Ok so after much procrastination and the interference of real life I am finally getting around to posting the final en Primeur post (we just aren’t going to talk about the fact that was actually at the beginning of the April).

After the Graves tasting on Monday and a day of magic on Tuesday, it was rather hard to rally early Wednesday morning for another long day of tasting unfinished wines. (Yes even us wine nerds do reach our limits sometimes) But rally I did, and of we went – this time to Bordeaux’ Right Bank.

Our day began at the very muddy Château Petit-Village in Pomerol for another of the Union des Grands Crus tasting. I will confess, this was probably the most disappointing of the UGC tastings I participated in over the course of the two days – but some of that may have been my personal state of mind. But the space was ill equipped to handle that many people. The cellars themselves were cold and the Right Bank struggled at harvest. (The early ripening Merlot did not enjoy as much of the lovely Indian Summer and a bit of pre-harvest rain had a slightly diluting effect.)

Then it was up the street and across appellational lines to Chateau La Dominique in Saint Emilion for the Cles des Chateau tasting. It was truly the most daunting experience of the three days based purely on the sheer number of wines on offer. While focused on Saint Emilion offerings there were a range of wines from across Bordeaux, Europe and even a few New World offerings. But thankfully this tasting featured a lot less people and we were able to take our time to really explore the offerings.

Up next it was a trip to Clos Fourtet and a return to the UGC offerings for Saint Emilion and a sadly disappointing buffet lunch (granted we had all be completely spoiled the day before). But lunch provided a much needed opportunity to recharge and reset for the afternoon.

The afternoon itself seemed to pass at a much more manageable pace. One additional tasting and two estate visits. The large tasting was held at the estimable Chateau Angelus. Sadly again here we didn’t make it through all of the wines, but this was partially done deliberately. There were redundancies in the offerings and we were trying to focus on the wines we hadn’t yet had a chance to discover. Here also I got to step outside the boundaries of the Bordeaux region and explore a few international offerings. But I think what amused me the most about the afternoon was the small platform at the end of the hall on which Chateau Angelus had perched its own tables. It was a clear testament of sheer ego. But nonetheless the wine was actually very good.

Much like the day before the afternoon concluded with the private visits at two estates: Chateau Figeac and Chateau des Sales.  And much like the day before both of these visits were entirely memorable, in part thanks to exquisite offerings. More detailed tasting notes on my favorite wines from the day to be found at the bottom of this post.

But most importantly our day did not really end there. Our final stop was back across the river in the Medoc at Chateau Gruaud Larose for the afterparty. But that is a matter for another post all together.