2009 Bordeaux en primeur
Neville Blech scrambles around the Bordeaux area together with 9,000 other wine professionals
The vineyards of Bordeaux are all practically located within the département of the
Gironde and lie almost in a circle around the city, starting with the Médoc in the
north and west, going down to the Graves and Péssac-Léognan appellations to the south-west,
round to Sauternes to the south then skirting east through the larger vineyard area
of Entre-deux-Mers, turning north to St. Émilion and Pomerol before finishing further
north of the city among the vineyards of Bourg and Blaye, which is just a short ferry
ride across the Gironde river back to the Médoc.
I visited Bordeaux for the primeurs tasting at the end of March.
There's no doubt about it - 2009 was a great year for Bordeaux reds (can't say that
for the whites, though) and like 2005 - it's going to be hard to find anyone who
has made a real dud. However, there is one caveat. I found a number of wines, particularly
I n the right bank of Pomerol, St. Emilion and satellites who were showing some pretty
over-extracted wines. Maybe they were compensating for the rain that fell during
harvest time that had diluted the grapes a bit, but the vintage was so good and so
well balanced that they really didn't need to do it. Wines from the Graves and the
Médoc fared much better with the Graves, for me, taking the biscuit for overall balance,
power and elegance.
When you have a great vintage, the lesser wines do a lot better, thus narrowing the
quality gap between them and the Grand Crus. After all, you can't give a wine more
than our 5 star plus rating, however good it is, whilst some of the previously 2
and 3 star producers have definitely gone up a notch or three this year. This is
wonderful news for the real drinkers, because it's hardly likely that the lesser
wines will increase in price by more than 10% over the 2008 prices, whilst the quality
rating has increased by double that or even more. Obviously, we'll have to wait and
see how the prices will come out over the next few months and if this year’s prices
follow the release patterns of the last few, prices will be eked out to ensure the
maximum exploitation. The new economic masters of the world, the Chinese, and other
Far Eastern buyers are in Bordeaux en masse and there is sure to be fierce competition
for paying top prices for whatever top wine scribing guru gives maximum marks to.
I have drawn up a list of the best NON Grand Cru wines on offer from the 2009 vintage
from simple Bordeaux A.C. wines to the crus Bourgeois (and there is another story
on the Bourgeois - see my blog on this) and will be monitoring them as and when their
prices are released and will summarise them on this site on a special ‘2009 Recommendations’
page which will be updated with each month's new issues. However, Bacchnalians will
get an update from me as and when prices are released which could at times be on
a daily basis. Another reason to become a Bacchanalian! Watch this space.
In the meantime - for those intending to visit the area - here is a short list of
recommended hotels and restaurants
Top Hotels
Martillac 33650 Sources de Caudalie Chemin de Smith Haut Lafite, Tel. 05 57 83
83 83 Fax 05 57 83 83 84
Margaux 33460 Relais de Margaux, Chemin de l’île Vincent, Tel. 05 57 88 38 30
Fax 05 57 88 31 73
Top Restaurants
Pauillac 33250 Ch. Cordeillan-Bages. Route des Châteaux, Tel. 05 56 59 24 24
Fax 05 56 59 01 89
Bordeaux 33000 Pavillon des Boulevards, 120r Croix de Seguey Tel. 05 56 81 51 02
Fax 05 56 51 14 58
Bordeaux 33000 Le Chapon Fin 5, Rue Montasquieu, Tel. 05 56 79 10 10 Fax 05
56 79 09 10
Old established restaurant with unusual décor now under the same ownership (and same
chef) as Le Cordeillon-Bages. High class seasonal menu and excellent wine list with
token page of “foreign wines”. Reasonable value for what you get with the set lunch
menu a bargain at under €30 without wine.
Value for Money Hotels
Bordeaux 33000 Clemenceau, 4 cours Clemenceau Tel. 05 56 52 98 98 Fax 05 56
81 24 91
Gensac 33890 Les Remparts, 16 rue Château, Tel. 05 57 47 43 46 Fax 05 57
47 46 76
Value for money restaurants
Libourne 33500 Chez Servais, 14 place Decazes Tel. 05 57 51 83 97 Fax 05 57
51 83 97
No email address 2 Stars £B
Sauternes 33210 Le Saprien, 14 Rue Principale, Tel. 05 56 76 60 87 Fax 05 56 76
68 92
No email address 3 Stars £B/C
The establishments are graded by one to five stars for the overall quality of comfort
and satisfaction. The prices for hotels are banded to reflect the cost of a room
without breakfast. The prices for restaurants are banded to reflect the cost of
a three course a la carte meal with half a bottle of a decent, but not over indulgent
wine.
Ratings
Hotels
«Simply furnished, but comfortable bedrooms
««More facilities and space in the bedrooms and some public rooms
«««Very comfortable rooms with spacious public facilities
««««Luxury rooms with top public facilities
«««««De luxe with every creature comfort
Restaurants
«Simple, but tasty regional food
««More elaborate cooking and comfort in the restaurant
«««A good degree of skill from the chef with greater attention in restaurant service
««««Consistently high standards in both cuisine and service
«««««Inventive, innovative, personal and highly skilful cuisine with top class service
to match
Prices
Hotels (per room without breakfast) Restaurants (per person with wine)
£A <€75 <€30
£B €75-€120 €30-€45
£C €120-€150 €45-€60
£D €150-€190 €60-€75
£E €190-€225 €75-€90
£F €225-€260 €90-€110
£G €260-€300 €110-€150
£H over €300 over
€150
