Attending tastings like this can be a bit of a lottery. Either turn up nice and early, fight your way through the heaving masses but actually get to see all the wines on show, or, turn up late, enjoy a tranquil and genteel session but perhaps miss out on some of the more popular wines.

Having chosen the latter there are gaps in my tasting notes but I think what was tasted had my full attention. A slightly more relaxed tasting has to be the way forward.

An over view…

There were a number of good Chateaux in attendance – Smith Haut Lafitte, a collection of wines by Count Neipperg, Gazin, Angelus, Canon, Brainaire-Ducru, Leoville Poyferre and Pontet Canet. Each showing a variety of recent vintages. Most had brought along some 08 samples, so it was a good opportunity to size them up against previous releases disregarding the pricing anomalies.

Having read through my notes a number of times a couple of comment stick out as being of interest…

There were some 05’s on show which I thought were showing a surprising level of development. It was the end of the afternoon, maybe some had been opened all day, but considering the weight and structure of the vintage I would have expected a bit more freshness and certainly a bit less meatiness on these wines at this point in their development. Having said that the Mondotte, Canon la Gaffeliere and Brainaire-Ducru were all showing really well – still intense, a sense of anticipation about what treats lied ahead.

By and large I was quite disappointed with the 06’s. They weren’t showing at all well. Thet seemed a bit thuggish, lean and even in a couple of cases quiet unpleasant. Chunky, fat, hollow even. Again Mondotte seemed to be shining.

2007 is an interesting vintage – I’ve always quite liked it. It’s dark, juicy, certainly not elegant but quite racy never the less. Lets just forget the whole price issue surrounding them – from what was showing at this tasting (and other dips into them) I can see some very pleasant, foodie wines on the horizon. Lots of cassis mintiness, shiny wines almost with a hint of the South West about them (yes more south west then Bordeaux).

…& the 08’s? Certainly a lot different from everything else on show. They seemed to have all the good bits of the other vintages here, but also some of the not so good bits. I really liked the layers of flavours some of them showed. Most were showing good levels of ripeness. I did think a couple looked a little simple – polished, 2 dimensional perhaps? I guess the problem I’ve always had with this vintage is understanding how 3 months of phenolic ripening could occur in a handful of weeks in the early autumn. I guess only time will tell?

Finally let us not forget the whites. Not usually a fan of Bordeaux Blanc and admittedly I didn’t have any prices on hand to put the wines into context, but I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by what was on show here. Having done some research I think it is hard to justify Bordeaux Blanc prices when the world is full of exceptional whites for a fraction of the price. A particular mention for Les Hauts de Smith Blanc 06 – lovely stuff.

To be honest I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one. Much has been said on other sites regarding the Magrez empire, so it was with more than a little intrepidation I set off to Browns hotel.

The Magrez PR machine had obviously been working over time – pretty young ladies welcomed you in – had I RSVP’d the invite? Of course I had & paid postage to send it to France. Was I on their guest list? No I was not – usual thing at these events.

There was an air of prestige in the room, beautiful people milled declaring their love for all things Magrez, fine tailored suits, funky little outfits… Not being one to dress up for what is after all just a days work – I stuck out as a bit of a scruff bag. There were even lovingly crafted folders advertising Bernard’s luxury holiday business on the tables – private jets and all.

The wines. Well on the whole I was surprised. Geographically he spreads his business to the 4 corners of the world and I had expected this to mean a lack of focus in the wines. However most did manage to capture the character of where they came from. I can’t say that anything really blew me away though. Wine of the tasting for me… A lowly Premieres Cotes de Blaye from his vineyard at Chateau Perenne – 2004. It was soft and appealing on the nose with good berry classical notes. Easy on the palate with a well balanced gripy structure. It has a bit of class yet tasted like where it came from – which is kind of… what it should…

Having just checked the price for this wine on Winesearcher.com I now understand why the whole event was quite so… polished!!!