FRANCE: Bordeaux
2015: Gold 4 Silver 7 Bronze 5 Commended 8
2014: Gold 1 Silver 14 Bronze 4 Commended 6
It’s tempting to describe this part of the competition as a ‘game of two halves’, but in fact, it was more like watching two different teams play the same game. While the whites and the Left Bank wines passed their fruit around with Gallic insouciance and moments of elegance that had our tasters purring with pleasure, the AC Bordeaux and Right Bank wines were high on effort but sporadic when it came to skill. Clumsy fruit (or no fruit), clunky two-footed tackles (sorry, tannins) and over-optimistic pricing. The result: a comfortable 3-1 win for the Left Bankers.
We’ll leave it up to you to decide which team is England and which is France…
From the Tasting Teams
‘If you are looking for Old World white and intensity, white Bordeaux has got options. It definitely has a niche as a food wine.’ Mya Brown, Vinoteca Marylebone
‘[AC Bordeaux] was the most disappointing flight so far. The wines were soulless, overoaked, no concentration of fruit, no balance, just boring’” Olivier Marie, team leader
‘I didn’t have any “green” comments in my notes at all. They were structure- more than fruit-led, but they did have fruit, and they all said Bordeaux. You’d pick these [Left Bank wines] blind.’ Sam Caporn MW, consultant
‘Bordeaux is an important category and price-point doesn’t seem to be much of a problem. People will easily pay £50-£60 without thinking about it.’ Guillaume Mahaut, The Jugged Hare
‘We didn’t have a high expectation [of the AC Bordeaux flight] – but we kissed an awful lot of frogs and they did not turn into princes.’ Christine Parkinson, Hakkasan Group
‘There were some quite subtle wines here – not something we would have expected. And they’re food wines par excellence when they get them right. Once we got over £12 it really got going.’ Angela Reddin, team leader
‘Our flight of Right Bank wines was Bordeaux at its worst: most undrinkable, not value for money, not wines that are ready for listing. Underwhelming, too many faults and really bad tannin management, pretty much throughout the flight.’ Martin Lam, team leader
‘We really liked the drinkability of [our Right Bank flight]. They were not the most massive wines but there was a lot of freshness and authenticity.’ Richard Bampfield MW, team leader