With few exceptions - those estates around Portets in the north of this large appellation - the red Graves are for early drinking, with their nice supple fruit. Colours for the red Pessac wines were uniformly deep and crushed. Smoky blackcurrants dominated at the start, with very good depth and purity of vineyard fruit, while still retaining the slight earthiness that is described as ‘hot stones’ by Michael Broadbent. 2006 was a particularly successful year for Pessac-Léognan, for the reds avoided some of the hard tannins of the northern Médoc and the whites were seductively fleshy for a usually tight style of wine. 2008 equals these in quality. Steven Spurrier
empty
Written by Decanter
