Today the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux rolled into town to show their 2007's for the first time since this controversial vintage was bottled.
Bordeaux 2007 at Covent Garden.
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The venue was the rather spectacular mini Crystal Palace at the Royal Opera House which is now called the Paul Hamlyn Hall (formerly the Floral Hall). Tomorrow they repeat the exercise in Brussels and on Thursday in Paris. Over 120 wines were on show to the massed ranks of the British wine trade although the First Growths, and most super-seconds, prefer to remain absent so that their wines can be tasted in isolation only. We'll have to wait till they are all physically released next spring before we can taste them side by side for the first time.
Jancis Robinson in action.
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Today's tasting certainly showed us one thing for sure: that this vintage (for the red wines) has been very unfairly compared to 1997. There are similarities with regard to the pricing policy but definitely not with the quality of the wines. 2007 is a much better year. This is going to be a really useful vintage (as Sir Topham Hat would say). All the wines are open-knit, friendly and forward and I for one, would be delighted to drink most of them tonight. The tannins are soft and most have good mid-weight fruit. Only a few lesser properties showed signs of green-ness and dilution but overall the wines have attractive roundness and immediate appeal. These are wines to enjoy now and over the next few years. They are certainly less firm than the 2006's and 2004's and differ from those vintages because they are so approachable and forward.
Ed and Henry enjoy Léoville Poyferré.
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The stand-out wines today for me in the Médoc were Pontet Canet, Pichon Baron and Leoville Barton with very good performances from Lynch Bages, Langoa Barton. Leoville Poyferré, Rauzan Segla and Branaire Ducru. The Pessac-Leognans showed well with Domaine de Chevalier and Smith Haut Lafitte the most attractive to drink now.
On the right bank there were some lovely, up-front, seamless efforts from Canon, Canon La Gaffeliere and La Conseillante. If one were to be critical of any wines here, it would be of some Saint Emilions who have tried to extract their wines and sacrificied charm and drinkability for ill-advised false concentration.
"TV's Oz Clarke" gets ready to spit.
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As I intimated earlier, the big problem for the 2007's was, and is, their prices. This vintage was released pre credit crunch to strong demand and a post 2005 euphoria. Many of us felt that the release prices were too high and sure enough they came down the following year for the better 2008's. This is a vintage that should have been sold to consumers at a lower price than any other available vintage. We expect that many "negociants" in Bordeaux will cut their losses sooner rather than later. If, or rather when, good values come along this will be an ideal vintage for the restaurant trade as well as for consumers looking for undemanding early drinking while they wait for the more classically structured wines in their cellars to reach maturity.
Steven Spurrier - No Bottle Shock in 2007.
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At the moment we can offer the very good Leoville Barton at a price to beat all other vintages - £345 per case - and this is highly recommended for quality and value. Likewise there are bargains to be had from Domaine de Chevalier and Duhart Milon - both vastly improved in recent years yet offered cheaper than any previous vintages. Our aim is to find more deals like these.
Meanwhile, we're pleased to report that the dry white wines were showing very well with Smith Haut Lafitte particularly gorgeous. The superstars of 2007 are, however, undoubtedly the Sauternes and these really are as great as the hype. Yquem and Rieussec were not present today but there were epic performances from Suduiraut and Coutet. Coutet and Rieussec are still available at around £30 per bottle and should be snapped up.
Jean-Michel Laporte with his very good La Conseillante and matching tie.
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Christian Seely and his outstanding 2007 Suduiraut.
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