The 2009 Bordeaux hype machine roars to life!

[Blanquito]

This from a Zachy's email:
2009 Bordeaux: could be the Greatest vintages of our lifetime.

" The 2009s have the same juicy fruit and rich, round tannins as the 1982, but the wines are obviously better made—everything from picking half the amount of grapes as were harvested in 1982 to working in a cleaner, more precise way with vinifications and barrel maturation. Today, it's a new world with the top names of Bordeaux." James Suckling, James Suckling Uncorked, Wine Spectator.com 4/5/10

Get ready because here we go. Not since the 1982s have I seen so much early excitement for a vintage as I am seeing for the 2009s. I will be going over to taste in a couple of weeks but here is what I am hearing from Bordeaux:

• 
“The best young vintage I have ever tasted.”

• “The wines are so delicious, they are hard not to swallow.”
• “This could be the ultimate Bordeaux vintage, where everyone made exceptional wines.”
• Wine Spectator has already said that, “Many Chateaux have made their best wines ever…” 3/10
• Wine Spectator has already rated 14 wines 97-100 and many more with near perfect scores.
Christian Moueix of Chateau Petrus as quoted by Wine Spectator:
“I have never seen anything like it in my career,’ said Christian Moueix, whose family owns or manages some of the most prestigious estates in Bordeaux’s Right Bank, including Pétrus, La Fleur-Pétrus, and Trotanoy. Moueix personally has been making wine in Pomerol and St.-Emilion since 1971.” Wine Spectator.com 4/10

Stay tuned for pricing and availability! Information should start to be released as early as May and will continue through to early July.

[Blanquito]

It's like the sounds of one hand clapping...

[JonB]

.....and they have to trash their last vintage of the century because it is.....so yesterday.

Stéphane Derenoncourt : “What I really like about these wines is that they are easy to taste and flattering upfront, due to relatively high alcohol levels and very ripe fruit. In this respect they have a completely different taste than the wines of 2005, which were a little more rigid, even brutal with all their power and structure—at least at first.”

[William P]

so everybody start saving for those 2009. Ignore all bordeaux on the market today. When the prices of the older vintages collapse, I'll be there to pick up the unwanted pieces.

[JimHow]

Saw that.

What a bunch of bullshit.

Yawn.

[Blanquito]

I agree, Jim. I especially like the anonymous quotes! It's like critics who need their identity protected to prevent too much free wine being sent to them.

[Jay Winton]

.....and they have to trash their last vintage of the century because it is.....so yesterday.

Stéphane Derenoncourt : “What I really like about these wines is that they are easy to taste and flattering upfront, due to relatively high alcohol levels and very ripe fruit. In this respect they have a completely different taste than the wines of 2005, which were a little more rigid, even brutal with all their power and structure—at least at first.”

they've already sold the 05s

[Chasse-Spleen]

I guess they must be catering to Suckling's taste at this point, as well as RP. If Suckling loves it, you know it's gotta be a right bank vintage. This stuff really irritates me for one main reason - I barely enjoyed any 2005s. Too expensive, too tannic, too closed, too... boring. It's cool though, because:

A) I'm really enjoying 2006
B) 2007 will be fun to taste young, I'm sure.
C) 2008 is intriguing and might be affordable.

The real problem though is the BS. The other day I was in this great wine store that I've never been to, K&D or K&M on the upper East side. I got a Tour de Mons 2007 for $16. I was asking this guy about a Vacqueyras that Parker had rated 93 points and they were selling for $12! Anyway, he said, "2007 is the best vintage of the last 20 years in the Rhone." That's total bullshit. It is definitely no better than '98, '00, '01 and maybe not even '03. It's a weird, super-ripe vintage with little acidity or tannins. That's my impression, or at least one of them. Who knows how great it will be? No one. The problem for me is that they all talk down to you as if you know nothing about wine and have never picked up a wine magazine or tried a decent wine or any wine from any other vintage. In fact, you've never bought wine until this moment. It's almost as bad as walking into a consumer type guitar store. Well, there are certainly some people out there who are honest. They are mainly in hiding though. Or on BWE.
-Chasse

[Tom In DC]

Definitely get the consumer guitar store metaphor, Chris. In my travels, I sometimes look for a mid-price guitar that I can just store at/near the work site and give away at the end of the project. I'll play a hundred guitars before I think about buying one, but I always run away when I get the "Oh, that sounds good, have you considered the Tony Rice signature model?"...Best Buy is selling instruments in some markets, and that's terrifying at quite a few levels! Thank goodness for Craig's list!

What I think makes the 2007 Rhone vintage live up to the "it's different this time!" hype is the breadth of wineries and wines at all levels that succeeded. We expect the big name CdP producers to do well in a great vintage, but so many Cotes du Rhone wines are soo much better I would expect --- way beyond the usual "CdRhone is like Beaujolais made from Grenache" that I expect most years. Yes, they don't have tannin and acidity, but they're also not the "throwaway" wines you expect most years from the Cotes du Rhone.

It almost seems like a breakthrough vintage for the reason -- much like 1982 in Bordeaux --that the rank and file producers have progressed to making fine wine, even if not wine to everyone's taste.

I'm trying 2006's and 2007's as I get a chance, but nothing has made me think "I NEED this in the cellar". I think Chris' first "too" above --

Too expensive

...is also my main problem with Bordeaux from '06 and '07. By 2008, I think the Bordelais realized that they need to sell some of their wine through, and I did buy some not-quite-top-tier right bankers at prices I hadn't seen since the 1998 campaign.

[Jay Winton]

I like the 2007 Southern Rhones and put several of the mid priced CNDPs away as I tasted and really enjoyed almost every 07 CDR I tried. Best overall CDR year in a long time, IMO. End of thread drift

[Chasse-Spleen]

I was really stoked about the 2007 Rhones at first. I love CdR. But after a couple of my usual go-to wines were jammy and flabby, I just gave up and actually started steering clear of the '07s. Too alchoholic. Also, I bought a case of Delas 2007 Cotes du Ventoux and the last few bottles were starting to go South within a couple of months. I really don't think that should happen.

There's so much Bordeaux out there, (I'm drinking mostly cheap stuff) and I enjoy experimenting with Bordeaux much more than with Rhones. Unfortunately, if you want to buy your favorite estates from, Pauillac, Margaux, St. Julien, etc. the prices are just awful for the latest vintages ('05, '06). Who wants to pay $55 for Chateau Rouget? It's a little hard to forget those delicious bottles of '99 Lafon-Rochet I bought for $18. I know, get over it!

[Blanquito]

I haven't tasted that many 2007 southern Rhones, but most of what I've had has not been to my liking at all, stylistically speaking, for the same reasons Chasse articulated.

Didn't Like (with Parker's rating in parentheses)
Vieux Donjon 2007- very candied, way too sweet. This was particularly worrisome given how much I usually like this Domaine. (95 pts RMP)
Denis Alary Cairanne Font D'estevenas (Cotes du Rhone Villages)2007- not horrible, but had a weird metallic note and just too big (93 pts RMP)
Domaine les Grands Bois Cotes du Rhone Villages Rasteau Cuvee Marc 2007- one-dimensional, heavy, boring, too sweet, too hot (94 pts RMP)
Escaravailles La Ponce Cotes du Rhone 2007- hot, flabby, boring (91-93 pts RMP)
Domaine la Garrigue Cotes du Rhone Cuvee Romaine 2007- decent, but much preferred the 2004 (92 pts RMP)
Domaine les Aphillanthes Cotes du Rhone Villages 2007- boring, too sweet (92 pts RMP)

Liked
Denis Alary Cairanne La Brunote (Cotes du Rhone Villages) 2007- big, robust wine, but with lots of minerality to balance the ripeness (92 pts RMP)
Domaine la Garrigue Vacqueyras 2007- Pretty good, nice typicity, good garrigue, but the 2004 is better (91 pts RMP)

[aimeedogdogdog]

Regarding southern rhones, I think I tried a few at a tasting when 2001 (? whatever the previous vintage of the century was) first came out. The first wines were way too big for me (which in my mind were tweaked). I couldn't pass to have a second sip. So I tried thier second wines, which surprisely were good, due to a tone-down. I thought the second wines were actually more in balance and would have a better chance to develp into great wines. Wouldn't it be a funny situation that when these wines hit their mature plateaus and the second wines are actually better than their first wines? So for 2007, I suggest to try some of their second wines. you might actually like it better.

I used to buy some unknown little wines at a local grocery and wine store in Santa Cruz around 1999. There were some delicious southern rhones (from early 90s), and that was before the heavy-handed tweak. I miss those wines. Just pure enjoyment.

Werner

[Chasse-Spleen]

Thanks for the reminiscences, Werner. Santa Cruz - would I love to be able to say I had ever lived there!

[DavidG]

The hype on '09 I've been seeing from some of the merchants who have sent staff over is mixed - basically saying the best wines will be best ever but there will also be a lot of variability. Very different style than the tannic '05s, so these will be more up-front, perhaps more like the '03 vintage? Possibly not to the taste of folks like Chris or Werner or Michael P. I'm a more equal-opportunity wine slut, so I'll probabl like 'em. But doubt I will be willing to pony up for them at what I expect will be VERY high prices.

As to the '07 Rhones, I posted a bunch of notes months ago on a lot of value Cotes du Rhones that I liked. No doubt a difference in style preferences, but I liked a lot of wines that might seem too fruity or flabby to some here. Didn't have a chance to try much in the way of the '07 CduPs until our convention, but I loved almost all of them. Some were way too young still, but the only one that didn't really impress me was the Ferrando (sp?) which I think was Werner's or MichaelP's favorite.

I think the question of where these forward wines will end up is another whole question. People bitched about the '82s being too up front, too fruity, not enough acid, drinking too well young to make old bones or develop complexity. I like them just fine, and I think a lot of BWEs who attended the NYC BWE convention where we blind-tasted a half-dozen of them would agree. People also bitched about the '86s being too tannic and not fruity enough. Some still do. The ones we had last year in NYC with the BWE gang put the lie to that too. While some of these more recent "best vintages ever" may not live up to the hype or the prices, I'm betting that a lot of the wines will turn out to be sublime by the time they hit 20 years of age. Of course, who knows if I'll be around to pay up if I'm on the losing end of that bet...

[aimeedogdogdog]

Pre-1996(?) vintages somehow got their structure and ingredients (vintage hallmarks) more naturally from the vintages themselves? Post-1996 deliberately extracted more technically? Would the latter pay for it at the end? You be the judge.

Alex reported '2009 Cos is overly extracted? How many other wines are in the same situation in 2009 or in older vintages? Pavie in some vintages?

David,
I was at the Friday-night Burg dinner in Chicago.
Regarding '82, '90, or hot vintages, I like them too but my preference is something like '66, '59, and '83, etc. 2000 is perfect for me. I just don't like anything too overly extracted, regardless cool or hot vintages.

Werner

[Nicklasss]

The 2009 hype is just to insure high price. Nothing else. Bordeaux is becoming like gold, more speculating, a value, an investment, a truly disgusting thing for wine lovers.

In 5 years from now, you'll ask yourself : should I buy a bottle of the 2009 Chateau Latour, or 3 bottles of the 1961 for the same price?

Ridicule. Crapy. 13.9 % alcohol ''claret''. Deep red, flashy, coating wines. Carnival of love, made in France. Wines that are becoming like Randy Moss: supposely talentuous, surprising most of the time, but where is the soul?

Is this still my favorite region?

Nic

[JonoB]

It is interesting that the UK critics have generally been very reserved and advise caution; like many it is a good vintage with great wines (only this year it is the usual suspects!) which ultimately leads to..'greatest vintage since the Romans' jargon.

From what I have heard, on this side of the pond the same wines have very mixed reviews; opinions differ drastically over Mouton and La conseillante... apparantly there are many horribly overdone left banks but some stellar! St. Emilion seems to have more worse than good; but the satellites have done well...

To paraphrase Neal Martin it is a vintage in which to let the grapes do the talking; wine-makers who have tried to prove a point have failed!

I had 07 Mouton a few weeks ago, and it was a very pleasant drop of wine... I think 06 and 08 may possibly turn out better than 09. 07 even perhaps?

The hype is mainly from the Merchants and so far Suckling... We shall see what RMP says!

To paraphrase some other comments... from Jeroboams wine merchants twitter page. Graves UGC superb wines especially Wine x, y and z. From Tim Atkins twitter page. Graves UGC most of the wines are dissappointing except wine x,y and z.

x,y, and z being the same wines (I just can't remember which ones they are).

[Chasse-Spleen]

Just wanted to let you guys know, I'm enjoying this thread, your posts, and a 2007 Lucien Crochet Sancerre. In a bit I will tuck into some lamb chops and wash them down with the 2007 La Tour de Mons, which already has an enticing nose. Will post notes on both wines. Hope you are enjoying your Saturday night!

-Chris

[Michael-P]

David:

You are correct, 05 sounds better for me than 09. And not that I feel so old, but SF-Ed asked why I would be buying 06, being so tannic and all. Sadly worth considering. I think I'll have to pass on the 09 and just keep trying to fill in sections of the cellar with 06, 05, 00 and some older vintages. And get back to the USA where I can drink more of my wines!

Good to hear about the vintages through BWE.

And then there are those silly 07 Rhones I need to buy as a result of Rick's Chicago Friday dinner.....

Michael-P

[rjsussex]

Farr Vintners in UK have just posted their notes, scores etc - in the preamble they say 09 is like 05 crossed with 03. I think that's meant to be high praise. To me it means - no thanks.

Richard