Bordeaux En Primeur

2009 is clearly a great vintage for the wines of Bordeaux. Certainly for the reds and also for the dry and sweet white wines. The summer of 2009 was one when everything was perfect - it was hot, but not too hot and there was neither too little nor too much rainfall. The grapes were harvested in real "Indian Summer" conditions in late September and early October with growers able to choose when they picked without any risk of rot or dilution. For a detailed vintage report from our friend Bill Blatch please click here. Bill has been tasting and commentating on Bordeaux since the early 1970s and has an encylopedic knowledge of the region and its wines.

If we were to take an overall view of 2009, we do not feel that it is a traditional and uniformly classic Bordeaux year in the style of the outstanding 2005 vintage. It is more voluptuous and not as consistent. If one could imagine a hypothetical blend of 50% 2005 and 50% 2003 then one gets close to an idea of the style of this year. The wines are wonderfully ripe and rich but they do not naturally have the powerful tannic structure and profound "seriousness" that we find in 2005. Neither do they have the early-maturing, low acidity, "new world-style" opulence of 2003. One Chateau owner told us that 2009 is the modern day equivalent of 1982. The difference is that in 1982 he had nearly double the yield of today, no production of second wine and a much less technical approach to wine-making. Christian Moueix is quoted in the "Wine Spectator" as saying that it is his best vintage ever -"I have never seen anything like it in my career.” What is for sure is that 2009 is a significant step-up from 2008 which is a vintage that we found hard to love, but which received some impressively high scores from Robert Parker.

If there is any down-side at all with 2009, it is that this was not a vintage in which to pick too late as it was not a good idea to have too much alcohol (15 degrees plus was quite possible on many Merlot vats) and it was important to preserve the tannic structure to give the wines balance. Cabernet Sauvignon, on the left bank, seems to bring this essential balance and those with a high proportion of Merlot on the right bank needed to pick in September rather than October.

The really great wines of the vintage are, in our opinion, to be found on the left bank and at those Chateaux that made a blend that contained an important percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon. These wines have the essential backbone and balance that is required to make truly classic Bordeaux. Chateaux that have a much higher Cabernet percentage in their "grand vin" 2009 blends than they have overall in their vineyards include Latour, Montrose and Calon Segur. At these properties and others significant percentages of good but "loose-knit" Merlot was relegated to second or even third labels.

The Farr Vintners tasting team.

Most of the wines with the highest scores from the Farr Vintners team are classic clarets that have wonderful ripeness and depth of fruit but are also firm and structured. Our favourites include Montrose, Cos d'Estournel, Pichon Baron, Pontet Canet, Latour, Mouton and the three Leovilles. On the right bank we disliked the wines that were picked, in our view, too late - ie into October. The best wines of Saint Emilion and Pomerol are those that were picked in September and they include Eglise Clinet, La Conseillante, VCC, Le Tertre Roteboeuf and the Moueix wines. These wines are beautifully ripe but also have a freshness that has sadly been lost elsewhere by picking over-ripe grapes that have resulted in clumsy, alcoholic monsters.

It is also important to stress that, in a great vintage like 2009, there is less need to trade up to the great names than there is in a more "difficult" vintage. The quality level is high at every price point. Indeed there are some Medoc cru bourgeois wines that we think are better than hugely expensive right bank blockbusters. 2009 Bordeaux will not be cheap but there should be plenty of sensible deals amongst good, reasonably priced names such as Lagrange, Armailhac, Clerc Milon, Langoa Barton, Lafon Rochet, Phelan Segur, Haut Batailley, du Tertre, Domaine de Chevalier and so on. Moving up a rung, wines such as Lynch Bages, Grand Puy Lacoste and Rauzan Segla are of "super-second" quality in 2009.

Our own tasting notes, scores and recommendations were published here in early April and we will be adding those of respected independent commentators and critics as and when they appear. As ever, the 11 strong Farr Vintners team was accompanied by the wise and hugely experienced Barry Phillips, former owner of the legendary "White Horse Inn at Chilgrove".

For your information, we show the current 2005 price of each wine and also a rough estimate for 2009. In most cases the bottom estimate is the 2008 price (there is certainly little chance of any Chateau's 2009 being cheaper than their 2008) and the top estimate is slightly above the current 2005 price. In an ideal world we would hope that the Chateaux will release their wines somewhere between the two. It is important to note that these estimated prices are liable to change in early May when the Parker scores are released because, as we all know, a good or bad Parker score makes a significant difference to the price.

We expect that this en primeur campaign will get under way in mid April 2010 but it is possible that the top Chateaux will jockey for position and price and not release until June. We would advise customers to "pre-order" or "wish-list" now so that as soon as a wine is released we will be able to offer it to those who have requested it.

Customers who "pre-order" will automatically be invoiced for the wine, but only if stocks permit and if the price falls within our estimate. Then, customers who "wish-listed" will receive an offer by e-mail. By wish-listing a wine you are not obliged to purchase it but you are assured of an offer as long as it has not all been pre-sold. Once these two groups have received their offers any remaining stocks will then go on general sale on our web site.

Please note that in the event of a wine being over-subscribed we will allocate it to our customers in as scrupulously fair a way as possible according to the following criteria:

• Previous purchase en primeur. If you bought a Chateau on release in each of the last 3 vintages you are almost sure to be offered it in 2009.
  
  
• Pre-Order. If you pre-order a wine, then you are ahead in the queue of those who only wish-list it. However, we cannot guarantee that there will be enough stocks available to satisfy all demand.
  
  
• Buying "across the board". It is obviously naive to think that Farr Vintners can source only the wines with the highest Parker scores. We don't get, for example, Lafite without buying Rieussec. We have to buy a range of wines from our negociant suppliers in Bordeaux and we cannot sell just the most highly rated wines on their own. Supporting us with balanced orders will help to secure an allocation of the most demanded wines.
  
  
• Regular buyers. We will of course also try to give allocations of particular Chateaux to customers who buy them regularly throughout the year.
  
  
• Wish-list. By wish-listing a wine you will be offered it before it is put on general sale on our web site. If you have any questions please call or e-mail our sales team. All of our London team and Jo and Jessica from Hong Kong have been to Bordeaux and tasted the wines extensively. We can therefore offer informed advice about all the wines listed and the vintage overall.