Reviews

Bordeaux-2004: forecasts and reality
«Vinnaya Karta» №7(88) September 2007

Grand Jury Europeen held a extensive tasting of red Bordeaux 2004 which are currently being released on the market.

The influential wine persons assessed current condition and potential for further evolution of the not-so-great Bordeaux vintage. “Vinnaya Karta” correspondent analyses mixed results.

Sitting between two unconventional vintages, Bordeaux 2004 is an example of what is called wines for drinking rather than investment. During the en primeur tastings in spring 2005 journalists and critics were talking about unstable weather conditions of the vintage, high yields, difficult harvest — i.e. typical problems which Bordeaux winemakers confront in ordinary years. With the background of 2003 and 2005 vintages which featured atypical temperatures and precipitation levels, some commentators used a phrase “return to classics” when describing wines of 2004.

As usual, weather conditions and development of vines are the first indicators of potential wine quality. The 2004 season was characterised by regular changes of dry and rainy periods. Before August the level of precipitation was less than average. Vineyards were developing late from the very start, but during flowering — a critically important phase of the vegetative cycle — the weather was superb. Flowering was short and even and laid base of a big crop. Abundant rains in August (180% more than average in a 30-year period) made winemakers nervous, but the vintage was saved by warm, sunny and dry September. 2004 was the latest vintage since 1988. Merlot was picked in the end of September, and Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc — in October, with the main harvest being done in the middle of the month.

So, high yields and late vintage were two main characteristics of the year. Estates with orientation to quality and financial means spent a lot of effort on the vineyards reducing the total crop through green harvesting and attempting to maintain vines’ balanced development. Those with limited resources picked with large yields and then tried to fix the shortcomings through bleeding or reverse osmosis, running the risk to concentrate not fully ripe tannins in the wine. During harvesting best winegrowers followed the principle of selection parcellaire, or picking grapes only in the plots ready for harvesting, as opposed to single picking of the whole vineyard.

Thus wealthy estates and wineries with philosophies of quality could correct the defects of nature and make wines of good level. For them, 2004 vintage is if not great, then very good. For the rest in was an average year with certain problems.

As for the general style of wines, the commentary during en primeur was focused on a traditional Bordeaux balance of firm tannins and lively acidity. Jancis Robinson, for example, noted that “in the best 2004s they manage to be both ripe and fresh and therefore, perhaps unexpectedly, perform the appetising function that acidity usually does”.

Opinions on what bank and variety was the most successful differed. Bordeaux wine merchant Bill Blatch whose detailed vintage report comes before en primeur tastings said, “We expect the Medocs, especially the middle-Medoc, and especially St Estephe, Pauillac and St Julien to be particularly successful, due to their lesser August rainfall... Certainly the Medocs seem to have more weight and density... St Emilion and Pomerol had more rain in August and in addition were generally picked marginaly earlier than the Medocs... We therefore expect them to be lighter in style and vinified more for finesse than for weight. It could be a remarkably elegant but powerful vintage here”. He also added that most growers on both banks called this a Merlot year. Cabernet Franc was heralded as a great success everywhere, and the quality of Cabernet Sauvignon was very mixed.

In the meantime, Jancis Robinson stated after the initial tastings that “in very general terms the Merlots were less successful than the Cabernet Franc on the right bank of the Gironde and Cabernet Sauvignon on the left bank”.

Another two years passed, and bottled Bordeaux-2004 is starting to leave producers’ cellars. In order to assess their current condition, Francois Mauss and Grand Jury Europeen held an extensive tasting session of red wines that included 208 top wines of the better and lesser known appellations of the Left and the Right banks. The jury is made up of the influential wine persons; this time the participants were Neil Beckett (The World of Fine Wine editor), Stephane Derenoncourt (winemaking consultant for a number of leading Bordeaux chateaux and European wineries), Andreas Larsson (Best world sommelier 2007), Dirk van der Niepoort (owner and winemaker of Nierpoort in Portugal), Luciano Sandrone (owner and winemaker of Sandrone in Barolo), Christian Roger (merchant of rare and fine wines) and others.

All wines are tasted blind, and the final score is always based on a complex statistic formula that takes into account agreement of tasters for each wine.

In his general remarks Francois Mauss noted, “It is well known that the 2004 vintage in Bordeaux will be drunk for the next 3 to 5 years, because it doesn’t show a great aging potential, except for some rare wines. 2004 is not a vintage for aging, and thus, the results of this tasting are particularly interesting for anybody looking for good wines to drink in the next few years, which is the vast majority of wine loves”.

One of the session’s initial results was a slight advantage of the Right bank over the Left bank. Indeed, in a general ranking table Right bank wines occupy 26 positions in the top fifty. A more rounded and easier to drink Merlot, a base of these wines, is more open, than vertically structured Cabernet wines. St. Emilion wines are of particular success. Half of the top ten wines come from this appellation, and the biggest recognition was achieved by Angelus (2), Ausone (3), Pavie (6), Pavie-Macquin (7) and Bellevue-Mondotte (10). This also confirms winemakers’ opinion who had said that the year was more successful for Merlot.

Chateau Pape Clement from Pessac-Leognan took the top position in a general ranking. A property of Bernard Magrez, the chateau has long been one of the flagships in the appellation. And, by the way, Merlot dominates in the vineyards. Several more remarks about Pessac-Leognan. In own evaluation notes the wines of this prestigious Grave zone consistently got positive commentary and high scores. In the table of the 50 best Left bank wines, those from Pessac-Leognan also have an advantage in numbers — there are eleven of them in total. If one has to choose a bottle of Bordeaux wine to be opened today which can give most pleasure, it is likely to be a wine from Pessac-Leognan.

On the topic of wines suitable for immediate drinking, we need to mention quality wines made in the lesser appellations in Medoc (Haut-Medoc, Medoc, Moulis and Listrac), as well as Cotes de Bordeaux and satellites around St. Emilion. This is also reflected in the tables for both banks, especially the Left one, where 21 entries out of 50 featured wines from small appellations. This is possible thanks to their better formed character — unlike the still closed wines of the more monumental zones. Personal favourites in this subgroup were L’Excellence de Bois Pertuis (Bordeaux), Clarke (Listrac-Medoc), Sociando-Mallet, Belle-Vue, La Lagune (Haut-Medoc), Fontenil (Fronsac), Croix de l’Esperance (Lussac-St. Emilion), Clos Des Lunelle (Cotes de Castillon).

The quartet of prestigious Medoc appellations (St. Estephe, Pauillac, St. Julien and Margaux) did not give perform to the level as one might expect, yet the reason lies not in quality, but in a slower development of the wines. They haven’t finished forming their character yet, and at the moment they are particularly closed, thus making them more difficult for understanding and evaluation, especially under the condition of blind tasting. Francois Mauss recognises the problem and promises to organise another tasting for great wines of the Left bank in three years, like it was done with 1990 vintage. The jury tasted it three times at various evolution stages. On the whole, it is best to leave the Left bank wines for at least another couple of years.

At present wines from Margaux are most attractive. In particular, my praise was given to Leoville-Poyferre, Prieure Lichine, Lascombes, Kirwan, Marojallia. As for the first growths, Chateau Mouton Rothschild was rated highest, followed by Chateau Latour and Chateau Lafite.