Wine 2015

Our view on the 2015 vintage

The 2015 vintage in Bordeaux is undoubtedly a great vintage, with an early summer (June/July) that was very hot and sunny. Hopefully an early August rain allowing the veraison. August was slightly wetter than usual, especially in the northern part of the Medoc. The 2015 red wines from the Right Bank are magnificent and a good number of estates in Pomerol and Saint Emilion have produced very beautiful wines. The Margaux designation can be considered as slightly above the rest in the Medoc, but the great terroirs of Pauillac, Saint Julien and Saint Estephe are very close with beautiful red wines too. In Pessac Leognan, Haut Brion as the 2015 Mission Haut Brion dominate and the 2015 red wine are of a higher level compared to the white wines. In Burgundy, the summer was very dry and sunny, and the 2015 wines are excellent. The red wines of the Cote de Nuits are deep, soft, balanced and elegant, especially where yields has been limited to avoid overcrop. In the Cote de Beaune, the Corton sector has produced superb red and white wines (Corton Charlemagne). However, the solar side of the vintage can sometimes cause a slight lack of freshness among the whites of the Cote de Beaune (as around Chassagne Montrachet). We can point out that Beaujolais produced an exceptional 2015 vintage, at least at the level of the 2009 vintage, and maybe even better. In the Northern Rhone Valley, the 2015 vintage is excellent, especially for the Cote Rotie, Condrieu and Hermitage designations. The 2015 Saint Josephs wines are also very successful as they benefit from the August rain that followed the July heat wave. In Southern Rhone, 2015 will be slightly more heterogeneous, but it is a very good vintage globally. Looking at Loire wines, summer temperatures were less extreme than in the east and the red Sancerre should be exceptional Pinot Noir wines, as well as the wines made of Cabernet Franc (Bourgueil, Chinon, Saumur Champigny). The 2015 white wines from Anjou are very well done, Vouvray being certainly one of the best. In Alsace, 2015 was very successful thanks to the beneficial rains of mid August, with remarkable Pinots Noirs and Pinot Gris, and a late season that was rather favourable for the sweet wines production : Late harvest and Noble Rot wines (VT and SGN).