Bordeaux 2004: Tasting in 2007
With the first chance to take a look at the 2007 vintage looming large, and the current hype still centred around the exuberance of the 2005 vintage, what better time could there be to throw a few notes out there on one of the less exalted vintages of recent years?
The 2004 vintage has been in bottle for some time now, and indeed the wines have been available at retail for several months; I have even added some to my own cellar. Every chance to assess and reassess the wines provides a valuable reminder of the usefulness of this vintage, and confirms my early impressions that here we have a good quality vintage which provides us with wines bearing the combination of attributes that for many typify Bordeaux. The wines are not overly plump, fleshy, creamy, luscious or seductive, and so as a vintage it is quite distinct from that which preceded it and, indeed, that which followed. For this reason the wines on the whole will never command the interest which the 2003 and 2005 vintages are afforded. Nevertheless they have freshness, acidity, a good tannic structure and the best wines (it is certainly a vintage where you should choose carefully) will please many who lament the arrival of the New Bordeaux; the deeply coloured, extracted, alcohol-rich wines that some estates are churning out today.
