2011 White Bordeaux
Learn more about 2011 White Bordeaux
So, is it worth buying or not? We have heard fairly indifferent reports of the Bordeaux 2011 vintage since the harvest but seeing is believing so we tried to keep our minds open as we made our annual pilgrimage to taste the new wines.
We have a separate review for the red wines of the 2011 vintage where we concluded that there is very mixed quality, for sure. The need for considerable sorting referred to means that properties who have the means to do so, in terms of labour and money, have generally made better wine than those with fewer resources. It may not, therefore, be a vintage for the petits châteaux.
What of the white wines? When the months of high Summer are relatively cool this can often presage a very good vintage for the dry whites. Certainly there are some lovely wines but a few Pessac-Léognan estates seem to have pushed a bit too far with the ripeness.
The result is an excessively exotic, tropical fruit character to the nose and a slight lack of grip on the finish. Those estates which picked at the right time, however, have made stunning wine with a beautiful balance between richness of fruit and minerality, and with a crisp, balancing acidity to boot.
Ironically a few of the Haut-Médoc estates which produce a dry white wine have performed exceptionally well this year and in some cases eclipse the Pessac-Léognans.
With regard to Sauternes it looks an exquisite year at this early stage. I can do little better than quote the highly-talented winemaker of Ch d’Yquem, Sandrine Garbay, who, speaking of her own wine, told us “that the conditions were perfect for the development of noble rot this year. The warm, dry September enabled botrytis to spread easily and the resultant wines have a wonderful perfume, purity and freshness”. Acidity is on the low side but such is the clarity and precision in the wine that there is no sense of a cloying heaviness at all. Barsac seems to have fared particularly well but there are some lovely wines throughout Sauternes.
Vintage Weather Conditions
What a curious year it was. The Spring was remarkably warm and dry and flowering took place early and in fine conditions. However, by late June the heat was becoming excessive and the lack of rain a real concern, with some vines actually in danger of shutting down.
July was cool and fortunately saw some rain, while August was mixed, cooler than average overall but with some heat spikes and some storms. September was warm and dry enabling the grapes to ripen fully, but the relative lack of heat in the key months of July and August meant that the wines do not have the richness and flesh which is found in the truly great warm vintages like 2009.
There was uneven ripening within the bunches of grapes and this necessitated a huge amount of work in the vineyard and the cellar, sorting out and rejecting the less than perfect fruit. To give you an idea of the labour involved a top estate such as Haut Bailly spent 3,800 man hours over the harvest compared to 2,800 last year, an increase of over 30 per cent.
Alun Griffiths MW
Berrys' Wine Buying Director
Bordeaux 2011 En Primeur - Reports & Recommendations
Prices:
Case price (Bottle 6 x 75cl)
Bottle 6 x 75cl 2cs
Case price (H/Bottle 1 x 37.5cl)
H/Bottle 1 x 37.5cl 35cs
H/Bottle 1 x 37.5cl 1cs
H/Bottle 1 x 37.5cl 1cs
AS x24 hf 1 x 900cl 1cs
Ben Upjohn - Fine Wine Sales Manager
The long awaited 2011 release certainly doesn’t disappoint and draws inevitable comparison to their faultless 2001. Wondrous flavours; pineapple, peach, mango, orange zest, honey, ginger and blossom. Voluptuous across the palate, multi layered but it is the balance and finesse which is simply remarkable. Precise and fresh, somehow ‘light on its feet’. An ethereal d’Yquem for which the word finesse could have been created. A long future awaits....
Martyn Rolph - Private Account Manager
In putting forward our notes on Yquem I can do little better than quote the charming, highly talented winemaker at the property, Sandrine Garbay, who told us that “ it was wonderful year for Sauternes with perfect autumnal conditions for botrytis, or noble rot. Acidities are on the low side but there is a great freshness and purity to the wine”.
Little to add, really, but we’ll have a go. The bouquet is very clean and appealing, with notes of stone fruit such as apricot and peach along with some citrus zest. On the palate the sweetness is crystalline and pure, not remotely cloying, and the finish is again wonderfully fresh and enticing. A wine that will come round quite early, I feel, and despite its apparent low acidity it does not feel at all heavy or unbalanced. This was the first Sauternes we tasted but subsequent experience indicated that this will be a year of great finesse and elegance for these wines.
Case price (Magnum 1 x 150cl)
Magnum 1 x 150cl 6cs
Case price (D. Magnum 1 x 300cl)
D. Magnum 1 x 300cl 1cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Magnum 1 x 150cl 1cs
Hong Kong Fine Wine Team
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Max Lalondrelle, Berrys’ Fine Wine Buying Director
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 2cs
H/Bottle 24 x 37.5cl 1cs
H/Bottle 24 x 37.5cl 1cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 2cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
H/Bottle 24 x 37.5cl 2cs
H/Bottle 24 x 37.5cl 1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
The finish is long and balanced and the overall impression is of a deeply rewarding wine. Still, one can feel a great sense of freshness, which seems to me to becoming one of the hallmarks, and a very attractive one, too, of this vintage in Sauternes.
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 3cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 2cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl 1cs
Simon Staples, Berrys’ Fine Wine Director
Simon Staples, Berrys’ Fine Wine Director
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 3cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Magnum 3 x 150cl 1cs
Our picks this year are Châteaux Doisy-Védrines, Doisy-Daëne, Guiraud and Suduiraut. 2011 is a great vintage for Sauternes.
Whilst the 2001 vintage may never be surpassed, 2011 is easily at or above the level of the brilliant 2007 vintage, and may well match 2001 in some cases. The wines have flesh, weight, energy with fresh acidity to boot. This is an exceptional case for the cellar. 2011 Ch. Doisy-Védrines, Barsac
One of the stars of the sweet wines this year and seemingly indicative of a strong showing for the commune of Barsac. The bouquet is truly a thing of beauty, with pure, vivid aromas of citrus peel, apricot and honey. The palate is again wonderfully pure and clean, and the length, albeit with lowish acidity, impressive. The sweetness is very clean and not at all cloying.
“The most extensive of the Doisy estates has made a stunning wine in 2011: fine, elegant and beautifully restrained with peachy concentration balanced by flavours of citrus peel and pink grapefruit. Powerful and dense, this is rich yet refreshing on the palate, promising up to a decade of bottle development. 8+ years. 95 points.” Tim Atkin MW
2011 Ch. Doisy-Daëne, Barsac
“Nothing better than a fresh glass of Sauternes!! Every time I have one I just think “why do I not have this more often!!”. Following from great 2001-2005-2009-2010 the 2011 is yet again a very strong Sauternes vintage and Doisy Daene is one of the best when it comes to the combination of both elegance and freshness. Although sweet it is one of these wines that drinks effortlessly. Lovely perfumed sweet nose, pineapples and peach. A touch sweeter than usual for this wine but extremely well balanced and lovely fresh elegant long finish.”
(Max Lalondrelle, Berrys’ Fine Wine Buying Director)
“A wine that has "more of everything, but is still in balance" according to Fabrice Dubourdieu, this is a super concentrated sweet wine with a massive 175g/l of sugar, a touch of smoky reduction and exotic characters of pineapple, barley sugar and citrus fruit. Delicious now, but will age for a decade or more. 10+ years. .”
95 points -Tim Atkin MW 2011 Ch. Guiraud, Sauternes
“Since being sold a few years ago to a consortium of quality-minded Bordeaux producers and the Peugeot family this famous old Sauternes property has made steady progress. This year it has excelled itself with a wine of unusual elegance, in slight contrast to the slightly richer style it is more known for. The bouquet displays an abundance of stone-fruit aromas with hints of coconut and citrus peel. The palate has wonderful purity and finesse with a long finish of piercing precision.”
Alun Griffiths MW, Berrys' Wine Buying Director
“As it did in 2009, this bio-dynamic estate has made one of the sweet wines of the vintage, with a marked percentage of Sauvignon Blanc adding verve and freshness to the blend. There's a tangy, citrus peel note underlying the 139g/l of sugar here, giving some backbone to the sweet, exotic fruit flavours. 8+ years. .”
95 pointsTim Atkin MW
2011 Ch. Suduiraut, Sauternes
“Tasted twice, and both times impressing with its finesse. A wonderful bouquet of honeyed orange zest and acacia, followed by great elegance on the palate with a laser-sharp sense of natural sweetness. Purity again the hallmark, as seems to be the case this year with the Sauternes.”
“Stylishly oaked with viscous, peach and honeycomb fruit, this is subtle and well balanced with luscious stone fruit flavours, a hint of lemon tartness, good freshness and enough acidity to balance the 150g/l of sweetness. This should develop more gravitas in barrel over the next year as the wine fattens out. 8+ years. .”
94 pointsTim Atkin MW