2009 Bordeaux, Facts and figures

A selection of Chateau La Gaffeliere, Premier Grand Cru Classe Saint Emilion tasted at the Chateau in August

This year has been truly remarkable. When I read Jancis Robinson's small article about 2009 growing and harvest conditions back in October last year I could sense that something was happening in Bordeaux.
The last 10 vintages of Bordeaux have all been of good quality. Perhaps the peaks have been 2000,2005 and 2009. But the troughs have not been disastrous either. The 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2007 will offer very good drinking wines, whilst the 2006 and 2008 are exceptional. The 2003 was the heatwave vintage, which has slightly more variability....but selectively there are some fantastic wines...mainly from the Left Bank.
But the real long term 'Great' wines will come from the 2000, 2005 and 2009 vintages.
I have been lucky enough to taste many of the top wines at the Chateaux from 2005 and 2009. In fact I have been in Bordeaux tasting and guiding with Bella Wine Tours almost 20 times this year.

The majestic Chateau de la Riviere, where we often stay on Bella Wine Tours.

The global wine trade has witnessed some extreme price increases for the 2009 Bordeaux wines, but sales have continued at great pace.
Here are some interesting stats for volume and value from Farr Vintners, who trade a lot of wine!

2009 £53m (30,000+ cases)
2008 £10.7m (12,000 cases)
2007 £5.5m (5,400 cases)
2006 £10.6m (9,000 cases)
2005 £24.7m (29,600 cases)

The figures are not precise. However the marked difference in value (for roughly the same volume) between the 2005 and 2009 vintages gives an indication of the price increases for the 2009 wines.

There are still wines available to buy from the 2009 vintage. The purchase is still Primeur, which means that the wine is in barrel and will be released in bottle from 2012. In fact I have been tasting some really interesting 2009 wines at the lower levels...ie early bottled wines from Entre Deux Mers and the 'satellite' appellations rather than the big boys from the Cru Classe areas. The quality of ripe dense fruit and class is exceptional. Even at the lower levels (and more affordable levels) there will be some delicious wines available.

The immaculate vines at Chateau Petrus maturing nicely for the 2010 vintage (August 19th, 2010)

And just a thought.......I have been witnessing a very good growing season so far in Bordeaux for the 2010 vintage. The summer has been very good. The harvest is currently in full flow, so we will be able to assess the quality in a few months time.....but what will the prices be? Will it be a 'Classic' or a 'Great' or a 'Very Good' vintage? We shall see.............

Thierry Manoncourt RIP

Yesterday Thierry Manoncourt passed away at the age of 92. Monsieur Manoncourt had run the exceptional Chateau Figeac(Premier Grand Cru Classe) since the 1947 vintage. He was a pioneer for many modern wine practises such as the use of 100% new oak for certain vintages; the effective use of malo lactic fermentation; varietal seperate fermentation. He also founded the Union de Grands Crus, which is now an effective promotional group for many top Chateaux.
I only met Monsieur Manoncourt once many years ago in Saint Emilion. I always felt that he was an extremely gracious and pleasant, friendly face of Saint Emilion.
Jancis Robinson wrote some splendid notes on Thierry Manoncourt's many many achievements over 3 years ago. Click here to see the full article. It is quite something for one man to have made the wine at one property for 63 years!.....But also to maintain an exceptional quality over all that time.

Porsche 911 or 8 bottles of wine?

I love this comparison of purchases from this article in The Drinks Business, click here .

Although the global economy is still struggling and the UK economy is taking drastic measures to balance the books, there is still an enormous amount of wealth in this World. And an increasing amount of people who want to invest in wine, to drink wine, to enjoy wine.....and to have the very best quality wines on their dining room tables.
My only grumble is that wines such as Chateau Lafite Rothschild(pictured above) are becoming iconic collectors wines and are totally out of reach for the vast majority of us, who are not multi millionaires!
Even the second wine of Chateau Lafite Rothschild, which is called Carruades de Lafite is now trading(in the UK) at £3000 per case of 12 bottles for the 2009 vintage.

Wine is fun and enjoyable but the question is: Would you buy 8 bottles of wine or a Porsche 911?

Languedoc Appelations simplification???

When you have got 29 Appelations and 50,000 small and large growers and +/- 2 billion bottles of wine produced every year; it can be difficult to simplify the region.
But the CIVL (one of the governing bodies for the Languedoc wines) have now created the titles: 'Grands Vins' and 'Grands Crus'. This will obviously make it far easier for the consumer to understand!!!
It is difficult enough trying to explain the three main different classifications in Bordeaux.....one was introduced in 1855 (for the Medoc) one was introduced in 1953 (for the Graves) and one was introduced in 1955 (for Saint Emilion).
The article in decanter here tries to clarify the situation, but also confuses, as there are some exceptions to the rules that they are introducing.
CLARITY???? SIMPLIFICATION????.....I think not.

Bella Wine Tours

I have been busy trying to get a new website launched.
Please let me know what you think www.bellawinetours.com

App for Bordeaux?

An interesting initiative from the CIVB....the people who market and promote Bordeaux wines. They are trying to get a Bordeaux iphone App up and running. This will make it easier for any consumer in the World to identify a Bordeaux label and to learn more about that wine, the Chateaux and where it comes from. Click here for the story in Decanter.
This is all part of a new promotion 'Bordeaux Tomorrow', which sounds intriguing!!
The only difficult part could be:
'It is hoped the region's 9000 wine estates will upload information on their 15,000 to 20,000 wines during August and September despite the summer vacation and the impending 2010 harvest. '

I will follow this promotion eagerly. A positive initiative, but not too sure about the implementation.

Market Day

Market Day


One of the great advantages of living in France are the markets. Plentiful fruit, vegetables, fish, meat and all sorts of extras such as rotisserie chickens!! Yum! Today is market day in Olonzac, the largest town in the Minervois. The dynamic certainly changes for these markets in the Summer, when the tourists and second homers descend upon the markets. More voyeurs than acheteurs!

Thanks to Chez Loulou for the excellent picture.