Decanter July 2016

The 1961 crus classés du Médoc Premiers grands cru classés exceptionnel Châteaux Lafite-Rothschild, Latour, Margaux, Mouton-Rothschild Premiers grands cru classés 21 estates: Châteaux Beychevelle, Brane-Cantenac, Calon-Ségur, Cantemerle, Cos d-Estournel, Ducru-Beaucaillou, Gruaud Larose, Lascombes, Léoville Barton, Léoville Las Cases, Léoville Poyferré, Lynch Bages, Malescot St Exupery, Montrose, Palmer, Pichon Longueville (Baron), Pichon Longueville (Comtesse), Pontet-Canet, Rauzan-Gassies, Rauzan-Ségla, Talbot. Grands crus classés 30 estates: Châteaux Batailley, Bel Air Marquis d’Aligre, Boyd-Cantenac, Branaire-Ducru, Cantenac-Brown, Chasse-Spleen, Cos-Labory, Duhart-Milon, Dutruch-Grand-Poujeaux, Giscours, Gloria, Grand-Puy-Ducasse, Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Gressier-Grand-Poujeaux, Haut-Batailley, d’Issan, Kirwan, La Begorce, La Lagune, Lanessan, Langoa-Barton, La Tour-de-Mons, Le Prieuré-Lichine, Marquis de Termes, Meyney, Mouton-Baron Philippe (today Armailhac), de Pez, Phelan-Ségur, Poujeaux, Siran. This list uses spellings as set out at the time. Château Haut-Brion would have kept its 1855 status, as would the crus of Sauternes…

Furleigh Estate’s winery and 16 hectares of vineyards are in Bridport, Dorset, on England’s south coast. Rebecca Hansford grew up here when it was a dairy farm, and bought the estate in 2004 when she and husband Ian Edwards – both former actuaries – wanted new careers. Edwards is now the winemaker and makes still and sparkling wines from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Bacchus and Rondo. England’s unpredictable climate means yields can vary dramatically; in 2012, no sparkling wine was made, yet in 2014 production was more than 120,000 bottles. In good vintages like this, the cool climate and long growing season coupled with deep, fertile soils create crisp, refreshing, fruit-driven wines. This picture was taken in early September 2015 when the grapes were enjoying their last few weeks…

PHOTO ESSAY The beauty of the first growths Award-winning US photographer, Andy Katz spent much of 2015 on location in Bordeaux for a new book called The Club of Nine , which will be published this autumn. We bring you an exclusive preview of selected images taken from the book, with words by Jane Anson THERE ARE NO rules for entry to this club. Not ones, at least, that you can look up. And yet, this is without question the most exclusive set of names in wine. Nine ‘first-growth’ chateaux: six on the Left Bank of Bordeaux, three on the Right. If we list them from north to south geographically, we get Lafite Rothschild, Mouton Rothschild, Latour, Margaux, Haut-Brion and Yquem on the Left Bank; and Petrus, Cheval Blanc and…

IT’S ANOTHER MAJOR month for Bordeaux. However, on this occasion, my subject matter is the city itself, rather than the region’s current en primeur campaign. Why? Because in June the doors finally opened to its high-profile, high-tech (and possibly high-risk) vinous visitor attraction centre, the Cité du Vin. In May, I caught a glimpse of the soaring, futurist edifice sparkling in the sunshine over the Garonne river. Some 2,500 reflective aluminium panels were used to build the 55-metre tower. Inside are eight floors, several restaurants and a whopping 3,000m2 of exhibition space devoted more or less entirely to wine. Naturally, the project went over budget (reputedly by e 14m) and ran over time. But no matter, if it ultimately proves to be both popular and commercially successful. It’s a big ask because recent…

SAUTERNES & BARSAC Sauternes & Barsac 2001 revisited Highly rated by critics at the time, the 2001 vintage has since commanded high prices. Stephen Brook assesses how the wines are performing today, and is impressed THIS YEAR WAS widely, if not universally, acclaimed as an exceptional one for Sauternes, and both its quality and quantity were welcome to the growers after the near-disastrous 2000 vintage. What was particularly galling about the latter was that it prevented producers from exploiting the commercial potential of a millennial vintage, something which producers of red Bordeaux did not shy away from doing. The châteaux were delighted to see that the Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon grapes were fully ripe by late August. Botrytis, or noble rot, is essential to produce fine Sauternes, but only if…

FRANCE Burgundy is contemplating another small harvest in 2016 after the region’s worst frosts in 35 years swept through vineyards in late April. The full impact of the sub-zero temperatures which affected many parts of the region on the night of 26 April was still being assessed as Decanter went to press, but the Loire, Champagne and other European vineyard regions were also hit. ‘Such a frost is unseen since 1981, and it could have consequences not only for the yields of Burgundy’s 2016 harvest but also on yields in 2017,’ said Caroline Parent-Gros, of Domaine AF Gros in Pommard. She added that, in Pommard, 80% of regional appellation vineyards had been affected. ‘The crus are also damaged and we already know that quantities in the coming vintage will be very small.’ Parent-Gros said:…