Bordeaux 2009 at Ten Years
Even after nearly ten years have passed, memories of my visit to Bordeaux to taste the 2009 vintage from barrel remain strong in my mind. Landing at Bordeaux airport I was greeted by warm sunshine, but it was not long before the Scottish weather caught up with me. The next day the skies were dismal and dreary, and there was persistent heavy rain. By the time I arrived in Libourne a few days later, ready to strike out into St Emilion and Pomerol, I was greeted by the sight of the Dordogne breaking its banks, the waters inundating the road that runs alongside it. Christian Moueix, welcoming visitors to his quayside offices to taste Petrus (in those days you did not have to make a separate appointment at the estate to taste it) and the rest of the Moueix portfolio, seemed surprisingly sanguine despite the water lapping at his door. It was not, I suspect, the first time he had seen the river rise up in this threatening manner.
Heavy rain and the threat of flooding offered a rather dramatic contrast to the wines being poured, which had been made, it seemed, from the very essence of sunshine. It was obvious to all in the Bordeaux trade that they had a fine if not indeed a truly great vintage on their hands. The wines were brimming with rich fruit, dark and concentrated, all wrapped in gorgeous, velvety textures. My strongest memory of the wines (as opposed to the weather) was how well hidden the structural elements were. Ripe and tightly-knit, the tannins were almost imperceptible, their presence obscured by all that velvety substance, while the acidities, lower than you would typically find in Bordeaux (but not too low), were similarly obscured. I recall (both at the primeurs, and at in-bottle tastings two years later) criticism of the wines from friends and colleagues in the trade, usually citing low acidity and lack of balance, but I was never in agreement. The wines had acidity, but as with the tannins you had to go hunting for it, giving the wine time to open its jacket of richly textured fruit to reveal the frame that was secreted inside. I was convinced that the vintage would come good with time, once it had shaken off its baby fat.
