Below Margaux (geographically), Pessac was more consistent with less highs or lows and few exceptional wines. Traditionally comprising the highest percentage of Merlot on the Left Bank, they were less jammy than the overcooked St Emilions over the river but still lacked the elegant top notes and complexity that characterise their best vintages. Haut Brion and La Mission turned in impressively structured efforts. One would hardly call the latter feminine but rather a middleweight boxer to the latter’s Greco-Roman wrestler, Latour excepted, the biggest of the First Growths.
WineChap’s Picks: Clarence de Haut Brion, Smith Haut Lafitte, De Fieuzel, Les Carmes Haut Brion, Picque Caillou
Bordeaux 09: Pessac-Leognan
Below Margaux (geographically), Pessac was more consistent with less highs or lows and few exceptional wines. Traditionally comprising the highest percentage of Merlot on the Left Bank, they were less jammy than the overcooked St Emilions over the river but still lacked the elegant top notes and complexity that characterise their best vintages. Haut Brion and La Mission turned in impressively structured efforts. One would hardly call the latter feminine but rather a middleweight boxer to the latter’s Greco-Roman wrestler, Latour excepted, the biggest of the First Growths.
WineChap’s Picks: Clarence de Haut Brion, Smith Haut Lafitte, De Fieuzel, Les Carmes Haut Brion, Picque Caillou
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