Bordeaux 2009
Press Quotes

A selection of the comments made by the wine press concerning the 2009 Vintage in Bordeaux.

First, and most importantly, for some Médocs and Graves, 2009 may turn out to be the finest vintage I have tasted in 32 years of covering Bordeaux. From top to bottom, 2009 is not as consistent as 2005, but the peaks of quality in 2009 may turn out to be historic.

In broad, rather simplistic terms, 2009 is at its greatest in the Médoc and Graves, where it can often eclipse 2005 and 2000. St.-Emilion is less predictable, as 2005 remains the vintage of reference for this appellation. Pomerol follows a similar pattern to St.-Emilion. Some profound wines have been made, but overall, 2009 may just barely edge out 2008, and in the long term play runner-up to 2005 in both Pomerol and St.-Emilion. Yet…there are always exceptions to these broad generalities…

I have never tasted such powerful and concentrated Médocs. This is where the Cabernet Sauvignons shine. Reports of excessive alcohol are, for the most part, absurd. Most of the Médocs are certainly higher in alcohol than the 2005s, 2003s, or 2000s, but the 2009s tend to range from 13.3% to 13.8%, with a few surpassing 14%. There were some lots of Merlot that exceeded 14%, but once the blend was done, virtually everything in the Médoc fell between 13% and 14% alcohol. Moreover, despite what are abundant yields, the wines are extremely dense and concentrated. In the Médoc, the index of polyphenols, tannin levels, and extract set all time records for many châteaux. That is important because when the wines are tasted, the sweetness of the tannins is very apparent. Moreover, the overall style of this vintage is one of opulent, voluptuous textures with abundant fatness and succulence. In short, I do not think I have ever tasted such extraordinary Cabernet Sauvignons, and I believe the 2009 vintage is at its greatest in the Médoc and Graves.

Throughout the Médoc, Graves, and to a certan extent in Pomerol, but less so in St.-Emilion, the wines reveal an extraordinary freshness, vibrancy, and precision (the terroirists refer to this abstract and largely meaningless concept as “transparency”), but there is a vibrancy that is the paradox of 2009. The vintage displays many of the characteristics of such creamy-textured, opulent, fat, succulent years as 1959, 1982, 1990, and some of the northern Médocs of 2003. Yet, the 2009s also have the structure, freshness, acid levels as well as vibrancy and precision of such cooler years as 1986, 1996, and 2000. In that sense, this is the glory of the 2009s. For as big and rich as well as high in alcohol as they are, they are also remarkably delicate, fresh, and pure. This paradox, albeit a wonderful one, is unprecedented in the three plus decades I have been tasting Bordeaux barrel samples.

Robert Parker – Wine Advocate 188 27/04/10

"Great wines have been made everywhere, including Sauternes, which has produced the greatest honeyed, apricot and glacé fruit-stashed wines since 2005 and 2001. Having spent the entire frantic primeurs week in Bordeaux assessing hundreds of precocious purple clarets direct from cask 18 months before they are bottled and shipped, it is clear that gorgeous, powerful, polished, fruity, violet-scented reds with dark crimson purple colours and silky, supple tannins are the norm. Dry white bordeaux is the only ’09 wine style to be eclipsed by younger, cooler vintages such as 2007 and 2008."
Jane McQuitty – Times Online, 17/04/10

"…a snapshot of the young wine at this early stage does give an idea, albeit a blueprint, as to its future. Allowing the wines to speak for themselves then, the week's tasting soon brought home that 2009 is a potentially great vintage in which the region's two main grapes, cabernet sauvignon and merlot, ripened to perfection after a textbook year in the vineyard.

With careful handling and selection, there are many wines whose building blocks of fruit, tannin, alcohol and acidity are exceptionally pure and concentrated, delivering an abundance of intense cassis, cherry and blackberry flavours."
Anthony Rose – The Independent, 17/04/10

"There were some truly great 2009s at the very top of the tree in the Médoc and, certainly not to be forgotten, Graves. There were odd wines much lower down the ranks that are delicious and likely to be real bargains, for the magic inflationary dust of a famous vintage tends to be sprinkled exclusively on prices at the very top level. There are a few wines that seemed disastrously overripe and, as usual, many that were uncomfortably over-extracted. But these are small gripes. Overall this vintage can offer more sheer pleasure than any I can remember and may well provide delicious drinking throughout its life while we wait for the 2005s to emerge from their tannic corsets."
Jancis Robinson – FT Online, 09/04/10