NewsBordeaux 2009 review
Recession, what recession? The 2009 Bordeaux campaign was truly one of the more remarkable 3 months that we can remember in the wine trade. It all started quite sensibly with wines being released at prices that, given the quality of the vintage, seemed reasonable. Then Robert Parker dolled out his scores and suddenly wines were being released at double the price of their 2005 counterparts. Oh how we all chuckled when Sauternes that would normally sell at £300 a case were being offered at £600+. Many such releases got their just desserts and failed to sell (so perhaps the desserts will have to be enjoyed with another vintage at a later date?). In amongst the barkingly mad releases lots of wines came out at prices that given some consideration were worth the money, after all wasn’t this the greatest vintage ever? Lets see in a few years, shall we? So momentum started to build and yes the Chinese really were buying as well and not just waiting for the First Growths. Before we knew it pandemonium was in full swing, wine merchants all around the world were looking like 1980s city traders with phones pinned to their ears screaming (and often begging) for more wine whilst the increasingly satisfied Bordelaise watched their still in barrel wine disappear from their inventories. Clients in turn were asking us for increasingly large quantities of rarer wines and the last week of June was as hectic a time as we can recall.
Then suddenly July arrived and the last wines were released and it all stopped and calm was restored, well the Bordelaise had to plan their holidays didn’t they? And there was real concern that August might get interrupted!
Sanity has restored and now we await the releases of 2009 Rhones in November and 2009 Burgundies in January 2011, one imagines these will be every bit as in demand but the prices are likely to be a little less eye watering.
James Price
August 2010
