Let’s get one thing straight from the off – as wine writers the world over sharpen their pencils and prime their TweetDecks, and before the pending barrage of opinion and counter-opinion from the 8,000+ tasters who descended on Bordeaux last week subsumes us: – 2009 IS an astonishing vintage and it was a privilege, if not always a pleasure, to taste. As WineChap’s host from Maison Sichel said of the wines in comparison to 2005, to which early comparisons were being made, perhaps rashly, ‘some were better, some worse, some sensational.’
The unimpeachable Bill Blatch’s report notes that in a decade that gave us the incredible 2000 and 2005 vintages as well as 2003 and hardly a dud among the rest, 2009 is the most concentrated of them all, reaching the apotheosis of concentration for the region. Not the hottest or driest summer on record, conditions were nevertheless exceptional with levels of alcohol and tannin at all time highs for many producers (Troplong – 15.5%, Palmer – 135 on IPT scale) recalling more structured vintages BUT there with such a wealth of wonderfully lush, almost exotically, ripe fruit that comparisons with years like ’82, and ’90 were more typically being thrown in to the mix. Gerard Becot at Beausejour-Becot said his father believed the vintage in St Emilion could only accurately recall the sweetly massive ’47.
Although this is not a vintage requiring the wines to be made in the winery, it certainly needed careful composition and blending to create the balance sufficient to express the best the vintage had to offer. Like an artist being given particularly vivid colours to work with, care and a deft touch was required to achieve a harmonious result. The literature at Ch Margaux, where selection for the Grand Vin was down to only 31%, sums up the situation: ‘Mother Nature could not have done it all by herself’. The least exciting wines lack this harmony and, particularly on the right bank, emphasise very ripe Merlot fruit and massive extraction at the expense of discernible terroir influence. Thus 2009, like 2003, may give traditionalists legitimate scope for grumbling that a trend among the Bordelais is towards wines showing less regional typicity (Troplong Mondot 09…. the best Napa Merlot made in St Emilion?).
With James Suckling already giving wines like Malescot St. Exupery 97-100 points (a definite WineChap favourite but surely requiring Haut Brion and Lafite to score 110+!) and Jancis Robinson writing today tantalisingly ‘I have never given so many really high scores when tasting en primeur anywhere’, the Bordelais must be licking their lips for Parker’s all important assessment before revealing some very expensive release prices. This inevitability and the erratic nature of the vintage makes independent critical advice before purchasing more necessary than ever before.
WineChap has brief reports on the different appellations and picks of the vintage which we will blog daily. We will also be offering a WineChap selection en primeur offer when prices are released later in the month. In the interim for full tasting notes and more details on this extraordinary vintage – as well as to request specific allocations of certain wines from our negociant contacts please email tom@winechap.com
Saint-Estephe
Pauillac
Saint-Julien & Moulis en Medoc
Margaux
Pessac-Leognan
Right Bank
Bordeaux ‘09: Introduction to the Vintage
Let’s get one thing straight from the off – as wine writers the world over sharpen their pencils and prime their TweetDecks, and before the pending barrage of opinion and counter-opinion from the 8,000+ tasters who descended on Bordeaux last week subsumes us: – 2009 IS an astonishing vintage and it was a privilege, if not always a pleasure, to taste. As WineChap’s host from Maison Sichel said of the wines in comparison to 2005, to which early comparisons were being made, perhaps rashly, ‘some were better, some worse, some sensational.’
The unimpeachable Bill Blatch’s report notes that in a decade that gave us the incredible 2000 and 2005 vintages as well as 2003 and hardly a dud among the rest, 2009 is the most concentrated of them all, reaching the apotheosis of concentration for the region. Not the hottest or driest summer on record, conditions were nevertheless exceptional with levels of alcohol and tannin at all time highs for many producers (Troplong – 15.5%, Palmer – 135 on IPT scale) recalling more structured vintages BUT there with such a wealth of wonderfully lush, almost exotically, ripe fruit that comparisons with years like ’82, and ’90 were more typically being thrown in to the mix. Gerard Becot at Beausejour-Becot said his father believed the vintage in St Emilion could only accurately recall the sweetly massive ’47.
Although this is not a vintage requiring the wines to be made in the winery, it certainly needed careful composition and blending to create the balance sufficient to express the best the vintage had to offer. Like an artist being given particularly vivid colours to work with, care and a deft touch was required to achieve a harmonious result. The literature at Ch Margaux, where selection for the Grand Vin was down to only 31%, sums up the situation: ‘Mother Nature could not have done it all by herself’. The least exciting wines lack this harmony and, particularly on the right bank, emphasise very ripe Merlot fruit and massive extraction at the expense of discernible terroir influence. Thus 2009, like 2003, may give traditionalists legitimate scope for grumbling that a trend among the Bordelais is towards wines showing less regional typicity (Troplong Mondot 09…. the best Napa Merlot made in St Emilion?).
With James Suckling already giving wines like Malescot St. Exupery 97-100 points (a definite WineChap favourite but surely requiring Haut Brion and Lafite to score 110+!) and Jancis Robinson writing today tantalisingly ‘I have never given so many really high scores when tasting en primeur anywhere’, the Bordelais must be licking their lips for Parker’s all important assessment before revealing some very expensive release prices. This inevitability and the erratic nature of the vintage makes independent critical advice before purchasing more necessary than ever before.
WineChap has brief reports on the different appellations and picks of the vintage which we will blog daily. We will also be offering a WineChap selection en primeur offer when prices are released later in the month. In the interim for full tasting notes and more details on this extraordinary vintage – as well as to request specific allocations of certain wines from our negociant contacts please email tom@winechap.com
Saint-Estephe
Pauillac
Saint-Julien & Moulis en Medoc
Margaux
Pessac-Leognan
Right Bank
-
Giles Cadman
Previous post: The Wine O’Clock News
Next post: Wine O’Clock News, 8th June
