or
It is the most overhyped vintage of the decade, not a patch on 2000 or 2005 and, as I type this, I am a few hours away from sampling a bundle of 2009 wines from Bordeaux at Bibendum’s en primeur tasting.
or
It is the most confusing vintage of the decade with nobody agreeing on what is good and what is bad, and as I type this, I am a few hours away from sampling a bundle of 2009 wines from Bordeaux at Bibendum’s en primeur tasting.
Whichever of the above statements is true (and so far it is the latter!), the fact remains that I am a few hours away from sampling a bundle of 2009 wines from Bordeaux at Bibendum’s en primeur tasting at Lords Cricket Ground in London. Having followed this en primeur tasting reviews from all of the critics (Parker not included) what is certain is that the 2009 vintage is going to divide opinions, and until the Grand High Poobah of Bordeaux releases his scores, nobody will have the slightest clue how to price their wines.
So, I’m here to make my own mind up, but there are just a couple of problems. Firstly, I have never done a Bordeaux en primeur tasting before, so this is more of a learning experience for me. All I will be able to do is give my gut reaction, based on the experience I have of trying older wines, so it will be a bit of educated guesswork on my part. But really that doesn’t matter, because if you decide to buy any wine based on my opinion, you need your head read and deserve to lose your money! The second issue is that, although I will try in the four hours to get around everything, there are older vintages of each of the wines as well, so I will be trying those too, and might not get round everything. I’ve already drawn up a hit list of the wines I absolutely have to try first, and unashamedly they are my favorite Chateaux. And the final potential problem is that I am totally knackered, having had only 3 ½ hours sleep to get down here in time. Hence the vast sums of coffee I am drinking at the minute. I wonder, do Starbucks do an espresso IV drip?
As Bibendum also show other older vintages of these wines, I will be putting these on a separate post, so everything here is 2009 vintage, and my scoring is what I am guessing these wines will be in the future.
Chateau Camensac (Haut Medoc)
Rich fruit, a touch stewed, with lots of sweet aromas. Tannin belts you in the face which you expect, but it keeps on assaulting you. 5-7/10
Chateau Chasse Spleen (Moulis)
Dark and concentrated with silky tannin. Brooding almost, with gentle hints towards very dark chocolate. I think this could be a stunner. 7-9/10
Chateau Sociando Mallet (Haut Medoc)
Quite perfumy, with hints of leather coming through. Good fruit, a nice tannin, a little tough but not unpleasantly so. A nice wine. 7-8/10
Chateau Cantemerle (Haut Medoc)
Round, bubblegummy and quite herbal. Far too much tannin, fruit is either not there or buried so deep you will need explosives to get it out. 5-7/10
Chateau Carbonnieux Rouge (Pessac Leognan)
Gravelly with some nice cherry stone aromas. Silky tannin, a lovely leathery element too. Lots of spice. This is going to become a nice wine. 7-8/10
Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc (Pessac Leognan)
Long honey hints of melon and a mint element too. Citrus palate, peppered with spice and quite floral. I like this wine. 8-9/10
Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge (Pessac Leognan)
Palate is a bit alcoholic and quite dark, it smelled like a burnt match. Aroma is fruit filled, lots of cherries. 7-8/10
Chateau Haut Bailly (Pessac Leognan)
A tale of two halves! Good balance with soft berries and dry veggie elements, but the palate starts of alcoholic gets worse from there and too sweet for me. I expect this to be popular with the RP brigade. 5-6/10
Domaine de Chevalier Rouge (Pessac Leognan)
Balanced, Elegant and very attractive. One of the stars of the day. 8-9/10
Chateau de Fieuzal Blanc (Pessac Leognan)
A herbal aroma, good balance of pear and melon. A little confected citrus on the palate and a touch of high acid, but it will calm down. 7-8/10
Chateau Brane Cantenac (Margaux)
Rich, chocolatey with a lot of spice and leather. A dark wine and quite concentrated, but one to watch. 7-9/10
Chateau Dufort Vivens (Margaux)
Coconut, very sweet and juicy. A little too porno for me, but will appeal to many. 6-8/10
Chateau Ferriere (Margaux)
Up front fruit, quite elegant aroma, but the palate is a bit thin and watery. 5-7/10
Chateau Haut Bages Liberal (Pauillac)
Soft sweet fruit with an orange peel element! Quite a pretty wine, a warmish finish, but you forgive it as the rest is attractive. 7-8/10
Chateau Rauzan Segla (Margaux)
Meaty aromas, good structure of fruit and liquorice and a gravelly element on the finish. A good wine. 7-9/10
Chateau Canon (St Emilion)
A Parker wine! Meaty, minty and fruity, lots of power and quite sweet on the palate. Not my bag baby. 6-8/10
Chateau Langoa Barton (St Julien)
Big and juicy, a lot of cherry liqueur elements. Spicy. 7-8/10
Chateau Leoville Barton (St Julien)
A really good wine – rich fruit, cocoa and tobacco. Good structure, and tight fruit. Tannins are there, and in force, but they are not dominating the wine.. 8-9/10
Chateau Lagrange (St Julien)
Pretty, a little confected fruit, but with some serious blackcurrant hints coming through. A good wine, showing restraint. 7-8/10
Chateau Gruaud Larose (St Julien)
Lots of veggies with some soft fruit, nice secondary flavours and a lovely amount of tannin to calm down and reveal the wine underneath. I wrote ‘this IS Bordeaux” 8-9/10
Chateau Branaire Ducru (St Julien)
Herbal aroma, a touch mute on the nose, but attractive. The palate starts well, but has a bitter element. Of all the wines I tried, this confused me the most as I couldn’t decide whether I liked it or not! Either 5-6/10 or 8-9/10
Chateau Talbot (St Julien)
Nice cassis aromas with a lovely dark element. Lots of spice and heat, but quite balanced and very tasty. 8-9/10
Chateau Beychevelle (St Julien)
A nice, tight nose, with lots of stone fruit. Closed palate, showing signs of stalky berries and complex secondary characters. 7-8/10
Chateau Grand Puy Lacoste (Pauillac)
Perfumy with sweet confected fruit on the nose. Reductive, and whilst it might improve I wasn’t bowled over. 6-7/10
Chateau Pichon Longuegville Baron (Pauillac)
Very soft aromas of fruit and chocolate. A lovely elegant Bordeaux with nice vegetal elements and a dark finish. 8-9/10
Chateau Petit Village (Pomerol)
A little wet tar on the nose, with a spiced fruit flavour. A little earthy element too, but too much alcohol. 6-8/10
Chateau Meyney (St Estephe)
Big, sweet and powerful with loads of cocoa and chocolate and savoury elements A bit of tannin, and could be quite a tasty wine when it grows up. 7-8/10
Chateau Phelan Segur (St Estephe)
A thinner style, sorry, lighter style, with some interesting fruit but it is too tannic. 6-7/10
Chateau Montrose (St Estephe)
Nice fresh fruit, but quite weighty. Excessive tannin, but the gutsy fruit will match that. 7-8/10
Chateau Poujeaux (Moulis)
Fresh and quite pretty on the nose with hints of lighter berries. A soft, low tannin wine, but the alcohol kicks you in the head on the finish. Still, I like it. 7-8/10
Chateau Figeac (St Emilion)
Sweet juicy fruit with cherry and plum skin. A nice palate, lots of savoury elements and a touch of heat on the finish. 7-8/10
Chateau Angelus (St Emilion)
A rich, sweet aroma, balanced. The aroma is a bit hot and sweet, but despite it being a big, it is incredibly appealing. 8-9/10
Apparently a lot of producers don’t allow people to taste their cask samples outside of the Chateau, which is a shame, because it would have been nice to see the likes of Ducru Beaucaillou or Leoville las Cases there. I know the first growths don’t need to attend a tasting such as this, but what the Bordelais have to remember is that this is just wine, it is not some precious commodity that should be locked up never to be consumed. I have more respect for the likes of Leoville Barton or Gruaud Larose because they were prepared to come to London, show these tank samples which weren't at their best yet, and allow people to make up their own mind.
Overall the one thing that I came away with was that, for me, this is not a great vintage. There are some stunning wines, but, with my limited experience of en primeur Bordeaux, there are two types of wine, the bigger, juicier, fruit laden styles and what I would consider to be ‘traditional Bordeaux’! And maybe that is a good thing as it provides a wine for everyone. Personally, I’ll stick with tradition and get my Bordeaux from Bordeaux and my big juicy wines from Napa
Bibendum Wine
