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Richard Bampfield: Bordeaux Vintage Report 2009

The news filtering out of Bordeaux at the moment, compounded by all the chat at yesterday's Union des Grands Crus tasting of the 2007 vintage at Covent Garden in London, seems to be setting up 2009 as yet another great vintage; via email, blog and news report the word seems to be that the fruit is perfect and thick-skinned, and that great wines may result. Naturally comparisons with 2005 are already being made, and several proprietors yesterday admitted to me they weren't sure which would turn out to be the greater vintage in time. It looks as though 2009 will be a real contender.

On the flight down to London yesterday morning I was leafing through an old copy of La Revue du Vin de France from 2008 and I came across an analysis of Bordeaux release prices between the 2000 and 2007 vintages. The Bordelais have clearly had their collective foot to the floor on prices in recent years, as the pitiful 2007 vintage (my latest report on the wines to come next week) was in most cases considerably more expensive than the excellent 2000 vintage. The average price per bottle was €29.64 in 2000 and yet €54.21 in 2007, a decrease on the 2005 and 2006 prices but still a massive 83% difference compared with the millennium vintage. The Bordelais applied the brake still further with the 2008 vintage, many dropping their prices again, even though the quality of the vintage was perceived to be rather good if not supreme (it was certainly superior to 2007). What does all this mean? It means that the proprietors are keen to get their foot back on the gas pedal of prices, and what they need to do this is global financial security. The more signs of economic recovery we see between now and April next year, when the wines will be tasted and prices firmed up, the more likely it is we will see not just high but maybe even stratospheric prices.

With a surfeit of hyperbole on the horizon it was refreshing to read a vintage report last week which seemed free of such excess from Jean-Christophe Mau, proprietor of Chateau Brown and Chateau Preuillac, received via Richard Bampfield MW, who works with Jean-Christophe. So much so that one week on I asked Richard to provide us with an update. Below are Jean-Christophe's report followed by Richard's update, the latter a more recent summary based on a visit to Bordeaux last week and recent conversations with other proprietors. (21/10/09)

Over to Richard:

A relatively brief summary of the state of play in Bordeaux with regard to the 2009 harvest, courtesy of Jean-Christophe Mau.

Picking of red grapes at both Brown and Preuillac began on October 1st. The grapes have been reaching a good degree of maturity – for instance, at 18h30 on September 29th, the temperature in Léognan was still 28°C!

Principal characteristics of the vintage are as follows:

Yields look reasonable, even though they are reducing on a daily basis.

The skins of all the grape varieties are extremely thick. This will clearly have implications for the winemaking and judgement on the levels of extraction.

The pips are becoming crisp and ripe, and have a hazelnut aroma.

Sugar levels in the grapes are high. Even in the north of the Medoc, sugar levels in Merlot are 13.5 and the ripest parcels are at 14.7.

Total acidity is on the low side, between 3.2 and 3.4.

The malic acidity is disconcertingly low, around 1 g/l on the Merlot. However, the pH is favourable, between 3.3 and 3.4, which suggests good overall balance.

A week ago, we were concerned about the extractability of the anthocyanins, but now it looks more straightforward.

Highly unusually, we expect to pick the Petit Verdot at Chateau Brown before we finish picking the Merlot, simply because the Petit Verdot will be ripe.
Cabernet Sauvignon is not yet ripe, but we are hopeful that the beneficial conditions will bring it to full ripeness in the course of the next fortnight.

And now Richard's update:

Jean-Christophe will be preparing another bulletin shortly, but is still picking. In the meantime, a quick summary:

Dry whites - good clean grapes, but drier weather and higher temperatures mean that the wines may not quite have the freshness of aroma of 2006, 2007 or 2008.

Médoc & Pessac-Léognan - still picking the Cabernets in many cases.  The Merlot grapes we saw coming in were in amazing condition and it was noticeable that there were far fewer hands on the sorting tables this year, simply because there was no need. Potentially high alcohol levels, some thick skins, so extraction will be critical and it will be interesting to see how the acidity levels and flesh quotient plays out after fermentation. The Cabernet looked extremely promising and will in many cases naturally temper the high alcohol of the Merlot.

St Emilion - Grapes in amazing condition again. Undoubtedly the potential for some great wines, but they will have to take care with high alcohol and extraction.

Sauternes - still early days, but Pierre Lurton was very excited. Yields seem a little higher than sometimes and, as it started raining while we were with him (albeit at Cheval Blanc!), he was rubbing his hands because that would trigger more botrytis.

It is somewhat ironic that chateaux have been testing their shiny new optical, laser sorting kit on a vintage where ripeness is relatively uniform! They would have been much more use in Burgundy this vintage, where an extended flowering meant that ripeness was more uneven....... (21/10/09)