For the best of Pessac-Leognan whites, this is a vintage with high appeal to lovers of fresh, classic wines in the mould of 2001 or 2011, with many that have benefitted from a touch of rounding out through either barrel ageing or lees stirring.
Many Pessac reds are also excellent, with some markers again of 2001, clearly above both 2008 and 2012, which have been the best of ‘non-stellar’ recent years. The tannins are deceptive approachable and soft in many cases but the tannins are high and there are lots of them.
Combine that with the sappy acidity and many of these wines have the potential to age well, up to 30 years in the best cases, especially when the Cabernet Sauvignon is high in the blend (this was an excellent year for cabernet on the whole). Overall, however the most typical style is medium-term drinking around the 10 to 15 year mark.
Even with the beautiful September and October sunshine, the fruit quality in the Graves has remained fresh as this was still a cool year overall, so expect raspberries, damsons and plums in the reds, and citrus, fresh cut grass and apricot in the whites. Tannins in the most successful estates are soft and approachable there are some enjoyable drinking wines here.
The best of the reds are fruit forward with well-extracted, firm but silky tannins, and will provide drinking from 5 to 15 years. And there are great whites, but beware the blanket idea that 2014 is one of the great white years acidities run high in some Graves properties.
Top 2014 Pessac-Leognan whites:
