From the Petit to the Grand Châteaux
PJ’s Bordeaux 2002 Report

From left to right: The grand cellars of Château Margaux; Château Margaux; Dominique of PJ’s, Thierry Valette of Puy Arnaud, and Peter of PJ’s

In April we went on our annual pilgrimage to Bordeaux for the first look at the 2002 vintage along with journalists and members of the wine trade from across the globe. Our mission—simple: find the very best of the vintage to bring to our customers. And so we mounted an exhaustive search throughout Bordeaux to separate the great performers from the pretenders. It was a grueling effort. OK, we admit we had a lot of fun in the process, which was filled with great meals, grand chateaux, new discoveries, old standbys, pleasant surprises and some disappointments as well.

The Executive Summary: Although 2002 was a mixed vintage, there are enough very good to excellent wines to call it a successful one. What was also clear is that the intensive effort by so many producers

	Château Pichon Baron (Château Longueville au Baron de Pichon-Longueville)

to improve the quality of their winemaking has paid off. Twenty or even ten years ago a trickier vintage like 2002 would not have resulted in so many high quality wines. Given the improving quality of wine worldwide Bordeaux is clearly not standing on its laurels. We were impressed. And the wines reflect this search for excellence.

The Vintage: It went from gloom and doom (and rain and clouds) to a fair weather streak, full ripeness and surprised hurrahs all around. Well, not everywhere. For those who carefully tended their vines during the tough times and were able to ward off rot until the good weather arrived the quality was there. Producers on the right bank more dependant on the earlier ripening Merlot grape tended to have a harder time of it. If they did work the vineyards through the dampness and problems of the first part of the season they still may not have had the advantage of the full stretch of good weather at the end of the season, which was such a boon to the later ripening Cabernet Franc and especially Cabernet Sauvingnon.

The ultra chic tasting room of Château Latour

Although much of the earlier picked Merlot didn't come through well and the crop was smaller, one of the surprises for us was how many Merlot based wines turned out very well—from winemakers who managed to harvest later, use higher percentages of Cabernet Franc and employ more severe crop thinning and grape selection and than usual. So despite the problems with Merlot there are top quaility wines throughout, but especially with the Cabernet Sauvignon based wines of the Médoc—thanks to the hard work of the smarter and luckier producers.

Below is a round up of the appellations and some of the true standouts at different price levels:

St. Emilion: One of the surprises of the vintage with a fairly wide smattering of strong wines mixed in with the average ones. Generally, the good ones feature plush, fresh red fruits and racy acidity which adds freshness and will serve as structure for aging. Look for: Ausone, La Mondotte, Canon-La

	Comte Stephan von Neipperg with his superb line-up of 2002s: La Mondotte, Canon-La-Gaffelière, Clos l'Oratoire, Château Peyreau and Château d'Aguilhe

Gaffelière, Magrez Fombrauge, Clos de l'Oratoire, Moulin St.-Georges, Mondorion and Destieux.

Pomerol: Not the strongest year for Pomerol. But the gems show good density of red fruits, racy acidity and as one might expect they include: Vieux-Château-Certan, L'Evangile, Clos l'Église and Le Bon-Pasteur.

Côtes de Castillon: The best producers have managed to smooth out the tannins in this up and coming (and still affordable) region. The vintage, again, shows good ripeness and a racy acidity which lends freshness. Our finds: D'Aiguilhe, Clos Puy Arnaud and Cap de Faugères.

Graves/Pessac Leognan: One of the more consistant appellations with very good wines overall—showing fewer of the ups and downs apparent in other regions. The wines are generally marked by smoky, chocolaty, minerality overlaying ripe, darker fruits and are well structured with solid tannins and good acidity. Look for: Haut Brion, La Mission Haut Brion, Pape Clement, Carbonnieux and Smith-Haut-Lafitte. Whites: Carbonnieux and La Louvière.

Margaux: A powerful year with lots of density and color, which at the moment—along with toasty mocha notes—somewhat masks the well-ripened, mostly black fruits underneath. The better wines are balanced with fresh acidity and surprisingly nimble tannins given the density. The best examples are even now starting to show the fragrant aromas and soft, harmonious finesse you would expect from Margaux. Look for: Margaux, Palmer, Giscours and Cantenac-Brown.

St. Julien: Also a deep colored vintage with good density, but at this early stage showing more open and less compacted than Margaux—displaying the characteristic ripeness of the vintage in the Médoc through plenty of black fruit notes like blueberry, black current and licorice. The stars are already showing clarity, finesse and well delineated flavors. Seek out:

	The ancient cellars of Château Mouton-Rothschild

Leoville Las Cases, Ducru Beaucaillou, Leoville Barton, Leoville Poyferré, Talbot and Gruaud Larose.

Pauillac: Probably the strongest appellation in Bordeaux this year with numerous standouts. The wines, again, display excellent ripeness, density, color and fresh acidity, but with a touch of sweetness and tend to show the classic Pauillac aromatics and flavor profiles of black currents, lead pencil and cherry. The better examples generally show greater mineral concentration and silkiness on the palate than elsewhere in Bordeaux in part through their fine, ripe tannins. The best will be exceptional wines. Look for: Mouton Rothschild, Latour, Lafite-Rothschild, Pichon Baron, Pichon Lalande, Pontet Canet, Grand Puy Lacoste, Clerc Milon, D'Armailhac and Pibran.

St. Estèphe: The power of well ripened Cabernet Sauvignon comes through in St. Estèphe in 2002 with good acidity adding freshness. The better wines show unusually plush, ripe, black fruits along with good minerality and aromatics. The extra days of good weather for ripening will make this an especially good year for fruit expression in St. Estèphe. Look for: Cos d'Estournel, Montrose, Les Ormes-de-Pez and Lafon Rocher.

Other Appellations: This section represents our efforts at cherry picking throughout the other appellations. Some of the stars (usually great bargins too!) include: Cantemerle, a perennial leader in the Haut-Médoc; Malescasse, an Haut-Médoc super value; and Le Pin Beausoleil, a major star of Bordeaux Supérieur.

We hope you will become as enthusiastic about the 2002 Vintage as we have and also that this report will prove helpful as you learn more about the 2002 vintage and develop a buying strategy for yourself and those you share your wines with. Meanwhile, we will be trying to secure as many of the true standouts of the vintage as we can. Our goal is to bring you a select and foolproof range of the best of Bordeaux 2002—at exceptional prices.

Cheers and Bon Chance!
—Justin and the PJ's Team