2014 Vintage Presentation

A Cozy re-tasting of the 2014 en Primeurs.

2014, like some earlier vintages, is hailed with its 'last-minutes' saves, as in soccer games. Fearing Nature. Embracing Nature. Stop all the clocks. Just let it happen on one hand as nobody can control...... The reality is: in our mundane world get the mess fixed before the shit hit the fan seems to be the only way out.

Supremacy of Chaotic Theories? In August I was told the 2014 looked like at a very average vintage; in September hopes for a normal vintage is the best bet; by November it seemed like a good vintage as it was Saved from the rain! Initially chaotic weather conditions made us fear the worst until the sun came out at the end of August, and granted the vines two months of warmth and light and an unexpected guarantee of quality. Winter 2014, as I Was told by representatives of Brane Cantenac, was mild but wet. May was mostly cool. June was magnificent with storms but much higher sunshine than average. July was fairly mediocre. The prayers for higher temperatures in August was heard, but were let down by a gloomy month, with below-average temperatures, in fact. Not surprisingly, the morale of the winegrowers was well under par. Sounds like most people's lives, recalling my fellow friends(mostly graduates from the 1980's) who survived the episodes of the 1989 exodus, pre-1997 economic downturns, the 1997 'Hang-overs', 2000, 2003 SARS, and of course for me, the 'liberation' movement on wine industry since 2008, and then the extinction of wine investment as meaningful way to create wealth.

Let's get back to Bordeaux vintage 2014........But that was when summer set in, with a superb and hot September that made up for the previous five weeks. The sunshine continued into October, which allowed the Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot to reach perfect ripeness, in perfect condition.

Last but not least, my earlier observations on most of the 2014 wines till hold. Please review https://www.facebook.com/notes/dunn-dunn-wine-limited/2014-bordeaux-barrel-tasting/734706236636988