Best Pauillac 2018 wines tasted en primeur

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Château Lafite’s Eric Kohler described Bordeaux 2018 as an extreme version of a classic vintage in Pauillac.

‘It always rains during spring here, it’s just that [2018] was on the far end of the scale,’ he said. Looking at the year as a whole, you can see what he means. Pauillac saw 874.3mm of rain in 2018, just a slice above the appellation’s 30-year average of 868.2mm.

Mildew attacks also came a little later in Pauillac than in much of Bordeaux, with the worst assault in July, well after flowering.This meant that, in most cases, the worst affected yields still hovered around the 20-25 hectolitre (hl) per hectare (ha) mark. Pontet-Canet was a notable exception.

Did those pursuing organics and biodynamics suffer most through restricted treatment options? The data suggests any effect was far from uniform. Latour, for example, saw 24hl/ha and organic and partially biodynamic. ‘We never thought about wavering from it,’ said winemaker Hélène Garcin.

Haut-Bages Libéral, which is entirely biodynamic, saw yields of 45hl/ha. Average yields across Pauillac were 38.5hl/ha.

You really feel low yields with the high density plantings of 10,000 vines per hectare that are common in St-Estèphe and Pauillac, because these are already big, tannic wines and so the extra concentration is rarely needed.

It is probably a good thing that generally there were some extremely high yields in the appellation, such as 55hl/ha at Fonbadet and 50hl/ha-plus at the three Castéja estates in Pauillac, which include fifth growth Batailley.

As with St-Estèphe, it was a great Cabernet year in many instances in Pauillac.

But the Cabernets got extremely ripe and alcohols often exceeded those of Merlots, which is rare.

This changes the usual balance of these wines and, although they might be impressive in the glass, I question if it is really the signature that style that estates are going for.

There was a little less rain in the northern Médoc than in the south, plus a strong wind blew in early October that many estates commented on, which is perhaps why the Cabernets got so concentrated.

Merlots have a gravity and structure to them that is also unusual. They have in many cases have provided exceptional body to the finished wines. Merlot ripens earlier than Cabernet and did not suffer from the same over-concentration.

All this resulted in at least seven Pauillac estates reaching record alcohol levels, including Armailhac, Mouton and Pichon Baron. The result is not as effortless always as St Julien, but then when is it ever? That’s not what you come to Pauillac for.

Pauillac 2018 wines potentially offering great value: Haut-Bages Monpélou and Tourelles de Longueville.

Top scoring wines: Lafite Rothschild, Mouton Rothschild, Pichon Comtesse, Pichon Baron, Latour and Lynch-Bages.

Best Pauillac 2018 wines

The following wines have been scored 93 points and above. Search all Pauillac 2018 wines here.

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