wines of St Estèphe, before the less than admirable Pauillacs and the slightly more uniform St Juliens. If this trend was real, Margaux should offer something brighter and more appealing, surely? The first few samples seemed to suggest this might be so, with half-decent wines from Brane-Cantenac, Cantenac-Brown, Dauzac and Desmirail. Sadly, the situation degenerated from there onwards, with the commune showing the usual Margaux unreliability, and in truth Rauzan-Ségla is the only estate in the commune worthy of any significant comment. My tasting finished up with two of the five Haut-Médoc cru classé chateaux, La Tour Carnet and Cantemerle. Neither sent any shivers down my spine.
The best (acknowledging that many top properties - the first growths for instant - are always absent from these tastings):
Chateau Pichon-Baron 2007: Dense fruit, a little creamy oak, more expressive aromatically than Pichon-Lalande which I tasted alongside. An impressive palate for the vintage; supple and lightly creamy in terms of texture. A very appealing style, harmonious, with integrated tannins. Balanced, and overall showing very well. A good firm finish and even a little length. 16.5+/20
I thought about adding "the worst" to the end of this post also, but I found myself over-faced with the array of possibilities!
) doesn't leave me with much favourable to say about these wines, other than they are correct, clean, light and early-drinking....and very bad value.