News from Bordeaux. 2009 = 1947 (?) (!)

WINE TALK
1

Well : it is not my fault if august was a really warm month and if the grapes are clean as never. Just quite impossible to find any sign of a botrytis.

I just come back from St-Emilion and the top producers have a smile which is quite large. Well, they may need in some specific terroirs/place a little rain in order to avoid a too strong “hydric stress”.

Hubert de Bouard told me that some merlots will reach easily 15 ° if not more. They need at least one more week to go on for a perfect maturation. These conditions are quite similar - at this specific moment - to the vintage 1947. People in Haut-Brion are more than happy. An other top name tells me : it may be the best combination of 82+05 !

Now, you have the right to kill me as a always happy reporter. flirtysmile

Seriously : they have, this year, some outstanding conditions UP TO NOW.

To be followed up. Cross your fingers for a nice increase in the stock markets.

BTW : in Burgundy, here also they are happy ! And even in Piemonte, where I was last week, it may be better than what they did expect some months ago.
Tuscany seems not so happy.

2

Oh boy… [truce.gif]

3

Piedmont had an incredibly wet spring, it will be interesting to taste the wines in 3-4 years…

4

I care about it about as much as I care about 1929, since I will most likely have as many bottles of each vintage in my cellar.

5

[cheers.gif] I’ll take good quality over bad any day. It’s not as though a washout vintage would cause prices of previous vintages to fall… Now we wait to see the state of the markets (financial and wine) late spring 2010 to see where the prices come out and who finds them attractive. It seems the harvest reports are positive (quality and production levels) in enough major regions so that those who find Bordeaux priced too high will have plenty of alternatives.

I wonder if 2009 will mark a measurable shift in buyers; not just countries and regions but retiring collector/consumers versus those new to Bordeaux, Burgundy, Piedmonte, etc. in our own home areas. There was that point back in time where the previous generation dropped out and we moved to the head of the buyers’ line (when first growths lost their mind and went over $20)… I guess this supposes the futures price and release price will exceed some of our budgets or tolerance.

It’s always an adventure! For the moment, I’ll go to my happy place and imagine superb quality offered at 1989 prices. Maybe the Hunt brothers will take a position.

–dang (itb and probably a free market guy)

6

I guess that means they’ll try to sell them for the prices the '47s are getting, too.

7

Robert Parker once said of Bordeaux (I paraphrase) “Buy the great vintages whatever the price. You won’t be disappointed in the long run”.

With regard to the 150 “speculative wines”, he is undoubtedly right.

At my age, and with my income, I am unfortunately out of the game.
It’s a different story for someone in his 20s or 30s with plenty of disposable income :slight_smile:.

However, as been said elsewhere on this forum, we are CONSTANTLY bombarded with this vintage-of-the-century B.S.
Very tiring…

And I regret that it prevents some people from branching out and trying wines from other vintages that are fully worthy of their attention.

Best regards,
Alex R.

8

Thanks for the report Francois. It sounds exciting…if I were 20 years younger [berserker.gif]

9

Alex, Though you may elect to avoid the Bdx game I hope you still enjoy pursuing the under the radar wine hunts ! Obscenely priced Bdx was a blessing in disguise for some of us, including me. [training.gif]

10

Bring on the QPR winners!

(in my book = quality for less than US$20)

11

A category recently moved to the list of endangered species recently. It’s actually nearly extinct.

12

flirtysmile flirtysmile flirtysmile flirtysmile

[bye.gif] [bow.gif] [rofl.gif] [rofl.gif]

13

I just cannot see this as bad news. If the prices are high – just don’t buy.

I have to believe that there will be some good QPR wines if this is such a great vintage. Also, 2008 (praised so highly by RP) are not going to go up in price if 2009 is a great vintage.

If 2009 is great in Bordeaux and Burgundy, I am expecting good closeout prices on 2006s, 2007s and 2008s in these regions.

I wish great vintages in 2009 were the only thing we all had to worry about.

14

But was not 2006 also praised by RP, at least somewhat? There’s praise for '06 (after epic praise for '05 as vintage of the eternity, huge praise for '08, and most likely huge praise for '09, possibly equal or surpassing '05. When does the market adjust for 75% of a half-decade’s worth of vintage ratings being great?

15

Todd,

In this economy, how much “great” wine can the market absorb before it breaks. My guess is that in Bordeaux, at least, if people want 2009s to the exclusion of everything else, there are a lot of 2006s, 2007s and 2008s unsold in the pipeline. Will wholesalers, retailers, etc., just sit with those stocks, high Parker scores or no high Parker scores?

Burgundy, I am less clear about because there is much less wine. But I have to believe that there are a lot of unsold 2006s, 2007s and 2008s somewhere in the pipeline. When we all start wanting 2009s, will people just sit on the older vintages or close them out?

16

I’m hoping that 2009 really does live up to the hype, and as a result pushes 2008 prices even lower. That would make it much easier for me to buy a decent stash of wedding year BDX!!! [wink.gif]

17

After so many outstanding sunny days, today, tuesday the 15th, they just got the rain they were crying for ! These guys are quite lucky this year !

18

It’s interesting… for a few years now Bordeaux producers like (was it Bruno? Jean-Guillaume?) Prats have been telling us that there are no bad vintages anymore, thanks to modern know-how. Indeed, if the vintage is too thin, they’ll do a saignee, or run the wine through a reverse osmosis machine, or whatever. They’ll green harvest to add concentration, they’ll select only the best fruit. So, if one is to take those claims at face value, it follows that there’s not as much of a reason anymore to get excited anymore when mother nature brings the conditions of a great vintage. Unless you come around to believing that all those manipulations don’t ultimately lead to great wine after all.

19

Keith, I agree with this point - to a point on both sides. I believe “bad” vintages will be rare and extreme going forward due to modern know-how. However, I think there is a limit to how much manipulation can elevate a wine’s quality. Therefore, mediocre vintages (probably the majority of them on the bell shaped curve) now become pretty good to good. I suspect that is what happened in 2008. I don’t think you can take mediocre juice and change it into something truly special.

On the flip side, extraordinary vintages will be extreme and rare also - unless something like “climate change” (I’ll keep my opinion for a different part of the board) alters the environment. Maybe 2009 will be one of these extremely rare extraordinary vintages? I hope so, but the proof will be in the wine.

All this is good for the consumer - more good-great wine and less variation. Maybe going forward, all the average wine drinker will need to remember about vintages are those real stinkers?

Chris

20

Oy veh, let the games begins. [stirthepothal.gif]