A question often asked of any keen wine drinker is "so what's your favourite bottle?", to which the only sensible answer I have been able to devise is "the next one I open". On reflection I realise I feel the same way about tastings. Travelling down from Edinburgh to London for the 2008 Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux tasting in October 2010 I found myself relishing the prospect of sampling such a broad selection of wines from the vintage, thinking to myself "this should be a fascinating tasting". But then I remember having the same thought before the 2007 tasting; after all, what would be more intriguing than a chance to assess the wines from what was probably the most difficult vintage for Bordeaux since the early 1990s, even if the wines were not the easiest to taste? And it was the same for 2006; who wouldn't want to see if we didn't have another 1983 on our hands, a year yielding some great wines hidden in the shadow cast by the towering stature of the preceding vintage? And looking beyond the 2005 tasting in late 2007, which saw the Paul Hamlyn Hall (previously the Floral Hall, renamed that year) at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden heaving with tasters eager to get their mouths around the wines of a great vintage, I was just as keen to review the 'lesser' wines of 2004. And why not? Although not a vintage that lays any claim to greatness, this was still a fascinating look at what is regarded by many as the region's last affordable vintage (although personally I think 2002 fits that description rather better). I could go on, but I think I've made my point; roll on the 2008 vintage!

Having come clean about my preordained eagerness to retaste the wines of 2008, I will also confess that this is a vintage which I regard as rather significant on a personal level. It was not the first time I had been out to Bordeaux to review the wines during the primeur tastings, but somehow the whole process of early review seemed much more relevant than it had done with my first visit to taste the wines at this stage, the preceding year. Although the Bordelais had done their best with 2007 it seemed immediately clear to me that the vintage, although snatched from the jaws of defeat, had not yielded more than a handful of wines of any note. And as the Bordelais no doubt intended to continue their strategy of greatly elevated prices there was likely (and I was subsequently proved right I feel) to be a huge divide between the quality of the red wines (the dry and sweet whites - so often overlooked by even dedicated Bordeaux commentators - were considerably better) and the various prix des sorties, and the best advice anyone could offer after these tastings was a sweeping "don't buy", certainly as far as en primeur purchases were concerned. Bide your time, and buy at leisure once in bottle; that is all any sensible review of the 2007 vintage needed to say.

But that wasn't the case with 2008. Even though the vintage had been dismissed in some quarters before a single wine had even been tasted, not only by some UK critics (in personal communications) but also by the French media (Le Monde and Le Figaro) I wasn't convinced the wines would be as bad as many seemed to think. Reports on the growing season - although a difficult one - were, shall we say, less negative than those for 2007, and the wines therefore certainly merited considered examination. As for those who pre-judged the wines, or judged from afar without so much as the swirl of a sample (usually spouting their opinions from the modern day soapbox of the online wine forum), it seemed to me that some were transferring the state of the global economy, at that time spiralling into the doldrums, onto the quality of the wines. And perhaps some were also confusing a distaste for the aggressive pricing from some quarters of Bordeaux, perceived as greedy by many, with a distaste for the wines. I think this is a great shame; the waxing and waning of the world's economies and currencies and the manner in which these variables interplay with the pricing decisions attached to the latest vintage is of great interest and merits considered analysis....but in the midst of all this debate let us not forget to actually taste the wines!

Tasting En Primeur

And so that is what I did. And within a few minutes of commencing my primeur tastings in Bordeaux in April 2009 it was apparent that the non-tasting nay-sayers were wrong, and that there were certainly some successful wines in this vintage. But it was a very patchy story of success, a vintage in which each commune needed astute and individual assessment, and within some communes one could find wines both splendid and disappointing. On the left bank I liked the wines of St Julien best (especially Léoville-Las-Cases), undoubtedly the most consistent commune here, Pauillac less so (although the Pichons and Pontet-Canet were stand-outs), St Estèphe less so again, whereas Margaux was a bit of a shambles, a fact evinced by Alter Ego, the second wine of Palmer, which was undeniably superior to all its cru classé peers. As a generality the right bank faired better overall, with more substance to these wines, both in Pomerol and St Emilion. Some, such as Vieux Château Certan among a number of other obvious candidates, were very fine indeed.

Bordeaux 2008

Even though quality in some quarters was high, the Bordelais showed sensitivity to the global economic downturn and some big names led with lower than expected prices, significantly reduced in relative if not absolute terms at least (we were closer to 2004 than 2002, shall we say). More remarkable than the price reductions, however, was that the proprietors took the lead, and began to release their wines without a single score from Robert Parker in sight. In modern times this is unheard of, as the many complex formulae used by proprietors to set their prices undoubtedly have Parker's score as one of the more influential variables. Of course the cynic might suggest that these early releases, rather than a sign of sensitivity, were nothing more than gameplay; if the proprietors expected a drubbing of this 'weaker' vintage from the Wine Advocate, why not just release now, early and priced to sell? Whatever their reasoning though, the prices in some cases were very favourable, and once Parker unexpectedly blessed the vintage, with unlooked-for praise and some very high scores, they began to rise sharply. But there had been a window of opportunity; a week or two where well-priced wines were available. Were you brave enough to buy without guidance from the guru of Baltimore?

I was, the 2008 vintage marking a personal return to en primeur purchasing, the first time in many years. Of course this was an easy decision for me, as I had tasted the wines, and I believe what my own palate tells me. But I wasn't operating in secret; naturally I had published my notes online, starting within a few days of my return from Bordeaux, before the wines had been released. My report, my opinions and my scores were there for all to see and use, and I am very happy for those that I know used them to make purchasing decisions and pick up the wines at the best prices, as has been fed back to me in the messages of thanks and support from Winedoctor readers I received during and after the 2008 en primeur campaign. It is without doubt this reaffirming feedback that cemented my thoughts about the personal significance of the 2008 Bordeaux vintage. So now it is my turn to be grateful. Thank you to all those who sent me feedback when I published those notes, thank you to anybody who read and digested them, and thank you to all those who used them in buying decisions. I am sure you won't be disappointed with the wines, and I know you obtained them at the best prices too!

Now just one obvious question remains. And that is, now the wines are in bottle, have those vibrant, crunchy, pure and crystalline barrel samples I remember tasting at various venues up and down the Médoc, and over in St Emilion and Pomerol of course, maintained that fresh and pure desirability now they are in bottle? Shocking though this revelation may be to some, there is only one way to find out for sure.....

The Growing Season

Before we get to tasting the wines though, I do usually remind myself of the growing season, in soundbite form at least, as it provides the best guide as to what to expect from the wines. As I detailed in my review of the vintage after tasting in Bordeaux, for much of the year 2008 threatened to be a re-run of 2007. The major difference at the outset was that the vines, hammered by the stress of 2007, were destined to produce lower yields this year, and this was further reinforced by an April frost. Even so, many vineyards saw extensive green harvesting later in the year, the ultimate yields being the lowest since 1991. Add to this a climactic rather than chemical saviour (the vintage was saved by improved weather rather than the repeated chemical treatments in the vineyards seen in 2007) and we can understand why quality in 2008 was likely to be higher than in 2007. First there was the fading of La Niña (the cooler of the Pacific Equatorial currents) allowing temperatures to rise during the growing season. Then autumn sunshine and drying Atlantic breezes helped to ripen, dehydrate and concentrate the fruit prior to harvest.

So although in my full report on the 2008 growing season I document details of irregular budbreak, coulure, millerandage, mildew, uneven ripening and hopefully all the detail you might need should you desire it, the briefest 'soundbite' for 2008 Bordeaux is that it was a difficult vintage saved by increasingly favourable weather as harvest time approached.

Tasting at Two Years

As usual I have divided by report up into manageable chunks, beginning with Graves and then progressing down the Médoc, to the right bank, and then as is customary winding up with Sauternes. This being the annual UGC tasting the room was devoid of many of the great estates of Bordeaux, which in a vintage like 2008 can make for a tasting more difficult than expected. Take away the cream of the vintage, wines such as the delectable Léoville-Las-Cases, Palmer and Cheval Blanc, and you are left with a somewhat emaciated line up. Imagine the Himalayas but with the top of Everest shaved away; suddenly, the entire mountain range seems less interesting. In a vintage such as 2005 and 2009, where there is broad success, that wouldn't matter so much, because there are still dozens of amazing wines to taste. But in 2008 the difference between the most successful wines and the lesser wines is, sticking with geological faults as a source for my analogies, a yawning chasm.

The advantage, however, is that it does allow those wines from amongst the UGC ranks that are really good to shine without having to eclipse the limelight of the first growths and super seconds. And, unlike Léoville-Las-Cases, Palmer and Cheval Blanc (and many others) there is a chance that the average punter - and I include myself in that line-up - might actually be able to afford to add some of these wines to the cellar.

Looking at a communal level, my impressions broadly matched those formed at the primeurs, with the right bank and St Julien performing best of all, and the other communes lagging behind somewhat, especially Margaux. If St Julien was the marathon runner turning in a respectable time against the odds, in this tasting at two years of age Margaux seemed more like the poorly-trained athlete in a comedy costume who staggers home after sundown, long after all the spectators have gone home, with only a smattering of dedicated friends and family holding on to give a polite but unenthusiastic ripple of applause as the finish line is broached (sometimes geological analogies just don't do the job, you know). But, as I alluded to above, within some communes you can find success and failure standing shoulder to shoulder, and so I will as usual examine each of the appellations in more detail, starting as usual with the wines of Pessac-Léognan. (2/11/10)