Bordeaux 2011 – St-Estèphe

Second wine – and one which Mme Capbern-Gasqueton never showed on primeur – tasted after the grand vin because it was so different in style with majority Merlot: 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon. (St-Estèphe clay allowed the Merlot to ripen fully, without the interruptions due to hydric stress suffered by vines on gravel, giving powerful wines. Cabernets have finesse and silky tannins on the clay whereas the Merlot has power.) 30% of production.
Sweeter more plummy nose than the grand vin but still very fresh with just a hint of cedar. Denser and firmer and less elegant. More chocolate and less fluid freshness on the palate, though it is still fresh. A more gourmand wine for the second wine. Powerful but velvety. Less elegant, more rounded, less tension. More monolithic. (JH)

It was sad to be tasting at Calon-Ségur without Mme Capbern-Gasqueton, who died during the night of 2/3 September 2011 just after technical director Vincent Millet (ex Ch Margaux but already in his sixth vintage at Calon-Ségur) phoned her on Friday the 2nd to say he was coming over to start harvesting in the morning. We tasted this before the second wine, the Marquis de Calon. 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot. Harvest ended on 21 September, which is usually when they start, but he wanted to retain the freshness of the fruit. Very careful and laborious selection from among the 200 different lots of press wine, 80-90% of which was Cabernet. 50% went into the grand vin.
Rich, deep glowing cherry crimson. Lightly dusty but sweet and fragrant cassis. Just a touch of cedary freshness. Deep and smoothly textured and with an elegant overlay of freshness. No dry tannins here. Scented on the mid palate. Delicate, not typically St-Estèphe. Lively and full of fresh energy. Cool August brought delicacy and aromatic power to the Cabernet Sauvignon. Tender and fresh on the finish. So drinkable. Finesse and freshness all round. (JH)

74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot. pH 3.75. Merlot did not have the finesse Millet wanted, hence lower proportion. They were a bit powerful for the finesse of the Cabernet Sauvignon. No hail at Capbern. Deep cherry crimson. Intense ripe cassis, and sweet red cherry on the palate. Touch of eucalyptus. Juicy and bright and fresh. Delicious. No hard edges. Juicy and full of bright fruit. Uncomplicated and charming. (JH)

Deep red cherry colour. Red and black fruited and a touch toasty on the nose. Soft, pliable tannins. Darker fruit on the palate. Respectable, firm, dry. (JH)

Intense cherry red. Spicy dark cherry. Then sweet dark cherry on the palate. Dry and bright too. Supple, lithe but full tannins. Cool fresh elegant, classical finish. (JH)

65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc. Just 30% of the crop went into the grand vin. Inky with black core and bright dark purple rim. Stunning colour. A touch of raisiny fruit. Dry, powdery tannins but quite dense and very firm. Powerful but cool. Long – the length is more structure than flavour or aroma. Needs to take on flesh. A bit hard on the finish. (JH)

Black-hearted and inky. Unusual, rather floral nose with Asian spice. Fresh and supple and just a little malty on the palate but so much more lithe than most of the Pauillacs just tasted. Dry, powdery tannins but not drying. Actually relatively silky. (JH)

40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 60% Merlot. Rich crimson. Intense blackcurrant fruit on the nose. Then much lighter on the palate. Not too dry but lacks depth. (JH)

Clean, cedary cassis on both the nose and the palate. It is balanced but not particularly endearing. Dry and firm. (JH)

Inky black core. Rich, even a touch figgy on the nose. Oak dominates the palate, dense, grippy, rather hard work though not lacking any particular component. (JH)

28% Cabernet Sauvignon, 72% Merlot.
Creamy dark fruit. Lovely pure Cabernet fruit, fine and dark and very fresh. Fine and so smooth even with a big charge of tannin. Dense, fresh and creamy in the mouth. Powerful framework but not tough. (JH)

63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot. Very dark, black core. Not very aromatic, touch of coffee and graphite. Powder fine and elegant tannins. Fresh, dry but finely layered, lots of very fine layers. Dry finesse and long too but needs lots of time. (JH)

Meaty cassis. Firm, chewy, all structure at the moment. Dark and dense but not tough but making no effort to please. Though at the very end the fruit reappears as a reminder. (JH)

Sweet oak on the nose and then medium body and a reasonable core of fruit but then tart and austere on the finish. I'm afraid this makes me yearn for a 2009... No lack of freshness anyway. (JR)

50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot. Meaty (Bovril?) dark fruit, a little herbaceous too. Juicy, fresh and lively. Lots of bright fruit in the middle and the tannins just a bit tough on the finish. A bit bolshy. (JH)

Ripe, dark and savoury. Lots of oak char on the palate. Dense, firm but there's fruit under there somewhere, just well hidden. Chewy finish with some finishing sweetness. (JH)

61% Merlot, 39% Cabernet Sauvignon. 44% of production. Inky dark crimson. A little dusty, dark fruited, cedary, stemmy. A big contrast between the juicy fruit and the tight grip of the tannins. Acidity is pretty eye-watering and seems to sharpen the experience of the tannin. I am not convinced, as was often the case in this vintage, that time will help enough. (JH)

56% of production. 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, 11% Petit Verdot. Black almost to the rim. Again a touch dusty but darker, with liquorice mixed in to the black, almost savoury fruit. But stemmy too. Acid and tannin make this really aggressive. Eye-watering. Painful. Hope it calms down. (JH)