After a few years in the doldrums, things are looking a little brighter for Bordeaux’s wine business. The 2005 vintage – not that we want to risk premature assessment etc etc – looks to be extremely promising. The less well-known châteaux, especially in the Médoc, are still finding life perilous but that has been translated into some great bargains for those interested in claret under £10 or $20. And the fine wine business has been boosted by some frenetic, if perhaps not always wise, trading in blue chip bordeaux in anticipation of the changes in UK pension rules next April. The 2001 vintage of Bordeaux’s greatest white wine Château d’Yquem was released earlier this month at more than £2,500 a dozen and was sold in a trice.
France may have more and stiffer competition than ever in the international wine market but if my inbox is anything to judge by, the world’s wine enthusiasts are still fascinated by red bordeaux. In recognition of this, I offer a few thoughts and suggestions on vintages over the last 10 years.
2005 Drought was a serious problem throughout the summer but rain arrived in time to save the crop. It’s far too early to be sure of wine quality but the grapes were quite exceptionally healthy. There weren’t too many of them so flavours will be concentrated. Some proprietors report ripeness levels in excess of 2003’s. Picking was spread out over a particularly long period, with some St Emilion and, especially, Pomerol properties picking very early in September and some Médoc estates still picking at the end of last week. Let us see how the wines look in early April, but the merchants and traders are already rubbing their hands with glee in anticipation of a lively sales campaign next spring and it sounds as though quality was high in virtually all parts of the region.
2004 Merchants are looking forward to selling the already-hyped 2005s because the 2004 campaign was so sluggish and protracted. Perhaps the château owners will have learnt that it is more useful to announce prices in a reasonably short period. This was an exceptionally late growing season so we tasted a particularly youthful set of wines last April. The best 2004s, mainly but not all left bank (Médoc and Graves), had lovely fine tannins and real energy. Time will tell whether those tannins mature elegantly or awkwardly but the merchants still have considerable quantities of 2004s to sell and these may well look like bargains next year. The crop was large and meticulous viticulture was needed to bring in ripe, healthy grapes.
2003 This was the notorious French heatwave vintage when heat and evaporation were the problem rather than drought. The result was some wines that tasted very odd indeed when first shown en primeur in April 2004 a full seven and in some cases almost eight months after the harvest. Many of those who thinned the vines’ leaves as usual found themselves exposing the fruit to its detriment rather than benefit. Some grapes were literally burnt on the vine, others owed their high sugar levels to turning to raisins on the vine rather than the natural ripening process. Almost all had exceptionally low levels of acidity when picked and on the right bank (St Emilion and Pomerol) many wines tasted unpleasantly stewed and flabby.
I had a chance to re-taste 70 of the most important 2003s last week and found the experience quite remarkable. The wines have calmed down considerably, almost as though they’ve had a cold shower (a sluice of water and/or drop of the much more structured 2004?), with fewer obvious instances of jamminess or excess alcohol than were originally apparent. But with the exception of a cluster of great wines on the St Estèphe/Pauillac border where damper soils saved the vines from stress and allowed proper long, slow ripening, I cannot see this being a vintage for long-term keeping. Chx Montrose and Lafite 2003 will doubtless still be magnificent in half a century but I would not be surprised if most of the rest fell apart long before that.
This is especially true of the right bank wines whose hollow middles and slightly green, unripe tannins are still much in evidence in many cases. Wines such as Chx Canon La Gaffelière, La Couspade, Larcis Ducasse and Trottevieille seem to me to have been blatantly made for early drinking – and why not? This is why the premium commanded by the 2003s seems a little odd to me. Pichon Longueville (Baron), Léoville Barton, Phelan Ségur, Cos Labory were the attention-grabbers in a tasting which did included neither of the two most famous properties of St Estèphe, Ch Cos d’Estournel and, the star of the 2003 vintage, Montrose, nor any first growths.
2002 The Cinderella vintage, overlooked and underpriced, can offer some great value among its best wines. The particularly impressive Ch Latour has already drawn away from the pack but this, like 2001, is the year when the first growths are almost affordable. Chx Léoville Barton and Pichon Longueville again showed their class and reliability and can be had for under £300 a dozen. American distrust of the French was at its peak when this vintage was launched and the super-powerful US critic Robert Parker skipped the spring tastings in Bordeaux for the first time in his career. Lack of ripeness is the principal problem this year and these wines need to be kept awhile.
2001 A challenging and occasionally great vintage that suffered from very variable grape quality and from the fact that it followed the much easier and more uniform 2000. The best wines, which had to be vinified carefully to avoid being aggressively tannic, are still underpriced but careful selection is needed – just as it was at the chateaux when the owners had to be extremely selective about exactly which grapes and wines went in to the final blend. The best wines express where they come from well and have well-delineated flavours but are no blockbusters. For many right bank properties this is the best vintage between 2000 and 2005. Bargains in very different idioms include Chx Duhart Milon, Berliquet and Pagodes de Cos. To drink while waiting for the 2002s and 2000s.
2000 The please-all, big-boned vintage with the high prices and, in the best cases, great potential for future enjoyment but it is now too late to find bargains above cru bourgeois level. Some of the less famous names, the so-called petits châteaux, are already drinking well.
1999 A vintage that the French are already drinking but which seems a bit callow to anglo-saxon palates. Pauillac did especially well although so did Chx Lafleur, Margaux and Figeac. Talbot and Mouton-Rothschild stablemates d’Armailhac and Clerc Milon are bargains, the Lynches and Pichons reliable.
1998 Right bank wines were very successful, and some probably represent some of the best bargains around. Pavie was flashy but appetising in this vintage, and I liked Figeac, La Tour Figeac and Canon La Gaffelière.
1997 Prices have come down substantially since the over-ambitious levels at which they were launched – a sobering lesson for would-be investors. These are mild, well-mannered wines for drinking now. Good value in the likes of Chx Smith-Haut-Lafitte, La Mission Haut Brion, Pape Clément in the Graves and La Conseillante and Clos Fourtet on the right bank.
1996 A tough, slow-maturing vintage, just like 1986, but with some stunning wines, notably in the Médoc. They’re for keeping not drinking though.
1995 A recent blind tasting of nearly 90 of them suggests that some of the less grand wines are ready to drink now, but they are in general less warm and cuddly than had been expected with some signs of underripe Cabernet. Although the left bank is generally more successful than the right, there are some good Pomerols, if few truly outstanding wines.
For detailed tasting notes on virtually all these vintages see the tasting notes masterlist on purple pages.