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Bordeaux 2009: my Top 150

April 24th 2010, by Gavin

I tasted all the top 2009 red wines from Bordeaux in late March and earlier this month, with the exception of Château Ausone. I didn’ t taste any of the so-called garage wines from St-Emilion*, so this list represents – in my humble opinion – nearly all that is worth considering as an en primeur investment.

As it happens, the random figure of 150 relates to all those wines which should have an ‘outstanding’ rating of 90 points or more when bottled next year. In separate articles, I’ll list a few potentially ‘good value’ buys, and the best dry and sweet white wines.

Of course, a list like this has its shortcomings, so I’ve tried to include relevant information – the name of the Château, the appellation,  L or R for Left or Right Bank, my score out of 100 (for me, like Robert Parker, I always think in terms of a small ‘spread’ when the wine is still in barrel) and the maturity date for when I consider that each wine will be at its best for drinking.

There’s also the likely cost when prices are released by the Châteaux to merchants in May and June. Finally, there’s an asterisk for those wines which may offer relative value. Note that we do not sell any of these wines.

The list can be downloaded as an Excel spreadsheet here

The rough price guide is as follows:

€€€€€ Over €2000 or £2000 a case of 12 to the consumer, ex duty/VAT

€€€€ £1000 to £2000, €€€ £500 to £1000, €€ £200 to £500 and € Under £200

* Still to be tasted are Le Gay, La Violette and Le Bon Pasteur from Pomerol, garage wines like Valandraud and Gracia from St-Emilion, and the boutique wines – like Le Dôme – from our good friend Jonathan Maltus at Château Teyssier.

2 comments

• Dan replied:

  Hi Gav,

  Useful stuff – I picked up soem L’evangile after you you raved about it (2008) which means I can get my hands on some 09 – what do you think?

  Dan

  April 27th, 2010 at 11:19 am. Permalink.

• Gavin replied:

  Hi Dan

  Good move on the l’Evangile. Go for the 2009 for sure – it’s lovely. It’ll be expensive but worth it. Also, the Blason de l’Evangile is a superb second wine, for earlier drinking. Since 2005, they have been making some of the most delicious wine in Bordeaux from one of Pomerol’s top spots. Carruades de Lafite may be the top performing wine on the secondary market, thanks to the Chinese interest, but L’Evangile is in the same Lafite-Rothschild stable (albeit from Pomerol, not Pauillac) and a far, far greater wine.

  April 27th, 2010 at 12:41 pm. Permalink.

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