2009 BORDEAUX REPORT

Not since the great 2005 vintage have I spent a week tasting so many compellingly good wines across all regions. The Bordelais are already hailing this to be a golden year on par with their best vintages ever. In some cases they are right, as certain chateaux have made brilliant wines that even eclipse their 2005s. Others have the overt ripeness of 2003 or the rich opulence of the 1982 and 1990. Each region and Chateau have their own hypothetical comparisons, even though every vintage is unique. The beauty of this vintage is that the purity of ripe fruit and fine tannins can be appreciated now and in many  wines there is also structure to age for several decades.

From the vine to the wine

This was an ideal vintage for the vigneron as nature allowed for a long, healthy growing season.  The cool winter temperatures in early 2009 killed off  undesirable bugs and delayed budding and the vegetation cycle. When the vines eventually did bud in early April they had managed to avoid the late frosts allowing for perfect flowering in the sunny last weeks of May and early June. A freak hail storm damaged some vineyards in Margaux on the 11^th May but apart from this incident most vines continued to flourish right up to harvest.

The late ripening Cabernet Sauvignon performed perfectly for most growers, achieving optimum ripeness and concentration under warm sunny skies well into mid-October. The light breeze and lack of rain intensified the fruit sugar concentration and tannins resulting in some of the highest phenolic levels ever recorded, such as Cos d’Estournel at 99 IPT and also some high alcohol contents,  like  Pavie-Macquin with 15% volume alcohol. However, there is a freshness and balanced acidity in the best wines. As with  the 2003 and 2005 vintages, there were long warm days and little rain between June and September, but the cool evenings running up to this harvest conserved the acidity levels.

Merlot as a grape is more susceptible to draught and this showed in some wines where it had been left to hang and ripen too much to express terroir typicity. Those soils with good water retention produced the best grapes in the driest vineyards. The better growers managed to cope by strict fruit selection and timely harvests. Chateau Margaux decided to sacrifice most of their merlot this year with just 9% making the grand vin. The poorer efforts resulted in some jammy alcoholic wines with uneven tannin ripeness. Those who picked their merlots in September generally made better balanced, fresher wines than those who let them hang well into October.

The yields have been abundant this year and even in Sauternes, Chateau Yquem recorded one of it’s largest crops since 1900. This is a glorious vintage for Sauternes, Barsac and other noble rot appellations. There are similarities with the 2001s in terms of quality, with plenty of power and luscious sweet fruit  from the more humble estates to premier grand cru level. The dry whites were less consistent as better growers had to pick their grapes earlier to avoid loss of acidity, flabbiness and high alcohols. A few of the usual suspects achieved the balance required.

Above is a list of some the best performing chateaux with scores out of 100 points. There were also many superb cru bourgeois, second labels and petit chateaux. We have listed a few which will be worth purchasing en primeur.

Buying  en Primeur this year

We have noticed unprecedented demand already for the top growths in this vintage. As usual we will try to please all existing and new customers where possible. Those regular customers will automatically receive an option to buy their allocations at the release stages. Newcomers should register their interest shortly to avoid disappointment. Those who buy a spread of Chateaux from different classifications will be favoured on release price offers.  Prices will be shown in red as they are released. Other bottle sizes are available on request