Puneet’s En Primeur Bordeaux Tour - Day 4

Every year, thousands from around the world descend upon Bordeaux for what the locals call “Crazy Week” where the wine industry’s finest come to visit the famous Chateaus of the region and sample hundreds of the latest vintages. In this final part, Puneet recounts his experience visiting the region and just what to look out for from 2022.

Troplong is the highest point of Saint Emilion and we really do have a great view. They own 42 Ha 28 of which is classified as Premier grand cru classe. They have clay at the top of the hill and as you come down the slopes this becomes more limestone based. This was important in 2022 as it gave greater water carrying capacity. Vines had to grow longer roots and extracted more mineral type characters. Fereol the winemaker was busy but is excited to visit Aotearoa in mid September.

A lovely morning tasting conducted by Ched de caves. I am finding Castillon very interesting for 2022, lying East of St Emilion on the Gironde and following the limestone seam, there could be some good buys to be found here. Aromes also is a lovely wine quite apart from Pavie.

A wonderful Chateau to visit, this place really goes back to Roman times – with whole buildings carved millenia ago from a rock face. You get a tremendous view of the vineyards and the village of Saint Emilion which really is very pretty.

Here at Valandraud we have the GC tasting for Saint Emilion – which to my mind is the appellation of the vintage eclipsing even Pomerol. I sprint through the UGC tasting ensuring that I get a good feel for the entire appellation

Just around the corner from Valandraud is Château Fleur Cardinale. We really are on the North Easter edge of Saint Emilion now, just a touch cooler than further into the appellation. The current custodian Caroline Decoster shows us around the property. She is vibrant, full of energy and ideas. The winery has sharp imagery and has a modern tough well integrated with the traditional. A new experience we enter the winery through a nature corridor where we see and hear the look and sound of their vineyards through the seasons – a very sensory experience, and only the beginning Caroline has invested in an immersive Virtual reality experience also, alas we did not have time to try this nor the need as we were in the property itself – although this could be a useful tool in New Zealand. We are then shown to a dining room. Caroline’s parents in law were originally from central france Limoges, famous for its porcelain and china, and this dining room supports some of the most impressive Limoges ware I have seen. We progress to lunch off these beautiful plates. Incredible. We discuss everything from wine to climate to children and art. A great afternoon.

A most wonderful Chateau with the longest path through the vines. A real sense of geometry and aesthetic almost Greek like. Plenty of wooden structures giving away the ancient age of this estate. And some whopping good wines

Haut Bailly has a new winery and I love it. Why? Because it really is in tune with its local terroir. Yes it uses precious Earth resources like steel for its tanks and fittings, but it is thoughtful in all ways on how it co exists with Mother Earth, Dug into the hill with a garden roof, water reticulation, energy panels, heat and temperature conversation, the list goes and on and on and what a joy it is to hear birds tweeting and bees buzzing around the winery as if it was native garden and woodland. And then add to this the wines are delicious (or because of this….)

A UGC tasting of Pessac Legonan wines – I decided to take a look at a few whites – they realy are delicious from this area. I think I may have found a good Sauterned in Chateau d’Arche to partner with also

A very interesting visit indeed. Avant garde with chic architects and close to the Bordeaux town, modern art scrawled on the concrete tanks, hipster winemakers and team – This wine is for K road except K Road cant afford it. So its for rich people who think they like to go to K Road! Great wines though and as natural as it gets

It is the end of the week. I sit in the tasting room of La Mission Haut Brion. A room that is hundreds of years old, with wood panels and the most beautiful wood pane large window looking out into the greenest of gardens. A room of zen, a room with untold stories and right now it feels that in this moment time has stood still, the pendulum has frozen mid swing and here I am in this room with me, my friends and some of the greatest wines ever made.

The Bontemp is the wooden bowl in which the egg whites are whisked for that most amazing part of the winemaking process, the fining of the wines. A truly fitting symbol to end the Bordeaux En Primeur week and celebrate the 2022 vintage. The vintage is truly fascinating. If you had asked the Commanderie (The elite group of Chateau owners) in May 2022 what they perceived of the vintage – they would have had heads down predicted not only an apocalypse for 2022 but for future vintages also given that 22 climatic conditions may be a harbinger of years to come. Widespread frosts in Spring of 2022, A large Hail event not long after, and then three of the hottest months ever recorded in the region starting in May. Every Chateau employed their own methods to combat these conditions. Chateau Margaux reduced foliage in an attempt to reduce photosynthesis, Chateau Latour kept foliage to shield the berries from harsh sun, soils, yeasts, crop cover all were played with. Harvests were conducted earlier than normal with many picking their Merlot in the last week of August. And then as the wines began to vinify it is clear that something remarkable was happening. The wines had a vibrancy, a freshness, an elegance and a restrained power, large mouth feel and incredible length. The vintage was turning into a truly memorable one and a success. And in the end all the vignerons could say was that in large part it was down to the vines and the terroir and their own ability to adapt to climatic conditions. The combination of limestone, gravel and clay soils allowed the roots to both go deeper and find amazing flavour components while being able to survive from the retained water in the soils and water carrying capacity. In the end the vines adapted. 2022 is their vintage.

And so we gathered on this night to celebrate, and the mood was high. The commanderie were relieved and ecstatic. This vintage has given them a glimpse of a good future for Bordeaux. Large bottles of 99 Latour circled the table and my cup was always full. I laughed and danced with my new friends. I am quite sure that Xavier the owner of Branaire Ducru will be owing me a bottle of something special as The All Blacks defeat France in this year’s World Cup. The Prince of Monaco is now my friend. And to my dear friends in New Zealand, It was Bordeaux that truly inspired me to enter this crazy World of luxury and sensory delight. For me it is not about the final product, the sensory delight or even the social coming together, it is the fact that wine is a most natural product and springs from our Earth, and the same vine speaks to us so differently from each terroir. I believe that all of our food should be like this, we should have thousands of baked beans and thousands of cauliflower flavour profiles – every foodstuff uniquely speaking of its terroir. Being an individual whilst being part of a group – somewhere in that is the grand unifying theory. Good night one and all and if you wish to partake in this year’s 2022 En Primeur Campaign, please don’t hesitate to let me be your light through the chamber.

I recommend the following wines because I believe that they are outstanding from the vintage and that buying them EP will definitely be a far better price than waiting to purchase upon release and also because these first tranche allocations ex Chateau will be very scarce and snapped up by the global market. I have chosen several superstars which must not be missed if you want the very best and several excellent value wines which will knock your socks off at more reasonable (for Bordeaux) prices. I have also chosen wines which displayed incredible balance and supple tannins and whose drinking life will last both several decades and yet be ready to drink as soon as they are in your hands or very soon thereafter. Wines will be available in New Zealand late 2024 with 50% payment by Dec 2023 and remainder upon arrival into New Zealand and at the point of delivery to you. Happy drinking!