Robert Parker: the re-rating of the 2011 vintage Bordeaux
Pleasant surprises: Robert Parker revises his opinion on the 2011 vintage of Bordeaux
THE Bordeaux vintage 2011 had been heavily criticized by the press. Robert Parker had declared even before his arrival at the en primeur tasting week that the 2011 vintage had "no interest"! The campaign was off to a bad start.
A classic vintage, but its only flaw was that it came after two exceptional years.
Two years later, the wines are in bottles and on the market and the re-rating of the vintage by Robert Parker offers us some nice surprises.
A reminder about the Wine Advocate rating system
During the Pre-Drinks Tasting While the wines are aging, Robert Parker or a member of his team from Wine Advocate gives a provisional range of scores. The final score is then published following a new tasting of the wines once they have been blended and bottled.
96-100 "An extraordinary wine with a deep and complex character, revealing all the qualities expected of this type of wine. Such wines deserve a special effort to find, buy, and consume."
90-95 "An exceptional wine, complex and with a strong character. In short, superb wines."
80-89 "Wines ranging from average to very good, displaying varying degrees of finesse and flavor."
The results: no 100/100 for the 2011 vintage
The highest rating is given to Château Yquem with 97 closely followed by the castles Palmer And Pape Clément with both achieving an excellent 96/100, whereas their initial scores were 92-94+ and 92-94 respectively. It is important to note that this is the second consecutive year that the Château Pape Clément far exceeds its En Primeur score. Indeed, for the 2010 vintage it had gone from 93-95+ to 100.
More than thirty wines obtained a score above the range given during the en primeur tasting.
The biggest increases are for Petrus with a score of 95 (early wine score: 90-93), Château Troplong Mondot 95 (91-93+), Château Canon And Domaine of Chevalier with 94 (87-89) and finally the Château Gazin 93+ (88-91+).
On the downside, the only wine that came close to 100 with its En Primeur score of 96-100 was the Château Ausone, who will ultimately obtain a score of 95+.
The First Classified Growths
|
Name |
Château |
May 14 |
Apr-12 |
|
|
2011 |
Sauternes |
Yquem |
97 |
96-98 |
|
2011 |
Saint-Emilion |
Ausonius |
95+ |
96-100 |
|
2011 |
Saint-Emilion |
Pavia |
95+ |
93-95 |
|
2011 |
Saint-Emilion |
Cheval Blanc |
95 |
94-96 |
|
2011 |
Pessac-Léognan |
Haut Brion |
95 |
92-95 |
|
2011 |
Pomerol |
The Pine |
95 |
94-96 |
|
2011 |
Pomerol |
Petrus |
95 |
90-93 |
|
2011 |
Saint-Emilion |
Angélus |
94 |
92-95 |
|
2011 |
Margaux |
Margaux |
93 |
94-96+ |
|
2011 |
Pauillac |
Mouton-Rothschild |
92+ |
93-96 |
Like the Château Ausonius, the Castles Margaux And Mouton Rothschild have recorded a decrease in their score. The other Premier Grands Crus Classés (or equivalent) remain within their score range.
Other Classified Growths that have obtained scores above 90
|
May 14 |
Apr-12 |
||
|
2011 |
Palmer |
96 |
92-94+ |
|
2011 |
Pape Clément |
96 |
92-94 |
|
2011 |
Bellevue Mondotte |
95+ |
92-94+ |
|
2011 |
Clinet |
95 |
92-94 |
|
2011 |
The Haut Brion Mission |
95 |
93-95 |
|
2011 |
The Church Clinet |
95 |
92-95 |
|
2011 |
Troplong-Mondot |
95 |
91-93+ |
|
2011 |
Beauséjour Duffau Lagarrosse |
94+ |
92-94 |
|
2011 |
Haut Bailly |
94+ |
91-93 |
|
2011 |
Pavia-Decesse |
94+ |
92-94 |
|
2011 |
Smith-Haut-Lafitte |
94+ |
91-93 |
|
2011 |
Canon |
94 |
87-89 |
|
2011 |
Domaine of Chevalier |
94 |
87-89 |
|
2011 |
The Mondotte |
94 |
92-94 |
|
2011 |
The Gay |
94 |
92-94 |
|
2011 |
Léoville-Poyferré |
94 |
91-94 |
|
2011 |
Gazin |
93+ |
88-91+ |
|
2011 |
Léoville-Las Cases |
93+ |
93-95+ |
|
2011 |
Pontet-Canet |
93+ |
93-95 |
|
2011 |
Clos Fourtet |
93 |
91-94 |
|
2011 |
Fleur Cardinale |
93 |
92-94 |
|
2011 |
The Violet |
93 |
93-95 |
|
2011 |
Lascombes |
93 |
91-93 |
|
2011 |
Rauzan-Segla |
93 |
91-94 |
|
2011 |
Belair-Monange |
92+ |
88-90 |
|
2011 |
Ducru Beaucaillou |
92+ |
93-95 |
|
2011 |
Pavie-Macquin |
92+ |
92-94 |
|
2011 |
Trotanoy |
92+ |
91-93 |
|
2011 |
La Conseillante |
92 |
88-91 |
|
2011 |
LaTour Martillac |
91+ |
88-90 |
|
2011 |
Canon la Gaffelière |
91 |
90-92 |
|
2011 |
Cantemerle |
91 |
88-90 |
|
2011 |
Cos d'Estournel |
91 |
90-92 |
|
2011 |
Grand-Puy-Lacoste |
91 |
89-91 |
|
2011 |
Malartic-Lagravière |
91 |
87-88 |
|
2011 |
Pichon-Longueville Baron |
91 |
90-92+ |
|
2011 |
Sociando-Mallet |
91 |
90-93 |
|
2011 |
Vieux Château Certan |
91 |
94-96 |
|
2011 |
Carbonnieux |
90+ |
86-88 |
|
2011 |
Beau-Séjour-Bécot |
90 |
90-92 |
|
2011 |
Brane-Cantenac |
90 |
90-93 |
|
2011 |
Calon Ségur |
90 |
92-94 |
|
2011 |
La Tour Carnet |
90 |
89-92 |
|
2011 |
Larcis-Ducasse |
90 |
89-93 |
|
2011 |
Lynch Bages |
90 |
90-93 |
|
2011 |
Malescot-St-Exupery |
90 |
91-93 |
|
2011 |
Prieuré-Lichine |
90 |
90-93 |
|
2011 |
Talbot |
90 |
87-89 |