Every year a group of experts assemble to taste through the Bordeaux vintage that celebrates its tenth birthday. This “Ten Years On” blind tasting has been a fixture in our calendar for over 30 years. Our chairman, Stephen Browett, attended his first one in 1992 when the great 1982 vintage was assessed in its youth. We hosted the Ten Years On tasting of the 2016 vintage at our Battersea offices in February and, as ever, it threw up some surprises.
Jancis Robinson MW was the first to release her appraisal of the vintage, with a focus on the Goliath-beating 2016 Ormes de Pez, a wine that “held its own gloriously when tasted blind alongside wines costing more than five times more, being the group’s overall favourite wine from the appellation, trumping heavyweights Châteaux Montrose and Cos d’Estournel."
At Farr HQ we weren’t surprised; 2016 Ormes de Pez is a wine that we have tasted multiple times over the past six months. And not only did it win the Saint Estèphe flight, beating Châteaux Montrose, Cos d’Estournel and Calon Ségur in the process, it held its own and more against all bar one of the left bank first growths.
Neal Martin has now published his review of the 2016 on vinous.com, and his appraisal of Ormes de Pez is equally strong: “I do not think anyone expected such a fabulous showing from the 2016 Ormes de Pez. This stupendous wine from the Cazes family surpassed all expectations, combining power and finesse as Bordeaux so effortlessly does. It was actually reinserted into another flight just to double-check.”
Owned by the Cazes family of Lynch Bages, 2016 Ormes is roughly 50/50 Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot with a touch of Canernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Like the best Saint Estèphes, it has a powerful fruit core to match the natural grip of the appellation. The Cazes family pedigree is very much on show, with rich and ripe tannins the building blocks and intense fruit generous yet always cool. It is a more svelte, approachable wine than Lynch Bages and the light savoury tones and integrated structure mean you could open one tonight, though patience will be rewarded. More than anything, the combination of refreshment and depth is disarming in this wine, it is truly delicious yet profound, and all in such an affordable package.
Great vintages of Ormes de Pez age beautifully - you need only look at the 1989 - and the 2016 may be the greatest wine ever made at the estate. Once again, Bordeaux proves that under the right conditions and with the right stewardship, it can produce the greatest value wines in the world, and ones which can age gracefully for decades.
The 2016 Ormes de Pez was the biggest surprise of the blind tasting. No-one predicted such a strong showing and it proved its mettle not once, but twice. It has a well-defended and complex bouquet with black fruit, melted tar, freshly rolled tobacco and sous-bois scents emerging with time. Good intensity. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, gentle but insistent grip, white and black pepper sprinkled over the structured and very persistent finish. A big Left Bank '16 but there is also finesse here. Outstanding. Tasted twice blind at the Southwold 10-Year-On tasting (just to check!) 2030-2060
Tasted blind. Glossy fruit and polish with real concentration of ripe tannins underneath. Great purity and appeal. Very rich underneath. Dramatic! Great balance. Dry end. Very long. This one is a long-distance runner. [VGV]
Tasted blind at the Ten Years On tasting. This wine just gets better and better every time we taste it, and among serious competition it was the winner of the St Estèphe flight for the vintage. Deep ruby in colour with ripe black fruit, pipe tobacco, bitter dark chocolate and some cedar, the youthful vigour of fruit remains while the savour of maturity is starting to come through. The palate has the vintage's tannins but not in excess - they are chalky, deep and ripe, complementing the cool and ripe core of dark fruit. It is that core that is really the star, coating the structure and fleshing out through to a peacock's tail finish. Age has given it a slight coffee or dark chocolate edge, but the drive and vibrancy of acidity turns this into lighter notes of cedar and forest floor. A delicious, appetising and very moreish wine, you can drink this now with food. I expect, however, that it will continue to improve in bottle for another decade, and have another 10 or 20 years after that before plateauing at full maturity. An outstanding effort and complete bargain.
