Bordeaux 2009 “This could be great…!”
Author: Berry Bros. & Rudd
Berrys’ Bordeaux Buyer Max Lalondrelle reports on the vintage.
Just back from Bordeaux where I spent a few days assessing the nearly harvested 2009 vintage. I also took this opportunity to look at newcomers that might be included into the Berrys’ portfolio.
Over the three days there were no clouds to be seen the temperature was a steady 28 degrees. It has to be pointed out that the weather in Bordeaux (and the rest of France) has been text book, with the fruits being the healthiest I have ever seen. When tasted, the berries are extra ripe and even the pips are mature. All the ingredients of a good vintage look to be in place.
First up was the little oasis that is Carmes de Haut Brion. In the 16th Century this property was part of Haut Brion and was kindly donated to the monks in order to pay for the owner’s right of passage to heaven. It is one of the smallest estates in the left bank of Bordeaux and together with La Mission and Haut Brion is now located in town. The Furt family now look after this beautiful estate and the level of their dedication is starting to pay. The wines are wonderfully Pessac, very minerally and fresh but with enough power and structure to last for decades. The small estate only produces 2000 cases which sell out every year to small amount of dedicated aficionados.
Away from Carmes with their troop of 10 pickers to the all mighty Ch. Mouton-Rothschild with the jaw dropping team of 550 pickers. The logistics needed to orchestrate such a massive workforce is beyond comprehension but seemed to be perfectly tuned under the watchful eye of manager Herve Berland and winemaker Philippe Dhalluin. After re-tasting the wonderful 2008 range we headed for lunch with the pickers. I was fortunate enough to be sat next the wonderful Baron de Rothschild and opposite Philippe. I was fascinated to hear that both had rarely seen fruit as perfect as this year and to see the excitement on their faces made me understand that we might have something special here. After lunch we were whisked away to see the new Bordeaux craze, the optical sorting table… The amazing machine replaces up to 20 people on sorting tables. It takes 30 pictures a second and analyzes the shape of the berries, their colours and any unwanted snails and it then expels them with a micro jet of air …truly amazing.
Off to see the much talked about new winemaking facility at Cos d’Estournel. The very charismatic Jean Guillaume Prats received us with a great smile on his face and showed us around the miracle of technology that he has created. The emphasis is on simplicity and minimal intervention. The fruit preservation is the key to his new system. He said: “All we have done is to use technology to minimise intervention and any damage to the fruit from the moment it is picked, to the fermenting vats. Looking at the quality on the fruit coming in I cannot wait to taste he wine in April next year.”
From there a quick stop at Ch. Latour to ask Director Frederic Engerer his feeling about the vintage and quickly to Ch. Margaux to meet with Director Paul Pontallier. Both much respected men in Bordeaux agreed that it is still early and there is still plenty to do but if all goes well, with the quality of the fruit we might be looking at a very good or even a great vintage.
In the evening I met for dinner with the very influential Emmanuel Cruse from Ch d’Issan in Margaux. We tried his wonderful 08 and looked at the outcome of their 09’s. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t so kind for them as this was the second year in a row that they had lost a big part on their crop to May’s hail storms. The reminder on the crop is extremely healthy and will very probably turn into one of Issan’s best ever vintages … not much will be made so we will keep an eye on this one.
On day two, I was privileged to be invited to the tasting of the year at Ch. Lynch Bages. Jean Michel Cazes, his Sister Sylvie and son Jean Charles, who is now in charge of the property, together with some of their very talented staff, had invited me to a vertical tasting of 36 vintages going back to 1959. Jean Michel gave us lots of colourful anecdotes which made this experience unforgettable. Without boring you with all the tasting notes, I think the reason Ch. Lynch Bages is such a successful global brand is because of the dedication of the staff over the years for making one of the most consistently delicious wines in Bordeaux. To prove the point, some of the most outstanding wines of the tasting, aside from the obvious, were 66, 84, 91, 93. The moral of the story is… buy Lynch Bages every year, you will never be disappointed!
In the afternoon I quickly dashed to Ch. St Pierre in St Julien. This estate is one of the region’s best kept secrets and produces only 5000 cases a year. Definitely one to watch. In fact, if they produce a fantastic 2009 they will definitely be part of our En Primeur offering.
From there I drove a few hundred yards down the road to see Jean Hubert Delon at Ch. Leoville Lascases. The harvest was coming in thick and fast and was so healthy that even their new optical sorting table (another one) could not find anything to reject. Jean Hubert kindly opened some 2007, which was wonderful, and also the most amazing 2000.
Finally, I went down to Ch. Palmer to meet with Director Thomas Duroux. Thomas is one of the most refreshing Bordelais having worked in California for Mondavi and most importantly making Masseto in Italy. His enthusiasm and breath of international experience is slowly giving Palmer the edge on the competition, making it one of the most desirable wines in Bordeaux. We had a quick taste of some freshly squeezed Merlot, just harvested by 150 Danish students shipped for the occasion every year. You can feel Thomas’ brain working with excitement as he showed us some of his latest experiments… unfortunately I cannot reveal what they are but gosh wine making can be fun!
Just a final word on the 2009 from the technical director, Daniel Llose, of Lynch Bages … “ca peut etre grand” … This could be great….!
Hi Max,
An interesting blog.
Are you planning to publish your Lynch-bages tasting notes on the web-site? As a keen follower of this estate it would be interesting to read your thoughts.
Dear Sir,
Unfortunately I will not publish my tasting notes at the moment but I would be delighted to discuss this with you in more details either on the phone or by email.
Kind regards
Max
Hi Max
Really enjoyed reading your blog, and am looking forward to the 2009 en primeur season.
At this early stage is it possible to say what we can look forward to in terms of which grapes or appellations may be the best etc?
Regards
James
Dear James,
The whole of Bordeaux as indeed the whole of France has in fact enjoyed very good weather during the ripening season. The only difference lays in the fact that 2 big hail storms have hit some parts of Margaux and St Emilion, with some properties losing up to 80% of their crops. The vineyards that were hit will produced very good quality wines but with very low yield. But apart from that there will be very little regional variations. As for the grapes, although as previously stated, the fruits looked very healthy, the Merlot have produced a fantastic crop, but in most parts in excess of 15 degrees alcohols. For vineyards relaying on this grape as the main ingredient for their blend the art of winemaking will be essential in order to produce long lived, fresh and classic Bordeaux and not New World style wines.
Regards
Max
Dear Max,
It seems after reading your blog, that after a pretty bad ’07 and a average/good ’08 that the ’09 campaign is showing thats its very promising. Maybe akin to ’04 or ’06?
When down the line will chateaux start offering little tasters of this vintage to you guys at BBR?
Its an exciting time if all goes well.
Regards
Terry.
Dear Terry,
07 wines are overall quite good but were a little bit overpriced and not geared for long time ageing (that said I tried Leoville Las Cases 07 last week and it is amazing). 08 is a good to very good vintage and I would put it just ahead of 06 with the prices being in line with expatiation. 2009 has all the signs of a great vintage but as previously stated, it is not yet made and a lot can happen in between. Also, despite the quality, 2009 might not be good value for money. If the properties increase the prices by 15% to 20% and the exchange rate stays as it is, merchants outside the Euro zone might find the wines to be on the expensive side. We will be following the progress with anticipation and will very probably try the first wines towards the middle of February and again in early April. We would anticipate the wines to start being released in May 2010.
Kind regards
Max
Having just had a quick trip to Paris and the 1-1 exchange rate, I’m a little worried by the 09 prices.
Has anyone got a feel for what level we’re looking at? Not 05, surely….?
Sounds like the old adage of picking up cheaper Chateau in the very good years will apply again.
Hi David
Have to say its as close to perfect as a growing season as it could possibly be so we are on for something very special I’m sure its possible it as great as 05. We need a few more months before we’ll know. The currency is another whole can of worms. We are currently 40% away from where we were in buying terms in June 2006 with no imminent sign of sterling recovery so that does not bode well, but as I said we have got a long way to go. Fingers crossed for both.
Thanks
Simon Staples
Hi, did you manage to re-taste the 2008 first growths on your recent trip? Any thoughts on how they are shaping up?
Many thanks, Erik
Hi Erik,
I tasted Latour, Mouton, Cheval and Petrus only last month but, including those I tried in April, in my opinion it is looking like these wines in this order:
Latour
Petrus
Mouton
Ausone
Haut Brion
Cheval
Lafite
Margaux
Thanks
Simon
when will be the 2009 en-p avaliable on market ?
did u visited st estephe ?? i am calon segur lover any news for their 2009 vintage ?
thx for yr effort, appreciated.
Dear Sir,
Many thanks for your comments, we anticipate the 2009 Bordeaux vintage to be released from early May to end of June 2010. I have, indeed, been to St Estephe where the fruit also looked fantastic and, with high proportions of Cabernet in most blends and higher levels of minerality, this will definitely be an area to watch. Unfortunately I did not visit Calon Segur but I very confident that they will do well. We shall report more in details in early 2010.
Max
THX MAX
JAMES
Hi Max
I found your blog helpful and you replied so quickly. I am a new wine learner and amazed by this year harvest. I am now considering to buy 2009 Bordeaux En Primeur for investment, any advice for me?
Thanks very much
Dear Sir,
Many thanks your post and apologise for the delay, I was away for a few days. 2009 will definitely be an investment vintage whether it is for pleasure or financial return. It will be like 2000 and 2005, “a must have” vintage, interest is already very high which means demand will be too. As per 2000 and 2005, most of the wines will go up in value from the moment they are released and it is always advisable to buy as soon as the wines are released rather than a few weeks or months down the line in order to maximise returns. I would also recommend that you buy accross the board to hedge your bets. We will be updating customers on the vintage at the end of March, which will give us a more concise view of what’s to come.
Max
If we look back to the histroy,speically for the last three decades, we can easily found there are normally three outstanding vintages for each 10 years,for example,82,86,89 in 1980s,1990,1995?1996 in 1990s and 2000,2003?2005. On the other hand, the development on wine making(techonology)is another very important factor to explain the chateaux are able to produce more and more “outstanding” vintage.
for investment, I do not agree the outstanding vintage would be the best chance since 2005.As the players in the game changed, the chateaux(here I mean first growths,especially lafite) already know the Chinese can pay whatever amount they want, for example, a bottle of 82 lafite in beijing is asking for 7 grams, can u believe it??? of course, it is not strange, as the government and billionare bussinessmen do not care, as they even spent 30 grams for bottle of Conti…….
so, it sounds very happy for the en primuer buyers, but, do be careful, the Chinese market is extremely unstablized, and prices in different cities/provinces are very different, in Guangdong/neighboring to HongKong,the 82 lafite is asking for a more rational price, quite similiar here, about 3/3.5grams. Most importantly, nobody knows how long the love will goes on between the Chinese and the 1st growths. Maybe one day, they do not like and fall in love with somebody else. It is a kind of ridiculous if you know the price of garlic in China is 10 times more expansive than last two years, are u going to buy garlic or lafite??
therefore, I will not be surprised the release of “outstanding” vintage would be 5000 GBP per case as the 2005 is already 7000 GBP. Which means the investors could still have at least 1000GBP profit in the next three years. But, the most delightful time for the en primeur buyers has already passed, check out and compare the profits between 2005 and 2001,2002,2003,2004. 2008 is possible the last dream chance for the next decade.
I will only buy bottled wines from now on as the profits for the en primeur buyers are nothing comparing to other investments.
I kindly suggest chateaux be more rational and low down the prices, otherwise, you will lose best friends in those years.
Hello Max,
I very much enjoyed reading your blog.
It seems to me that there is plenty of expectation building for the 2009 vintage, but so much appears to hinge upon the “tablets from the mount” handed down by Mr Parker, does it not?
Is en primeur generally negotiated before his scores are released or do the chateaux await his edicts on matters before finally agreeing anything?
Regards, Chris.
Dear Chris,
Sorry for the small delay but I was in Bordeaux for a couple of days for an overview of the ’09s (we will post something shortly). I think out of all previous vintages Robert Parker’s influence will be less important in 2009. The reason for this is that we already know that this is going to be a great vintage and the market won’t need his blessing to start speculating. That said I doubt any of the Chateau will release before Robert Parker is out, just in case they can squeeze a few more euros!!
Max
Max, interesting article! I am a MW student and journalist in NYC – would love to meet you. Are you on twitter? I am Twitter/awinestory
Stands back from the koeyabrd in amazement! Thanks!