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Bordeaux 2017 Insights

Assessing wines before they are even bottled is not an easy task. Given the stories circulating about the frost-stricken 2017 vintage we were especially keen to get out and taste the wines for ourselves

I was fascinated by how the Bordelais cope with what Mother Nature throws at them, while Sebastian Payne MW, with his many years' experience of buying these wines reflects on the techniques for tasting en primeur wines.

Pierre Mansour

Pierre Mansour
Head of Buying

  • date April 2018
  • location Bordeaux
  • people Pierre Mansour & Sebastian Payne MW
Battling with Mother Nature

Battling with Mother Nature

Head of buying Pierre Mansour on how to handle what Mother Nature throws at you in Bordeaux!

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Tasting the future by way of the past

Tasting the future by way of the past

Sebastian Payne MW has tasted a few Bordeaux en primeur wines in his time. He reflects on how different the 2017 vintage is.

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Photo Gallery

More photos >
Léoville Barton made textbook wine in 2017 and was one of Sebastian Payne MW's picks of the vintage A good year for wisteria at Château Canon! Overlooking Fronsac: our buyer for Bordeaux Tim Sykes on one of the rare sunny days during the trip to source 2017 Bordeaux Preparing to taste in much more relaxing surroundings than the big organised primeur tastings. Buyer for Bordeaux Tim Sykes with Stéphanie Barousse at La Dauphine Old school optical sorters! Photo courtesy of Basile Tesseron at Château Lafon Rochet Entrance to Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou Spotless winery at Château Phélan-Ségur, Saint-Estèphe A more modern optical sorter at Phélan-Ségur. The machine photos each berry as it passes rejecting those that are less than perfect Time to taste at Château Giscours, Margaux…'Full, rounded and with plenty of body and the structure to age…notes of mulberries and cedar combine with layered, grainy tannins to ensure a long life and plenty of pleasure to come.' Says buyer Tim Sykes…

Featured Wines

> View our 2017 Bordeaux en primeur offer

Clos Fourtet

Dutruch Grand Poujeaux

Durfort Vivens

Rauzan Ségla

Brane Cantenac

Léoville Poyferré

Ducru-Beaucaillou

Mouton Rothschild

Vieux Certan

J P Moueix

Canon

Haut-Brion

Puygueraud

Related Articles

> Guide to Bordeaux

> About en primeur offers

> Winemaking: frost in the vineyards by Caroline Gilby MW

> Winter in Bordeaux

Experience trips to other countries with our buying team

South Africa 2016

Cape Expectations

A new generation has brought a new energy to the Cape's winelands, making this not just one of the most beautiful regions to visit, but also one of the most exciting.

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Spain 2016

Spain 2016

Buyer Pierre Mansour makes a pilgrimage to Spain, to visit one of the country's oldest but least known wine regions, before returning with Trainee Buyer Freddy Bulmer to try some exclusive and very special blends.

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Bordeaux 2016

Bordeaux for the first time

Trainee buyer Freddy Bulmer joins head of buying Tim Sykes on an eye-opening trip to Bordeaux where he’s thrown in at the deep end with trips to Society favourites Sichel, Dourthe, Moueix and Dubourdieu.

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Giro d’Italia: Part II

Italy 2016

Giro d’Italia: Part II

The final leg of this mammoth tour taking in five regions in just five days sees buyer Sebastian Payne MW and News editor Joanna Goodman in land-locked Umbria with Montefalco producer Scacciadiavoli and the Barberanis in Orvieto. Finishing up in Tuscany, they spend time with our Society Chianti Rufina supplier where Gualberto talks on video about the true nature of Rufina wines.

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