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Bordeaux 2001 Vintage Report
The 2001 vintage in Bordeaux does not fit any simple stereotype. Despite the fact that merlot was generally more successful than cabernet sauvignon, it was neither a Left Bank nor Right Bank vintage. Both sides of the Gironde estuary had successes and disappointments.
My favorite French quote of the vintage came from Patrick Léon of Mouton-Rothschild: "2000s were vins de climats (climate), while the 2001s are vins de terroir." My transliteration of this is as follows: "2000 are delicious wines because the weather was good, while the 2001s have some stinkers among them because the weather was much more difficult." It reads better in French.
The 2001 growing season was not a textbook affair. It was a much more challenging vintage than 2000 and was distinguished by a warm and wet winter. Indeed, regardless of the hot spells that came later in the season, the well-stocked water table ensured that the vines were rarely thirsty. This was in complete contrast to the previous year, where vines were more stressed—which is often considered a positive development. Indeed, the berry size in 2001 was generally much larger than 2000, and the 2001 wines have tended to be less rich.
Despite an early start to the growing season due to a warm March, the rest of the spring was wet and cool, and difficult. Indeed, the weather patterns did little to promote regular flowering and development, and uneven ripening made harvesting more difficult. It certainly made an impression on the flavor profiles of the wines, particularly the second wines, which were more of a repository for imperfectly ripened fruit than they were in 2000.
The many decent wines in 2001 are all the more remarkable considering things were shaping up to be a disaster after a wet and unseasonably cool August was threatening to deliver some very unripe cabernet sauvignon to the fermenting vats. In his harvest memorandum, Jean-Michel Cazes of Lynch Bages said of the benign and warm early October, "Thank God!" Harvesting of decently ripe cabernet sauvignon grapes was able to proceed through the first third of October. Merlot did achieve great levels of ripeness in the Médoc in 2001, and some Médoc blends featured more merlot than usual.
However, the real assessment of any Bordeaux vintage is not merely a matter of getting to grips with the vagaries of climate throughout a large wine region for a growing season. The all important context of last year's pricing, the global economy, and the opening futures prices are really what determine success in the very particular world of the Bordeaux fine wine market.
The Cream of the Crop
The Left Bank
Cabernet sauvignon, the staple of the Left Bank and the Médoc, was a bit rushed in the end. The skins did not get nice and thick and ripe, although the sugar levels were often impressive. As a result the wines are lighter than 2000, but the most skillfully made are composed and well balanced.
Margaux was easily the most inconsistent of the major Medoc communes. The number of flavor-challenged and generally poor wines was notably greater than in the other three communes. However, this was matched by the number of good and outstanding wines, including what will probably emerge as the best Médoc wine of the vintage in Marojallia—the garagiste effort from Jean-Luc Thunevin, maker of Valandraud. Merlot-dominated Palmer was a standout, while Chateau Margaux was good, albeit in a much more reserved and less flashy style than last year
Saint-Julien, frequently a little more precocious in ripening that the other three, was not particularly favored in 2001. The ever-consistent Léoville-Barton was among the top wines of its commune and continues its run of good form. No doubt it will again be one of the best buys of the Médoc. Talbot and Gruaud-Larose were mediocre in our tastings.
Marginally, Pauillac was the best of the big four communes in 2001, in my opinion. The wines were among the most consistent quality and the pencil shaving character so classic of this commune was readily apparent in quite a few wines. Mouton and Lafite were very good, while Latour seemed strangely out of character and more marked by the very ripe merlot in the blend than the other two first growths.
This northerly part of the Medoc requires a very successful ripening season to avoid the tough tannins and meanness that is often associated with cabernet sauvignon from Saint-Estephe. Even Cos d'Estounel, the star chateau, was as tough as old boots. Mean and lean wines were plentiful. Saint-Estèphe was not a success story in 2001.
The Right Bank
With over 300 producers working with diverse soils and topography, Saint-Emilion is always a mixed bag. 2001 Saint-Emilions are much more variable in quality, and are overall a step down from acclaimed vintages like 1998 and 2000. The hang times (waiting to last minute to harvest) to achieve ultra ripeness—requirements for the extreme garagiste style—were much harder to achieve in the damper 2001 vintage, which was a moderating factor overall.
Cabernet franc was generally much more successful here than in the Médoc and two wines that relied heavily upon it, Ausone and the boutique single vineyard label, Le Dôme, were in my eyes the best wines of the vintage. Merlot seems to have been particularly successful on the argilo-calcaire soil types on the slopes around the plateau (limestone-clay), to judge by a number of unassembled barrel tastings performed at Château Bel-Air. A notable miss was Pavie, which seemed overly tannic and tough, even at this stage. Otherwise many of the leading estates are listed in the 30-plus potential 90-point wines we noted from Saint-Emilion.
Unless elevage performs miracles (it doesn't) there are going to be lots of average and poor wines from the large Saint-Emilion appellation. The biggest miss of the appellation is Angelus, which on at least five occasions (we had to be sure) at two separate venues, tasted like a mean and shrill wine with little to justify its doubtlessly high price on release.
Pomerol is a small and homogenous appellation with much more homogenous quality than Saint-Emilion. A tasting of 70 Pomerols from 2001, almost everything made in the appellation, clearly demonstrated that 2001 produced a light crop of disappointing wines in Pomerol. Even the illustrious Pétrus seemed a little ordinary this year. Despite eight potentially excellent wines, there were a truly amazing number of wines bringing up the rear that seemed unripe and flavor-challenged.
The Graves
The Pessac-Léognan reds did not significantly outperform other regions, and were of a consistently good average quality, with plenty of wines showing a tell-tale tobacco and cedar note. Haut-Brion, a nervous and structured effort this year, did not rate as the best red of the appellation. That honor fell to Pape Clément and Larrivet Haut-Brion (no relation to Haut-Brion), which look like being the pick of the red Graves in 2001.
Dessert Wines
Every account I have read of the 2001 Sauternes/Barsac vintage speaks glowingly of its potential quality and what an abundant year it was by the miserly standards Bordeaux sweet wine production. We diverge a little from that chorus.
There is no doubt that the best wines are very sweet, have good acidity, and clean fruity flavors. However, in too many of the wines there did not seem to be an abundance of botrytis (noble rot that concentrated the grape sugars) character—manifested by a honeyed and spicy quality—in many of the wines tasted. Less hyped recent vintages (1998 & 1999), which were much less commercially rewarding in terms of quantity, seemed to offer more exciting wines at the top level. Some flat and heavy wines from 2001 were a glaring disappointment.
Still, I am sure that the best wines of the 2001 vintage will continue to offer the best value of all Bordeaux wines. Considering the laborious production methods, Sauternes is still very under-priced and under-appreciated.
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