Yesterday, Parker released his in-bottle scores for the 2011s. His introductory paragraph to the vintage was surprisingly brief, but what immediately stood out was the range of scores (from 65-96) and the sheer number of wines scoring 80 or less.
Canon and Domaine de Chevalier had two of the largest in-bottle upgrades, both moving from 87-89 to 94. Palmer and Pape Clement, two of the four top scorers, rose from 92-94 in barrel to 96 in bottle. Parker was particularly effusive about Pape Clement, describing it as “full-bodied, rich and multidimensional” and noting that “this wine clearly transcends the entire vintage.” Palmer, too, was praised for its level of quality in what had been a “challenging vintage.”
There were also losers. Chasse Spleen dropped from 85-87 to 78, Camensac from 84-86 to 77. A few typically strong brands fell: Vieux Chateau Certan went from 94-96 to 91, Montrose from 91-93 to 89, and Pichon Lalande from 92-94 to 89. Ausone, the only wine to which Parker had originally awarded a potential perfect score, dropped from 96-100 to 95+. But in general the right bank performed well: high scores went to Cheval Blanc, Le Pin, Pavie and Eglise Clinet.
Since scores were released the 2011s have traded steadily on Liv-ex. As we noted on Wednesday’s blog, the wines have come down in price significantly since release, and for those seeking an early drinking vintage they perhaps offer better value than the newly released 2013s. A table of Parker’s top scorers are below.
