The Big Match: Bordeaux 2009 v 2005 – The Buyer’s Guide, Updated as Prices Released.
June 23rd 2010, by Gavin
Updated regularly in June: So the big guns have left it until after the World Cup kicks off before launching their 2009 sales campaign. In the meantime, I’ve been looking at prices and scores against the last vintage of the decade/century/lifetime: 2005. The table below should give you a feel for what the right price should be on 175 leading wines. All things being equal, a 2009 – still in barrel – should be cheaper than the 2005 from the same estate, yet things aren’t always that simple.
The 2009 columns, on the left, are my scores (GQ) and Robert Parker’s, using the 100 point system, Jancis Robinson’s out of 20, and then the price in £ En Primeur from UK merchants. The spaces indicate the wines that have yet to be released, although I’ll keep the list updated.
On the right hand side, I tasted all the top 2005s in bottle (except Château Ausone, sadly) for Wine & Spirit magazine for the December 2007 issue, five months before Robert Parker released his final scores, shown here also. Buyers are dipping back into the market for the 2005s against the more expensive 2009s: there’s a lot of sense in that.
June Newsletter
June 23rd 2010, by Gavin
If you would like our monthly newsletter in your inbox, simply type in your first name and email address in the box at the top of this website. Click on the newsletter image to open any of the links:
‘Ere we Go, ‘Ere we Go: Calon Ségur 2009
June 14th 2010, by Gavin
Along with Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Château Calon Ségur is the first ‘top’ Left Bank 2009 claret to be released En Primeur today. UK merchants are offering the wine at around £600 a case, in bond (ex-duty and Vat), two years before delivery.
Here is the announcement on the website of the UK’s biggest Bordeaux merchant, Farr Vintners, whose owner has just bought Crystal Palace FC:
“Also released this morning was the superb Calon Segur. At the moment (even by calling in favours in Bordeaux) it looks like we will only have enough wine to satisfy about half of the pre-orders and certainly not enough for this great St Estephe to ever make it to general sale.”
Blimey. I thought the 2009 was a fabulous wine when I tasted it in April, and rated it 92-95, while Robert Parker gave it an almost identical 92-94+. Jancis Robinson awarded it a very high, for her, 18/20. But ‘sold out’ at £600 seems crazy in the context of earlier vintages.
Calon Ségur, owned by the formidable Madame Capbern Gasqueton, right, is a traditionalist’s favourite and patience will be required – drink 2023-2040+. In 2009 there is a whopping 90% Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend, compared to 82% for the 2008, and by my calculations, they made about 15,000 cases of the first wine: with 46 hectares in production in ’09 from 55 ha overall, and yields of 53hl/ha, 58% went into the Grand Vin, 25% into the second wine and the rest a third wine.
Bordeaux 2009: My Top 200 A-Z, To Buy or Not to Buy
May 27th 2010, by Gavin
Updated 8th June. Here are my (GQ) scores for my Top 200 Bordeaux 2009 alongside those of US guru Robert Parker (RP), using the 100 point system, plus Jancis Robinson’s scores out of 20. I tasted all the top wines, except Château Ausone and a few garage/boutique wines from St-Emilion, and Le Gay and Le Bon Pasteur from Pomerol.
BUY: as prices are released in June 2010, I have noted down the left hand side the wines I would BUY (or BUY* for best buys). Follow me on Twitter for daily Deal or No Deal tips as wines are released.
R: Recommended but the prices are as yet unknown. Many will have to be pre-ordered. Prices in £ are for the UK buyer In Bond (ex-duty and Vat).
V: Value, for affordable drinking. L is for Left Bank, R is for Right.