In some recent threads around here WB critical favorite @William_Kelley has been promising a major new free-to-all article exploring where Bordeaux is today and how it has changed. The mega-article has arrived and it looks fantastic! Definitely deserving of its own thread:
Robert Parker: The Wine Advocate
In what follows I delve into the technical details of wine production in the Gironde, surveying recent agronomic and enological evolutions, and explaining how they manifest themselves in the glass in what I call a contemporary classicism that unites pure, vivid fruit and structural seamlessness with strong individual identities. I also explore some of the challenges that are likely to preoccupy Bordeaux wine producers over the next decade and beyond. Taken together, this essay offers an extensive personal overview of Bordeauxâs state of the art in 2023, informed by 15 weeks of visits to over 500 châteaux over the last calendar year.
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This is a great read! Thanks for posting.
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I really enjoy this type of writing and analysis. All too rare!! Thank you to professionals like Kelly.
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Impressive fluency with the technical/scientific aspects of the recent past, present, and near future states of Bordeaux wine making. Although a recurring theme of the realties of âmaking wine to sellâ weaves throughout the article, Kelley is at his best, IMO, at the end, The man clearly knows how to turn a phrase in making some honest and unambiguous âpointsâ. Good stuff.
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Really good article, bravo William!
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Thank you for the heads up, and Thank you William!
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William isnât focused exclusively on farming practices here, but it is a regular subject of his. Iâd love to see a rating system so we consumers could have a simple way of understanding quality of farming. My preference would be something simple like
1: Heavy use of chemicals and machinery
2: Light use of chemicals and machinery, working towards organic/biodynamic
4: Fully organic/biodynamic
Any pro who came up with such a system would probably make something far more complex (100 point scale anyone?) but as a consumer this is all I need.
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Well, I suppose it is to be expected that Mr Kelley would take a completely new cut at reviewing Bordeaux. Lucid, detailed, it conveys a better overview of the state of agriculture in the region than anything I can remember. It struck me as I read his top 10 that I sold off most a case of 1995 Calon Segur several years ago due to my disappointment of the hard backward style of wine at that time. Thought at that time how much it was underperforming and decided to give up on buying in in the future. Will certainly have to have another look. The rest of the names on that list are not surprising, even if several are unaffordable in my budget.
It is a combination of supreme geekiness coupled with polished prose that makes the piece so informative. Enough to make the grumpiest Oxford Don smileâŚat least just a little!
Kudos.
Not get back to writing about champagne, please.
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This is quite a tour de force of wine writing and I think I will need to read it a few times to really process what was written. I would not say, I have fallen out of love with Bordeaux but some how certain prejudices have grown root in my mind and it seems on reading the article, a lot of these prejuduces are addressed or are being addressed, and it would make sense to reevaluate these prejudices.
What I really appreciate is the critical view taken on the critics/en primuer method of evaluating the wines and the ability it seems William Kelley has to step outside the system and provide a coherent analysis. This paragraph, I find paticularly elucidating.
The problem is compounded by the fact that wines are sold en primeur . Since it is en primeur tastings that set the tone for a wineâs entire life, there is huge pressure on estates to optimize their production processes so that their wines show well in the spring following the vintage. Many of the outmoded techniques outlined earlier in this essay such as picking overripe, hot fermentation and barreling down warm, malolactic in barrel, and micro-oxygenation were strongly encouraged not only by the fact that Bordeaux wines are frequently assessed in largescale comparative tastings, but also by the fact that these techniques render wines more impactful and dramatic en primeur . Methodology determines results, and the timing and approach to critical tastings in Bordeaux arguably distorted the style of the regionâs wines for a generation.
And then the last paragraph, again such a complete and profound analysis of the current situation
The problem is compounded by rampant score inflation that damages the credibility and, consequently, the impact of positive reviews. The Bordelais machine too frequently assumes that the consumer is stupid, picking and choosing the highest score to sell wines in the short term, irrespective of the ethics or competence of the reviewer. And the press has only been too happy to oblige, initiating a race to the top whereby it suffices to be good to be great. Yet at some point, bottles get opened, and the truth can be found in the glass. The result is score fatigue among consumers who have heard that a given wine is the âbest everâ many times before. The irony, of course, is that contemporary Bordeaux is indeed producing some of its most exciting wines in several generations. My hope is that this essay has made a coherent argument for that position, rather than resorting to specious hyperbole.
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Itâs a great article and some of you kindly advised on what wines to taste (link: https://www.wineberserkers.com/t/bordeaux-tasting-what-to-not-miss-take-aways/297404/21?u=mikael_ob), and what really struck me was:
â As a general thing, thought many wines were quite fresh and had a lovely sapidity to them. Even if depth and complexity surely will develop with time most of them were nonetheless quite enjoyable at this phaseâ.
I really didnât expect that vividness (I use the word sapidity) that William mention in the article, I associate that with really well farmed vines, and truth be told, my ideas of Bordeaux was that they were still more on the industrial farming phase, with some moving on (probably not successful, at least that what I thought until attending the tasting).
The tasting opened my eyes and this article comes very timely to verify changes that has taken place compared to my expectations.
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I quite agree. The paragraphs you quote are excellent, but I would also add:
Commercial imperatives on the one hand, and the lack of direct contact with the end consumers on the other, lends particular power to the wine press in Bordeaux, as scores influence sales and indeed the careers of technical directors. Given the importance of scores, it is unfortunate that the press is over-dependent on massed tastings of several hundred samples per day at centralized locations, whether with nĂŠgociants, regional bodies, or winemaking consultants. This is convenient for the press, but bad for the wines.While some may contend that experience can mitigate palate fatigue, the fact that tannins bind with proteins on the palate is hard to escape, and it is clear that mass tastings favor caricatural wines that are higher in pH, alcohol and extraction. That many of Bordeauxâs wines are assessed in such a context often does the wines a disservice. Bordeaux clearly merits the same boots-on-the-ground, estate-by-estate attention that is obligatory in Burgundy, yet it seldom receives it. Nor is it enough to visit the wineryâs tasting room; itâs necessary to visit the vineyards. The role of mass tastings, in this authorâs opinion, is to compare and contextualize and verify the quality of wines that have already mostly been tasted on site at the châteaux, but this is far from the norm today.
Of course, it is supremely ironic that William should write this in TWA, one of the publications that really put mass tastings and oracle-like scores on the map. In fact, most of the essay strikes me as a rebuttal of nearly everything that went on before. Reading it is an âEmperorâs clothesâ moment.
How could we ever have believed that someone could descend from Olympus once a year to taste the hundreds of wines that his minions had prepared in a massive tasting room, giving a verdict that was held by all to be the truth and nothing but the truth? Incredible.
But what is most incredible is that there are still âcriticsâ who do this and that there are still people who trust in their âpalatesâ.
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And notably, what many of us have been saying for many years, easily 10-15+. Just not as articulately or with as much insight. I stopped going to âmass tastingsâ well over 15 years ago. For the reasons that he aptly points out. I have always felt these modern wines perhaps âshowâ better at mass tastings than more traditional wines that need time and air, and then modern-leaning wine critics fawn on them, anoint them with high points, then the mass consumers follow like lemmings. Voila, we now have a âgreatâ wine. A wine that many here do not like.
This is exactly why I place so much more emphasis on the notes from this forum, as we get to know each other, and most notes are from folks following a bottle over the evening and sometimes more than one day. And in more ideal settings. Thatâs a far great reflection of what the wine is, IMHO.
Kudos to William and the turn we are seeing at TWA.
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âthe truth can be found in the glassâ Amen!
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Wow. Just wow. What an article. Several years ago, I began to again subscribe to the Wine Advocate after not having done so in a number of years. The reason was Williamâs posts here. And, part of what really fascinated me was his writing on farming practices in Burgundy and who was doing things really well.
Great to see that he has now taken this to his writing on Bordeaux. And, it is wonderful that he gave us a list of producers that have really upgraded farming practices. I hope that his next article on this lists some producers of more lower-priced under the radar producers (his Lorenzons and his Dureuil-Janthials of Bordeaux).
In any case, great article and thanks for the heads up.
And, hint to Todd. Get William back for another zoom presentation and make the subject Bordeaux.
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And yet, Iâm still not buying much (less than 20 year old) Bordeaux. My favorite Bordeaux profile is an aged one and thereâs so much nicely aged Bordeaux in the market, often cheaper than current vintage pricing. Heck last year I bought a case of 1989 Pichon Comtesse de Lalande, below the price of recent very good vintages. Perhaps if I was closer to 40 (rather than 60) buying Bordeaux and storing it for long term cellaring fun would make sense, but even so why bother when there are massive warehouses storing this stuff for me for, basically, free.
True that I prefer the style and flavors of Barolo and Burgundy, so of course I buy more of those. And I reasonably fear that those will either be not available or much more expensive in 5-20 years.
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Agreed! You can get a taste of it in this article highlighting a few of his favorites last year:
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Despite what I just wrote above, Iâm curious. Put a bunch of 2016 Bordeaux in a shopping cart, in the $35 to $100 range. Just to see what I think. Weâll see if I pull the trigger.
I know you want to know: Tronquoy Lalande, Sociando-Mallet, Feytit Clinet, Meyney, GPL, DDC, Labegorce. Gravette de Lalande. Well regarded producers, in stock at my local store.
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Iâm guessing I am closer to your age, and I bought a lot of those as well. Those are some very good producers in an affordable price range.
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Bravo. Great article. The trends described are generally positive including more producers showing individuality in sites and oenology as well as wines that are expected to positively improve with extended time in the bottle. That said, Iâm sure Iâm in the minority here in appreciating classically structured wines as well as the hugely extracted fruit bombs produced in the last 20 years particularly on the right bank. To be clear, I am talking about wines that are robust yet well made, ripe but without over ripeness. I think thereâs a place for both elegant and robust/ripe (and everything between the extremes), especially those who like to drink early-pleasing right bank wines while the sterner stuff gains maturity in the cellar.
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