Bordeaux 2009: Sauternes and Dry Whites
May 26th 2010, by Gavin
2009 is an excellent vintage for the sweet wines of Sauternes but I don’t subscribe to the commonly held view that it’s a ‘best ever’ vintage there.
The wines are delicious but very sweet (high in residual sugar) and a bit one-dimensional, with the exception of d’Yquem (right), Climens and Rieussec. Prices for most Sauternes have been released and many have been put up, so much so that it seems daft to pay 50% more for a 2009 in barrel than an equally good 2007 in bottle from the same property. It’s noticeable that most 2009 wines are still available after a month on the market. Some producers, however, deserve credit for showing more restraint.
Some very good dry whites too, not truly outstanding – actually, not unlike 2005, a brilliant red vintage and very good for both sweet and dry white – but it’s not a vintage of the decade for dry whites. The list comprises mostly the top wines of Pessac-Léognan – not included here are the dry whites of Entre Deux Mers, Graves or Bordeaux Blancs.
Bordeaux 2009 En Primeur Buyer’s Guide: 20 Questions & Answers
May 25th 2010, by Gavin
Such is the demand for top Bordeaux from great years that the best wines from the two previous outstanding vintages, 2000 and 2005, have gone up substantially in value, despite the economic downturn. Here are my answers to 20 questions about the much-hyped 2009s.
1. Is Bordeaux 2009 ‘the vintage of a lifetime’?
I hope so, because we lost 80% of our crop in two hailstorms in May 2009. Apart from this minor detail, the weather was brilliant, all the way through to the end of the harvest in mid-October. I suppose that makes me well qualified to say, after watching the weather and tasting wines ‘En Primeur’ for ten years here, I have never witnessed such superb conditions for the harvest in Bordeaux and sampled so many outstanding young wines the following Spring. Many leading Châteaux have made their greatest ever wines, especially on the Left Bank.
That doesn’t mean to say you should buy the wines, if prices are too high. Fortunately, outside a relatively small circle of estates that could sell their 2009 production several times over regardless of price, there are many outstanding wines that are worth buying in 2009.
Bordeaux 2009: 130 wines, top down, compared to RP and Jancis. A Buyer’s Guide
May 24th 2010, by Gavin
Updated 8th June. Look away now if you think wine and points don’t go. Here is a top down list of my (GQ) scores alongside those of US guru Robert Parker (RP) – both using the 100 point scale – and Jancis Robinson’s scores out of 20, plus my estimate of anticipated maturity. There are 130 90+ point wines in my book, with 90 meaning outstanding. 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.
It’s fair to say that RP and I agree on many of the top dogs, only he’s given higher points, with a stash of potential 100s (in 2005, he awarded just two wines 100 pts). I think he’s slightly underrated the 2009s from Palmer and Pichon Baron but that’s splitting hairs.
May Newsletter
May 23rd 2010, by Gavin
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Bordeaux 2009 Prices: You ain’t seen nothing yet
May 18th 2010, by Gavin
As expected, the Bordeaux 2009 En Primeur campaign has got off to a sluggish start, with fine wine merchants trying to urge the Bordelais to get off their derrières and release prices. With the exception of last year’s futures campaign for the 2008s, ’twas ever thus over the last decade.
More worrying but, again, not exactly unexpected, is the direction that the prices are taking. Even some of the more modestly-priced wines are substantially more expensive than they were for the last outstanding vintage: 2005. The exchange rate plays a part of course, and buyers with sterling can expect to pay 25% more for the same wine four years on, even assuming no increase in price from the château.
25 Value Picks from Bordeaux 2009
April 27th 2010, by Gavin
Here’s hoping that prices for these 2009 red wines will remain reasonable when they are released in May and June. Is there a use for Twitter here – ‘Deal or No Deal’ as each price is released?
Most of the Châteaux below have a track record for being fairly priced, year in year out, so 2009 is a vintage to buy, despite exchange rate woes, as each have made lovely wines. You may not be familiar with some of the names – which is why they are better value. And just because old names like de Fieuzal, Labégorce (now merged with Labégorce Zédé) and Poujeaux are not as fashionable as some these days, they are estates that are certainly on the way up.
25 Collectables from Bordeaux 2009
April 27th 2010, by Gavin
Latour, Château Margaux and Pétrus are among my favourite wines from Bordeaux 2009. My interest in those wines is, regrettably, academic – yet if I could afford to stuff my cellar with the following wines from the next tier down, all for under a grand a box, or much less in some cases, I certainly would. (OK, the four top Pomerols here will be over a thousand a case so my rules have gone out the window.)
April Newsletter
April 27th 2010, by Gavin
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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.
Bordeaux 2009: the circus
March 26th 2010, by Gavin
The world of fine wine descends on Bordeaux next week for the so called ‘en primeur’ tastings of this über-ripe, much-hyped vintage. Thousands of professionals, and many more hangers on, will be trying to evaluate the wines and stay looking sharp, despite having black teeth.
We’ve got a small team staying with us, and we’re starting in Pomerol on Monday 29th March, St-Emilion on Tuesday 30th, Pauillac, St-Julien, St-Estèphe and Margaux on Wednesday 1st April, Péssac-Léognan on Thursday 2nd, and then I’m going back solo to the Médoc to the First Growths and ‘Super-Seconds’ the week after Easter.
Judging by the harvest last September and October, my guess is that the most exciting spots will be Pomerol, Pauillac, St-Julien and St-Estèphe, although it should be impressive all round.