Bordeaux 2002
The world was a different place back when all the Bordeaux-chat concerned the 2002 vintage. Some nations were adjusting to a new era of terrorism, and as if that wasn’t enough to be getting on with then there was always severe acute respiratory syndrome – perhaps better remembered as SARS – to worry about as well. These might seem unusual events to reference in a Bordeaux vintage review, but the truth is anything that impacts on consumer confidence – be it terrorism, pandemic viral illnesses or otherwise – will undoubtedly influence the international appetite for wine. And naturally it is vital for Bordeaux proprietors to take this into consideration when setting the prix de sortie, the price at which the wine – or at least the first, miniscule tranche of this year’s wine – is released at.
So how was it looking for the Bordelais? As might be expected, several foreign markets were not looking too promising, their enthusiasm for wine dampened not only by concerns with ‘homeland security’ but also war; March 20th 2003 marked the combined aerial and ground invasion of Iraq, just a few days before the 2002 primeur tastings opened in Bordeaux. As if that wasn’t enough, the prices in such foreign markets were negatively impacted by unfavourable exchange rates. All of a sudden, to many consumers who would normally hoover up the newly-released bottles of Bordeaux, wine suddenly seemed unimportant, irrelevant maybe, and possibly – depending on those release prices of course – rather expensive as well. Things certainly weren’t looking rosy in the Bordeaux garden.
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