The Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux (UGCB) wine tasting took place last Thursday at the beautiful Rosewood Hotel.

What a privilege to have been able to taste almost 75 wines in this beautiful setting with only two other fellow sommeliers! Very intimate and private experience that allowed me to focus on tasting the wines rather than networking with colleagues ;-)

So how was this 2017 vintage? Wherever you look, whatever you read, the 2017 was not easy: destructive frosts in April and some rain in September, in between two great vintages… It is not an easy situation for poor 2017 and some people have decided to forget it altogether.

However, there is some great wines to be found in this vintage and because it comes after the fab’ 2015 and 2016… the prices should be good!

Here are a few of my favourite ones:

Whites

Some great surprises with Chateaux Carbonnieux (pepper spice), Domaine de Chevalier (minerality), Malartic-Lagraviere (almond), Smith Haut Lafitte (freshness of mandarin).

Pomerol

Loved them all. They were almost all ready to drink! Château Beauregard (Perfumed and floral), Château Le Bon Pasteur (amazingly fragrant), Château La Cabanne (pure raspberry with long finish), Château Clinet (violet becoming animal and spice with aeration and chocolate on the palate), Château Gazin (red fruit explosion)

Moulis-en-Médoc

Château Chasse-Spleen forever with already some forest floor character and Château Moncaillou (surprisingly fresh raspberry and white pepper)

Haut-Médoc

Could not miss to taste Château Cantemerle, the best value GGC that you can find on the market: red and black fruits, fragrant and fresh. Round, full bodied and long finish. Château Citran did not disappoint either: Sweet red fruits, red currant and fresh spice. Full bodied and noticeable tannins.

Margaux

Classic but nonetheless noteworthy:

Château Brane-Cantenac: depth of dark fruits and forest floor on the nose. Powerful black cherry, spice and plum on the palate.

Château Cantenac Brown: Dark fruits, black currant and freshness of the eucalyptus. The palate was surprisingly balanced.

Château Giscours: beautiful depth, maraschino cherry and spice. Powerful palate of dark fruits and long finish.

Château Kirwan: classic cassis with freshness and intensity

Château Prieuré-Lichine: cassis, freshness. Round, full and tannic with long spicy finish

Saint Julien

Surprisingly, the dark chocolate dominated the Saint Julien:

Château Beychevelle had dark fruits and chocolate on the nose and palate

Château Leoville Barton had black currant, chocolate and animal character. Very powerful and yet, very elegant. I gave it a three stars! ***

Château Leoville Poyferré: perfumed, cassis and black cherry with added smokiness and cacao with depth and power.

Pauillac

The Pauillac were true to themselves: powerful! I loved:

Château Grand-Puy Ducasse with pure cassis and mint on the palate and a powerful and tannic long finish

Château Lynch-Bages: The power and depth of black berries on the nose. Full and fresh power on the palate.

Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande: the last of the reds that I tasted and my full four stars wine: a beauty of sweet spice, black cherry and plum with elegance and fragrance. Deep, powerful, balanced on the palate. ****

Sauternes

Still managed to squeeze in two fab’ Sauternes:

Château Rieussec: a very Christmassy sweet wine with orange peel, mandarin, caramel and honey nose followed by a lovely sweet spice palate.

Château Suduiraut: pure marmalade and beautiful mandarin peel nose and a long long long finish of honey and almond.

So, in conclusion, would I recommend the 2017 vintage?

Yes, absolutely! The wines that I tried were precise, delicious and complex demonstrating a complete mastering of the vineyard management and the winemaking techniques.

Thank you to Business France HK and UGCB for making this tasting possible!

Marjolaine Roblette Geres

Blog

Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux Tasting at the Rosewood