The Bordelais were definitely open for business during the Primeurs tasting week. The heavy rain did not dampen spirits or  the sense of expectation at the pristine Chateaux that opened their doors and tasting rooms to the press and professional tasters. It was good to see many of the UK trade around as with 40 million bottles bought last year we are still the largest and most faithful export market for Bordeaux. Everyone seemed to be talking about the legions of Asian buyers who had come to secure allocations of their favourite Lafite and Mouton-Rothschild, or at least take photos of them. We will wait and see where prices settle but the only way is up after last year’s surprising discounting.

The 2009 Bordeaux vintage has been heralded as one of the great vintages of the last 50 years, comparable to 1982, 2000 and 2005. This is primarily because of the weather during the growing season. As Bill Blatch of Vintex explained in his detailed report on the season “if extremes produce very good vintages, the great ones generally seem to come from gentler conditions.” For a great vintage they say you need all of five conditions to be met:

1.    Quick, early and even flowering
2.    Hydric stress, firstly early to restrict berry size, then
3.    more hydric when the berries change colour in late July
4.    Moderate heat and some light rain during ripening, and
5.    Mild and dry during harvest.


2009 produced an almost textbook example of a great vintage, with a particularly long, warm, sunny harvest period which forced owners to make the critical decision of when to pick. Often the hand is forced but the harvest in 2009 went on into late October without rain and with bizarrely increasing temperatures.

See the full report including Hal Wilson's top Bordeaux 2009 recommendations as a pdf...

Please contact us at
cambridgewine@cambridgewine.com and send us your personal "wish list" with the wines you are most interested in, and we will keep you updated and let you know when the wines can be bought.