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Bordeaux 2009 par Armin Diel / Pekka Nuikki

Bordeaux – mid-March

The spring sun begins to break through the dark clouds that cover Bordeaux. We are heading towards the Château Lafite estate. The traffic is calm and there are few traffic jams in the parking lots of the vineyards we pass. The same goes for Lafite. The apparent peace and tranquility is only on the surface, however, because underneath there is only turmoil. This is due to the upcoming launch and marketing of the 2009 vintage. The year is proving to be perfect; According to the producers, it is the best so far in the 21st century. Two more weeks, and we can verify it, with the start of the most anticipated annual event in Bordeaux, first.

We visit some of the best areas to take stock of the situation a few weeks before the preview period begins. The atmosphere in the cellars is impatient. The faces of the representatives reveal their great expectations regarding the vintage. They seem to have on their hands what is every wine producer's dream. The most daring comments come from the director of Mouton-Rothschild, Philippe Dhalluin, who would compare the vintage to 2005: “This kind of vintage will sell out in two hours,” he estimates.

Vineyard manager George Chevallier, from the neighboring town of Lafite, is a little more careful with his words, but still full of praise: “It’s a great vintage. The grapes reached maximum maturity and the picking took place under ideal circumstances. We are now at the end of the blending process and in a few weeks there are people coming from all over the world to taste the wines first. It’s no secret that this is a very good vintage. Very well balanced, good fruit – everything is at just the right level. However, I don't want to compare it to another vintage because it's difficult. I prefer to do it after 10 years. »

At Château Margaux, expectations are also high. The quality of the grapes picked from various vineyards clearly exceeded all previously obtained qualities. Pierre Lurton, director of Cheval Blanc in Saint-Émilion, admits that the quality of the year was a surprise even there. Tasting the wine, they found that its crisp fruity nature and exceptionally fine silky tannins, combined with a multi-layered and strong character, make it a superb vintage.

The North Star of Sauternes, Yquem, also agrees that it was an exceptional agricultural campaign. The crop was harvested in a month and a half instead of the usual three months. There were temperatures of up to 30°C again in October. The harvest was two and a half times the average size. The grapes have reached a degree of maturity comparable to the exceptional years of 1989 and 1947.

In two weeks, the producers' predictions will be put to the test when more than two thousand journalists arrive at the event in preview to taste the 2009 wines. Among them, Armin Diel, Bordeaux expert from FINE.

 

Bordeaux, end of March.

Attracted by the news that the wine barons of Gironde undoubtedly had the best vintage of all time in their barrels, some six thousand expert visitors from the distribution and gastronomy sectors, not to mention around two hundred journalists from around the world entire, were heading towards the south-west of France. Of this number, no less than half had managed to be accredited with the Union des Grands Crus, the Association of Bordeaux Winegrowers, for Press Week. This guarantees the privilege of separate tastings and accommodation in the castles themselves.

With thirty wine connoisseurs, or noses, the French formed the largest contingent, followed by sixteen Englishmen and eleven Americans. The large number of Chinese journalists, ten in total, testifies to the growing interest in fine reds in the Far East. After three days of in-depth tastings in the Grands Jours de Bourgogne, I left Dijon on Saturday morning towards Bordeaux. I was waiting for the wines of the 2009 vintage – already loaded with praise in advance. Amid the fatigue that accompanies such tastings, I feel something like happy anticipation and eager interest – will these wines really be better than the legendary vintages of 1982, 2000 and 2005?

 

The 2009 wine is pretty damned good. It is true that black cherry and cranberries still predominate in the bouquet, but on the palate the wine does indeed reveal structure and great finesse.

The next château is Château Pavie, where proprietor Gérard Perse greets the guests. In the first years following its acquisition by this Parisian businessman the wines, which tend to have an opulent character, aroused a lively controversy in international wine circles. On the one hand, for the American Robert Parker, whose opinion is keenly echoed, he has prompted a change of style amongst a whole generation of winemakers with his fondness for the all too sumptuous droplets – out with elegance and restraint, in with opulence! This stylistic preference does not meet with requited love everywhere however, particularly amongst his British counterparts who for many years have favoured the more elegant Bordeaux type.

Respected English wine writer Jancis Robinson countered the tide boldly when she gave the 2003 vintage of Château Pavie, one of Parker’s favourite wines, a real dressing down, conceding only 12 of 20 possible points. Two years later, she raised the heat even further. The 2005 Château Pavie she characterised as “over-concentrated beefcake”, sardonically asking who would want to drink a second glass of it.

 

The 2009 Pavie is once again a very impressive wine whose full-bodied taste and silky tannins will quite possibly be united one day in a superb symbiosis. “It can ripen happily for fifty years and more”, says Gérard Perse. What will Jancis Robinson make of this?

The Château Angélus is only a few kilometres away. Today, co-owner Hubert de Boüard awaits an expanded group of thirty members of the Grand Jury. As is customary, the tasting begins in the sampling room on the principal floor of the property with the constantly high quality of Lafleur de Boüard, a fifty-acre estate at Lalande de Pomerol. From the 2009 vintage the more powerful Prestige Cuvée Le Plus de Boüard stands out. Practically all the tasters are agreed that this 2009 wine from Château Angélus has a splendid career ahead of it. Admittedly, this very dark wine loaded with black cherry and abundant, new wood will demand a few years of patience before it has attained its optimal maturity.

 

The visit to Michel Rolland, incidentally a long-term friend of Robert Parker, can only be regarded as a noteworthy event. Not far from his spacious laboratory operation in Maillet, the most influential oenologist in the world grants us a private audience at his vineyard of Château Le Bon Pasteur in Pomerol. Flanked by his wife Dan, the jovial Rolland is in excellent form and introduces his dapper son-in-law as the Dirécteur-Général of the Rolland Collection. The 2009 wines are from reliable vineyards indeed! But why does the master not take steps to elicit any more interesting drops from his own vines?

Soon afterwards we meet Stéphane Derenoncourt, who embodies the new school of oenological wine consulting in Bordeaux. Unlike Rolland, he constantly strives to carve out a more elegant style of wine; certain estates of which he is in charge work their vineyards in accordance with ecological principles. On the occasion of the En Primeur Week he gathers his customers for a joint presentation at Château La Gaffelière in Saint-Emilion.

Three wines stand out this afternoon: Château Larcis-Ducasse has a highly concentrated fragrance, yet seems very invigorating and reveals an almost dance-like elegance. While the bouquet of the Pavie-Macquin highlights a fine sandalwood sweetness and the fruit forms a perfect equilibrium with the tannins, the Clos-Fourtet wine is a true bundle of joy when it comes to Cabernet Bouquet and black cherry.

 

Monday morning begins in radiant sunshine with one of the most important tastings of the En Primeur Week, and is held at the home of Jean-Pierre Moueix who controls a large part of the trade on the right bank, which, since 1964 has included the distribution of Château Pétrus.Escorted by his son Edouard, the elegantly attired Christian Moueix welcomes the guests in a highly personal style. Although not every inquiry was covered in the appointed period, the wine tasters now crowd into the wood-panelled room. But where is the Château Pétrus? Hitherto it always stood at the end of the Moueix wine collection, this year for the first time one had to arrange a separate appointment in the winery, something by no means all of the wine noses had realised. Oh dear! At Pétrus the visitors are expertly enlightened on the merits of the 2009 produce by Jean-Claude Berrouet, the long-haired cellar master of the estate, and Olivier, his son and successor. “Yes, it is really a great vintage”, says Papa Berrouet, who after forty five years is now enjoying a well-deserved retirement and has taken on a more advisory role to his son.

 

The wine itself is really superb! – how indeed could it be anything else? The smooth sweetness forms a pleasurable counterpoint to the fine aromatic tannins. A wine for the treasure chamber!

 

Just a couple of hundred metres from Pétrus I run into Jacques Thienpont and we partake of a sample of Le Pin 2009. Twenty years ago the Belgian owner was only seldom to be seen during the En Primeur Week. Even afterwards one had the feeling that he was ready to welcome only a handful of selected tasters. This time, however everything is different. Right at the start of the narrow track a small signs points us in an unfamiliar direction to ‘Degustation Le Pin’ and not to the former simple farmhouse that for three decades was home to the most famous old wines or vieilles vignes and which has now been pulled down to be replaced by a spectacular new building. Instead, the tasting occurs in an improvised little building housing the wine press that Jacques Thienpont, two years earlier, had prepared as alternative accommodation for the vinification of his extremely expensive red wines. The 2009 Le Pin is the prime example of a perfect Merlot, wherein the invigorating freshness is married with the exotic fruit components in a most exquisite way.

 

Monday evening sees the Dîner d’Acceuil at Château La Dominique, the first event for the selected journalist corps. This function is a true Vanity Fair and almost always follows the same pattern. The wine growers attempt to direct the supposedly most important writers to their own tables, where they then surprisingly proffer their own wine from the multitude of available bottles.

The dinner is of the finest quality: Scallop Carpaccio, Millefeuille of Veal with Mushroom Tapenade and, alongside the obligatory cheeses, also a lavish dessert. As if on command, the company rises just after ten in the evening as the tasting is to continue early the following day.

 

Tuesday morning is overcast with scudding rain clouds. The group of journalists has the opportunity to taste Château Cheval-Blanc of 2009 –the Union des Grands Crus presents the wines of their one hundred and thirty-two members in regional tastings. Since, however, the most famous estates are missing, it is also necessary to take the trouble to arrange individual tasting appointments at the chateaux outside the official programme.

Three renowned estates – Mouton-Rothschild, Yquem and Cheval-Blanc – nevertheless, assume a special status in the Union as honorary members and consequently offer the journalists a co-ordinated form of tasting. For me, the Cheval Blanc is unquestionably one of the best wines of the 2009 vintage. This gem of a red wine reveals silky tannins and an extract sweetness that one recognises only from the very best years. The legendary 1947 Cheval-Blanc automatically comes to mind!

Now, however, it’s time for the real work to start! During the following days the one hundred and twenty journalists, divided into five groups of twenty-four tasters each, work through the different Bordeaux regions in accordance with an ingenious system.

 

I end up in group three, together with some old acquaintances such as the influential and intelligent Peter Moser, editor-in-chief of the Austrian Falstaff Magazine, and Didier Ters, the former wine expert of the newspaper Sud-Ouest, who every morning turns up last and struts through the tasting halls in his checked jacket. Also here is Reva Singh, the elegant publisher of a wine magazine from New Delhi, together with her son Shiv who lives in New York, as well as Niko Dukan, a gangling good-humoured character from Zagreb.

 

Enveloped in light rain, Wednesday morning finds us in the Médoc, where the Cabernet-Sauvignon-Traube is predominant. And 2009 is set to be a very great Cabernet year, as Denis Dubourdieu confirms at the press conference of the University of Bordeaux at Château La Lagune. Five preconditions are necessary, the Professor proclaims, in order to produce really great red wines in the Bordeaux region: an early and swift flowering, dry weather up to the end of the fruit, sunny days to accelerate the change of colour of the grapes, warm and dry weeks in August and – last but not least – fine autumn weather during the gathering of the harvest.

 

While all these parameters were supplied in an almost ideal way in 2009, this is no quality guarantee however, according to Dubourdieu. “The risk in years of good weather is indeed somewhat greater, as one is tempted to prolong the harvest far too long, particularly if your neighbour still has not harvested”, he states roguishly. The fruit characteristics are dependent on the time of the harvest, and in 2009 it was also possible to harvest cooked fruits throughout. Spontaneously, these words recall to my mind certain excessively rich Merlots from the right bank, whose alcohol content should not be much above fifteen per cent by volume. Furthermore, the character of the tannins is very much influenced by the making of the wines, says Dubourdieu, who himself owns two vineyards and, at the same time, advises numerous Châteaux.

For the white grapes and in particular Sauvignon Blanc, by contrast, it has been almost a little too hot to retain the aromas and above all the freshness. The perfect quality of many Sémillon grapes in the Sauternes region has, however, enabled the production of exceptionally good sweet wines. Of this fact one could satisfy oneself immediately following the press conference.

In the setting of the Opéra of Bordeaux, Château d’Yquem had extended an invitation for the presentation of the new vintage, to be attended in Tenue de Ville (business dress) befitting the occasion. On the parquet circle of the Grand Théatre guests are welcomed by attractive young ladies, whose black suits are entwined by a golden ribbon. They accompany the guests into the Salle Boireau on the first floor of this imposing building. The anticipation grows!

 

In the midst of the large ceremonial room illuminated by four giant chandeliers, on whose ceiling great composers such as Beethoven, Gluck and Mozart are immortalised, sommeliers with white gloves serve the new vintage: “what a silky richness, coupled with noble rot (Botrytis), almost as elegant as your Rieslings in Germany”, rhapsodises Michel Bettane, the most famous wine critic in France. And what a difference to the similarly served 1989 Yquem, a wine dominated by the wood and alcohol that lies rather mournfully in the glass.

In almost endless waves small delicacies are served up from the repertoire of the Parisian three-star chef Yannick Aléno (Le Meurice), who acknowledges the honour in person: Gelée de Boeuf au Caviar, Mascarpone à la Truffe, lobster ravioli with seafood sauce, crab roulettes and much more. Le Tout Bordeaux luxuriates in sheer enjoyment!

 

On Thursday the sun is shining again at last. Besides the tastings of the Union, the spotlight is today on the Premiers Crus des Médoc as well as certain Super Seconds des Médoc. And after Dubourdieu’s lecture, expectations are now running particularly high. In the case of Château Mouton Rothschild it is an established tradition that the journalists are conveyed the four hundred metres from the vinothèque to the tasting room by golf carts, and this somewhat impromptu performance was readily enacted.

 

For the first time in twenty years both the Cinquièmes Crus of Château d’Armailhac appeal to me far more than the Clerc Milon, which is a hint too alcoholic. Nothing of the sort can be alleged against the Mouton Rothschild. With its broad aroma palette ranging from black cherry to Cabernet Bouquet together with a well-structured body, this wine demonstrates considerable development potential.

 

Owing to building work under way in the Château, on this occasion the En Primeur tasting of the Lafite Rothschild takes place at the neighbouring Duhart Milon Rothschild estate in the heart of Pauillac. The 2009 Lafite immediately discloses a very robust tannic structure, which, then dissolves on the palate in radiant fruit.

Nowhere else in the Bordelais is a greater fuss made of admittance to the Holy of Holies as at Château Latour. At the approach to the estate terrain there is a small attendant’s hut in which a poor fellow bides his time. He may only open the barrier when he has checked the number of occupants of the car against those of the original registration. Next time I would not be at all surprised if we had to present our ID papers! Thank  goodness all this jumping through hoops has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the wine.

As far as the 2009 Château Latour is concerned, the ripe tannins and almost exuberant fruit results in a symbiosis that in Bordeaux is readily characterised as “an iron fist in a velvet glove”. This is the just the wine that Professor Dubourdieu may have been thinking about when he spoke of a gorgeous vintage for Cabernet Sauvignon.

 

From Pauillac it is a mere stone’s throw to Château Cos d’Estournel, which lies on a small hill above Lafite. After a two-year conversion phase, for the first time Cos now presents its new tasting room from which there is a spectacular view of the cubic tanks of the new fermentation cellar. Seldom before have I tasted a better wine here than that of 2009. Apart from bursting with strength it imparts, above all, great finesse. Like many other wine estates in the Bordelais, at Château Montrose too the silhouette of a construction crane dominates the landscape, in this case marking the emergence of a new barrique cellar. This is urgently needed; only a few days previously the acquisition of 52 acres (21 hectares) from Château Phélan-Ségur for almost twenty million euros was signed and sealed. As a result, the total vineyard area now extends to 223 (90 hectares)! The 2009 Montrose remains absolutely faithful to its style as a robust red wine of the Médoc: a long-lasting classic through and through.

 

As in 2000, Château Margaux must once more be Primus inter Pares of the Premiers Crus in the Médoc. Courtesy of the otherwise so level-headed estate manager, Paul Pontallier, we entice a hymn of praise for the 2009 vintage: “Since 1982 I have been responsible for Château Margaux, however I have never, ever had such a perfect wine in the cask!” Could this indeed be the wine of the year? That remains to be seen.

 

On Friday the party finally reaches the Graves, the only Bordelais region where both white and red Grands Crus Classés are to be found. In both categories three vineyards stand out at the Union tasting: Domaine de Chevalier, Pape Clément and Smith-Haut-Lafitte, and I have a weakness for the latter in both disciplines. Whereas the red scores with its great full-bodied character and perfectly integrated tannins and extract sweetness, the white, together with its note of opulence, also displays an astonishing elegance.

A visit to Château Haut Brion is essential to draw matters to a satisfactory conclusion. Since building work is in progress there too, this year’s tasting takes place in the neighbouring estate of La Mission Haut Brion. While the wine merchants and sommeliers sample the wines in a large dégustoir on the ground floor, managing director Jean-Philippe Delmas, who has managed both estates since taking over from his father in 2004, receives the journalists in a somewhat discreet setting on the first floor.

 

Major changes have occurred for La Mission Haut-Brion and the associated labels. The red wine that until 2005 was sold under the independent label of Château La Tour Haut-Brion is now a fully integrated component of La Mission and its second wine La Chapelle de La Mission. Since 2009, the white Laville Haut-Brion has traded as La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc, a label that incidentally was used between 1925 and 1930. The third novelty is a white second wine under the name of La Clarté, in which selected quantities of Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion are married. Whereas the sweetish 2009 Haut Brion Blanc is an ideal wine for power drinkers, the white wine from La Mission is considerably more elegant. Both red counterparts are incredibly dense and complex. Owing to their tremendous tannin structure they certainly require quite a few years before they can be drunk with pleasure.

My inquisitive question as to how the quality of this exceptional wine will affect the anticipated En Primeur price, remains unanswered here, as in all the wine estates around the Gironde. Prices were a subject on which nobody wished to comment at all during the week.

Let it be said that any forecast is laden with risk. Many more obscure chateaux, that in 2009 have produced their best wines for a long while, will have to settle for price mark-ups of between ten and twenty per cent on the previous year. Thereby they confer their wines with an exceptionally attractive price-enjoyment ratio. At the forthcoming Vinexpo in Hong Kong, the more famous estates will attempt to raise their prices to at least the level of 2005. And despite the persistent economic crisis nobody should cherish the slightest illusion that in the case of cult wines such as Lafite, Latour or indeed Pétrus, it is possible to pick up any kind of bargain.

 

Bordeaux – end of June

The temperature surpasses 30 °C. Bordeaux has recovered quickly from the previous day’s thunderstorm, and from a record en primeur period. The event proved to be a success in terms of sales and quality alike: record scores and prices will be seen and everyone agrees on the vintage. The biggest factor affecting prices, Mr. Parker, has published his scores, and we are left to await the final selling prices of the wines.

Parker’s verdict was a relief: “It may turn out to be the finest vintage I have tasted in 32 years of covering Bordeaux,” he said. Eighteen wines received scores of 98 to 100, which is remarkable even in a great vintage. Out of the first growths, Parker rates Haut-Brion, Lafite-Rothschild, Latour and Margaux from 98 to 100. Mouton-Rothschild received lower scores of 96–98, although this is naturally still very good. And Robert Parker is not the only one to praise the vintage.

 

Jancis Robinson was also highly positive: “In all my years of immersion in tasting Bordeaux en primeur, I have never written the word ‘Napa’ so often in my tasting notes. Come to think of it, I had never written the word ‘Napa’ at all when trying to describe the latest vintage shown off to wine media and trade in Bordeaux every spring. Nor have I ever had so much fun tasting young Bordeaux as I did the week before last. Perhaps these two phenomena are related.” It appears that after a few highly eventful years, the most important critics of Europe and the U.S. agree on the quality of the ’09 vintage.

There is also accord as to prices. Despite the highest prices on record, the world is clamouring for 2009 futures. In the last week, all five first growths have released their first tranche or allocation, at prices that many experts call crazy. Traditionally, chateaux release their en primeur wine in tranches. The first tranche is a toe in the water. They want to see how the market behaves and price the following tranches accordingly. Château Haut-Brion released its first tranche at 500 euros per bottle from the cellar, before négociants and retailers add their mark-up. That matched the price of Latour’s first tranche.

Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Margaux and Château Mouton-Rothschild released their wines at 450 euros a bottle. In Sauternes, Château d’Yquem came out at 440 euros.

Négociants – the middlemen to whom the chateaux sell the wine – announced they would sell Château Lafite to merchants at 550 euros. It should reach the market at around 8,000 euros per case. In fact, as négociants did not receive a lot of wines in the first tranche of their 2009 en primeur, they will have to wait for the second and perhaps the third tranche, by which time the idea of buying a Lafite at 550 euros per bottle will be history.

This represents a jump of over 300% from the price of the 2008 vintage, and over 50% from the release price of the previous legendary vintage, 2005.

Comparing the prices of the 2009 vintage to the record price tags of 2005, most other classified estates have also raised their prices by a staggering 20–50%, and Château La Mission by a huge 146%, Montrose by 69%, Pontet-Canet by 61%, Canon by 55% and Lynch-Bages by 42%.

When we visited Bordeaux before the en primeur sale, several top estate directors openly admitted to us that they “now have a lot of money”, and many are undertaking expansion projects requiring major investments. They can now complete the work without worry, as the 2009 vintage will provide enough funds to cover the bill. By now, if not before, the wines produced by these very wealthy wineries have become luxury products that the whole world thirsts after, regardless of the price. We will go into that in more detail in our next issue, where we look in depth at “wines as luxury items”.

 

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Bordeaux

Much like 1947, 1961 and 2005, 2009 is a year of almost overly (for Bordeaux) flamboyant and opulent wines with high maturity and low acidity. The tannins are exceptionally ripe, while the wines are quite voluptuous in style. The Left Bank recorded more hours of sunshine than legendary vintages such as 1947 and 1982, and the grapes had higher sugar concentrations than in 2003 and 2005. The key was significant diurnal temperature variations that allowed the grapes to withstand hot daytime temperatures. An exceptional vintage on all levels.

 

 

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Burgundy

A warm spring with some hail in the northern part of the Côte de Nuits. After an even flowering and a warm June, the summer arrived with variable July weather. Fortunately August was fine with a period of hot weather in the second week. September started with some rain, then became fine and warm again. A harvest of healthy, ripe grapes followed. The 2009s have all the structure packed in with rich, luscious fruit. Comparable to the 2005s. Great wines.

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Champagne

This warm year started with a cold winter and mild spring temperatures. Early summer was variable but August and September provided ample sunshine and warmth contributing to fine grape health. Pinot Noir especially excelled. Grape harvest, of generally high sugar content yet soft acidity, started on September 8th. 2009 is a year of generous wines that showed well early. An apt example of a vintage of the recent era, in which retaining freshness poses more problems than attaining ripeness. Good grape health contributed to the overall quality, and despite the richness of the wines, heaviness did not end up being an issue. There is quite some heterogenity amongst the year's produce but the best seem truly age-worthy. The vintage's finest include Louis Roederer Cristal and Cristal Rosé, Dom Pérignon and Philipponnat Clos des Goisses.

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California

Napa 2009 Vintage Report   “We consider the vintage 2009 was the start of a three year cooling cycle (2009, 2010, 2011) that ended with the 2012 vintage.  If We look at the big picture of the decade We see warming each year from 2006, 2007 and then 2008.  2009 then started a cooling cycle where the vintages were progressively cooler and wetter. Out of these vintages the 2011 was the coolest and wettest. We are pleased to see the vintage 2012 is breaking this cycle.”

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Australia

Near-optimum rainfall over winter, followed by dry, mild conditions over spring provided a good environment for budburst and an ideal start to the growing season with canopies developing well. Climatic conditions favoured flowering and set with mild and calm weather, however there was some shatter in Shiraz across parts of the state resulting in small crops for many regions. Some early to mid-December summer rainfall was followed by conditions drying up very quickly and continuing until the end of February. Summer was hot with some extreme heat but cool conditions returned in February and March, allowing the fruit to ripen across a long harvest with balanced acidities and excellent tannin ripeness. An elegant, yet still powerful follow up to the conditions brought about in the preceding 2008 vintage

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Vintage Report

The 2009 vintage of Domaine de La Romanée-Conti

In exceptionally sunny years, it often happens that the sun continues to accompany the grapes, which it has taken so much care to ripen, from the end of fermentation to the birth of the wine. That's the case this year - a year ending in "9" which once again connects this number to the star of life. Indian summer sets in at the end of the harvest, and the radiant vines, freed of their fruit, change their “diurnal dress”, becoming more and more golden every day. It is as if their nostalgia for summer days is expressed in the golden hue that adorns the leaves before they fall to the ground, abandoning themselves to the soil which is, in turn, nourished by them.

The vineyards buzz with activity along the village streets stretching out into the sun. The winemakers smile as they inhale the scents emanating from the fermentation vats, reminding them at every moment what a blessing from the gods a beautiful vintage in Burgundy is.

 

Not that it was all easy. On the contrary, in the annual struggle of the Burgundian winegrower against the irregular and unpredictable weather – without the whims of which he will not make great wines – victory often appears very late in the season, as in 2008, when it was necessary to wait until mid -September so that the window of good weather opens, allowing the vintage to be successful. At other, rarer times, such as in 1999, 2005 or this year 2009, victory is won much earlier, even at the beginning of August. But of course we didn't know it at that time, we were so concerned about protecting the vines from the brutal attacks of powdery mildew, downy mildew in particular, and even botrytis throughout the spring until the end of July.

After early budburst, as has been the case for most in recent years, these diseases were in fact facilitated during the months of April, May, June and even July by recurring rain storms which did not cause any respite for the winegrower. Even though the sun did not stop activating the metabolism in the vines, the heat brought storms almost every week. Fortunately these were not too violent, except where there was hail, like in Gevrey-Chambertin, for example, but each time the storms forced us to renew our organic treatments to save the vines. .

 

On the other hand, it is precisely these spring rains which allowed the vines to build up sufficient water reserves to overcome without excessive stress the drought that we experienced throughout the month of August – with the exception of one rain storm on August 15 – until the start of the harvest. This hydrated balance allowed the canopy of leaves to fully fulfill its role as “candy” and the grapes reached exceptional maturity.

The near-natural perfection of this harvest was totally respected by our harvest team, thanks to their now consummate experience in selective picking. In addition, we left aside the vines that were overloaded or too young for a second pass, in order to maintain the beautiful quality that we were looking for.

As a result, the grapes that passed the sorting table were some of the finest we have ever seen. As we saw in 1999 and 2005, there were many small clusters, many “Millerandages”, or “mixed” berries, and as a sign of a great year, the old vines, which are generally not very productive. , gave this year a generous harvest of small berries, sumptuous examples of the best Pinot Noir.

We also observed a phenomenon typical of great vintages: the berries most exposed to the sun had roasted and contained an almost concentrated sugar which was only released at the end of fermentation. Following this event, the wine experienced a real enrichment, natural and progressive, ending with an even higher richness in degrees than those we had observed at the start of fermentation.

Regarding the quantity, it is also satisfactory. Due to the generous flowering, in addition to the magnificent frame of clusters which was the same on all the fruits this year, the size of the harvest was of the order of those we had seen in 1999 and 2005.

 

The vines were harvested in the following order in 2009:

Corton: September 10 (The maturity of Corton was well ahead of Vosne-Romanée.)
Richebourg: September 13
Romanée-Conti: September 14 La Tâche: September 14 and 15 (Grapes from young 8-year-old vines
The Tâche were so ripe and fine that we decided to include them in the grand cuvée.)
Romanée-St.-Vivant: September 15-16
Grands Échézeaux: September 17-18 Échézeaux: 18-19
september
Montrachet: September 15 (During the year, the evolution of the Pinots Noirs and Chardonnays was curious and very different from the normal maturation process. The flowering of the Chardonnay took place at least a week later than that of the Pinots However, there was such an extreme reactive response from the Chardonnays in the final hot weeks of summer that the delay in maturity we first noticed with flowering – which persisted throughout the season of growth – was almost canceled. We harvested the Montrachet vineyard on September 15, before having finished harvesting the reds. We have high hopes of producing one of our most exceptional Montrachet vintages, the fruit was so glorious, golden, ultra-ripe, in a word, sumptuous, and at the same time, a beauty defying description).

 

At the time of writing, October 7, 2009, fermentations are slow, regular and naturally reach high temperatures. The quality of the grapes and the richness of the material allow us to aspire to long “vattings”, or “fermentations in vats or vats”. The colors are garnet red, almost black. This is a vintage of high lineage, reflecting the high standard of the magnificent grapes we harvested, which seem to come to life in the vats.

 

Domaine Moillard Evaluation Report: The winter of 2008-2009 was very cold and dry. Spring arrived slowly with a yo-yoing thermometer. Summer started with glorious sunshine and summer temperatures lasted until September. The vintage is characterized by exceptional sunshine, particularly in January, May and August.
The harvest began the second week of September. The yield was high; The grapes were rich and concentrated. The white wines are lip-smacking, with excellent alcohol/acidity balance; For the reds, the tannins are concentrated with a lot of flesh. This magnificent vintage shows that quantity rhymes with quality!

 

 

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Napa 2009 vintage report by Tb

“Budding occurred almost 15 days later than previous warmer vintages. The summer was generally cool with only two heat peaks above 100 degrees, one in June and one in July. The fruits ripened slowly and relatively evenly, with wonderful purity. This is one of the reasons why the Dana Estates Cabernets of the 2009 vintage demonstrate such finesse and accessibility from a very young age. However, the near-perfect growing season ended suddenly with unusually heavy rains in early October. With rare exceptions, fruit that arrived after rain was downgraded. Fortunately, the fruit that arrived before this rain was of the highest quality. » Cameron Vawter, winemaker – Dana Estates

May-Britt & Denis Malbec, procurers of Notre Vin and consultants for Blankiet, Kapscandy

“The growing season, from bud burst in mid-March to early May, was extremely dry. This pattern changed in early May with rain that ended up putting more than three inches on Howell Mountain. This late rain gave the vines enough humidity to allow very good growth with minimal inputs from us. The preset cluster numbers looked very good as flowering approached. The flowering period was cool and prolonged, resulting in limited set in many Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards. Veraison was also expected to be prolonged due to the flowering experience, but surprisingly the color change was actually compact, which will create a very uniform ripening, as the Cabernet Sauvignon moved remarkably fast during this period, especially on the mountain. With little to no frost, very few heat spikes, and nice moderate temperatures during the summer, this seemed like the perfect scenario for harvest. Late August through early September saw the largest heat peak with the lowest humidity of the season. Sugars have increased significantly during this period, going from two to four Brix. Throughout September, very short, mild heat spikes occurred approximately every seven to ten days and humidity levels fell below 20% a few times, further increasing the risk of berry dehydration . Irrigation management before and after these peaks was essential to avoid dehydration. October started with mild high temperatures and, more importantly, low temperatures dropping into the mid 30s. A significant rain event occurred on October 13 with approximately three inches of rain. Another lighter rain occurred on October 19. The effect of this rain could be measured in the absorption of moisture by the plants, which caused some swelling of the berries and, in many cases, contributed to limiting the Brix readings. The appearance of rot, Penicillium spp. and perhaps Aspergillus. Fortunately, this rot was only seen on sunburned berries, usually on the afternoon side of the vine and was fairly limited on Howell Mountain, so a quick pass to remove these infected berries before harvest prevented rot from being delivered to wineries. In general, the harvest was on average a week later than normal. Overall, a relatively quiet growing season until harvest time.

 

Cory Empting, winemaker – Harlan & Bond Estates:

“It was a vintage that produced wines with great layers and nuances thanks to an extended harvest period. The fruity material was very ripe, but also showed a lot of freshness and lively acidity. To me it's reminiscent of the 2005 but with a greater degree of concentration. »

“We saw below average precipitation and the growing season was long with very consistent temperatures for most of the year. After the first week of September, the weather cooled significantly, resulting in moderate to long periods between veraison and harvest for all of our properties. Yields were slightly high as we had excellent fruit set due to good weather during flowering. We did a green harvest at veraison reducing the fruit by 15-25%. When harvesting, the differences in rootstock, topography and exposure were exaggerated, so we had to make many passes and separate a little more in some properties. Fortunately, we had almost a solid month to harvest without pressure. We were able to harvest 94% of the vineyards before the heavy rains – almost 5 inches – on October 12. After the rain, we let the remaining blocks dry a bit, then went to harvest almost a week later. It's worth mentioning that many of these wines turned out much better than expected.

 

Nick Gislason, winemaker – Screaming Eagle:

“The year 2009 reminds me especially of 1997, where we also had a beautiful dry spring with less vigorous vines on the vines, a moderate summer with few heat peaks and a good harvest which allowed a long hanging time during the mild autumn. The vintage was almost perfect in the vineyard for our signature fresh wine style.

“Spring started with very few frosts (unlike 2008 which had many) and warm conditions, which led to healthy and balanced crop loads. Then, as spring progressed, conditions continued to be warm and dry, which helped to naturally down-regulate the vigor of the vine cover and bring the vineyard into excellent balance. between leaf and fruit development, requiring very little additional shoot training. As summer arrived and into fall, we had warm conditions with far fewer high heat spikes (100+F) than in 2008, which led to a lot of cool retention in the fruit, and floral, spicy and vibrant flavors very characteristic of a classic Screaming Eagle vintage. We harvested the Merlot from September 9 to 17, the Cabernet Sauvignon from September 18 to October 10 and the Cabernet Franc on October 1. The total production quantity was 750 cases. »

 

Allison Tauziet, Winemaker – Colgin Cellars:

“Our wines from this vintage are inky in color, fresh in flavor and have incredibly silky and approachable tannins. The quality of the fruit was uncompromising, and the wines reflect this purity of the fruit and the elegance of the tannin. »

“The 2009 vintage was a vintage characterized by balance. Bud break began as planned in mid-March. Although we only received about two-thirds of our normal rainfall over the winter, we were fortunate to have some minor rains in April and May that helped the vines last until beginning of summer. Summer proved to be a classic with its weather conditions. We only experienced a few days of 100+ degree heat, followed by our traditional fog pattern coming off the bay. The fog continued through much of August, which lengthened the early ripening stage of the fruit, giving ample time for the vines to create fruit that was deep in pigment and complex in flavor. Several small episodes of heat in September completed the development of flavor and tannin, allowing us to begin picking Merlot and Syrah. The magnificent mild weather of the first week of October provided perfect conditions for the ripening of the Cabernet, which we picked regularly until the middle of the month. We finished the harvest just before the cold, wet weather hit the vines on October 13th.

 

 

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Germany Vintage report by Wilhelm Weil: Vintage report 2009 / The winter of 2008/2009 was the coldest in over a decade. Particularly in the first weeks of January, thermometer readings rarely rose above freezing and temperatures dropped as low as -15°C/5°F. The weather remained cold even into March, and included a late snowfall on the 25th of the month – which foreshadowed a late burst of buds.

However, April exceeded all expectations. Almost without exception, the weather was as warm and sunny as could be expected in early summer, and it was the second warmest April on record since 1884, when weather results were first documented at the Geisenheim/Rheingau research institute. This has led to explosive growth. By the end of the month, vegetation was about two weeks ahead of schedule and generally proceeded under relatively balanced weather conditions thereafter. Unfortunately, a cold spell during flowering led to damage from coulure and poor fruit set, leaving very loose clusters and a slight reduction in yield, which however also paved the way for clusters capable of remaining for a long time on the vine.

August 12 marked the start of the maturation phase of development, approximately two weeks ahead of schedule. Ideal weather conditions allowed must weights to increase steadily. At the beginning of October, must weights of at least 90° Oechsle were measured at all sites, associated with an extraordinarily healthy harvest of optimal physiological maturity. You could definitely say that the grapes looked very tempting and tasted just as good. The harvest of our Domaine Rieslings began on October 5. Because flowering was relatively early, the grapes had been on the vine for at least 115 days at that point. We have high expectations for these wines, thanks to the exceptionally high quality of the harvest. The next phase of the harvest was dedicated to bringing in a golden yellow, fully ripe and healthy harvest with must weights of around 100° Oechsle – intended for the production of our best dry wines from the sites of 'Erste Lage (Premier Cru) Klosterberg, Turmberg and Grosse Lage (Grand Cru) Gräfenberg.

The weather in October was somewhat variable, but the harvest remained healthy, thanks to reduced cluster density and cool temperatures. Thus, we were also able to harvest grapes well suited to the production of grandiose wines with naturally ripe sweetness in the Prädikat Spätlese category. In the later stages of the harvest, a very nice “noble rot” (Botrytis) set in which allowed us to harvest grapes suitable for all other levels of Prädikat, from Auslese to Trockenbeerenauslese. By selling selectively, we were able to pick grapes with must weights of up to 241° Oechsle. As such, we remain in the remarkable position of being able to produce wines of all quality categories, up to and including Trockenbeerenauslese, for the 21st consecutive year.

2009 vintage: Our steep sites, Kiedricher Kosterberg, Kiedrich Turmberg and Kiedrich Gräfenberg, and their extraordinarily physiologically ripe grapes yielded real harvests that promise wines of great extract (substance) and perceptible mineral tones that reflect their appellations of origin. We can thank Mother Nature for that.

 

 

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The best wines of the 2009 vintage

Name Tb Producer Location
1 Pétrus 100 Château Pétrus Pomerol, France
2 d'Yquem 100 Château d'Yquem Bordeaux, France
3 Château Smith Haut Lafitte 100 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Bordeaux, France
4 Château Latour 100 Château Latour Bordeaux, France
5 Le Pin 100 Le Pin Bordeaux, France
6 Lafite-Rothschild 100 Château Lafite-Rothschild Bordeaux, France
7 Château Margaux 100 Château Margaux Bordeaux, France
8 Cheval Blanc 100 Château Cheval Blanc Bordeaux, France
9 Château Haut-Brion 100 Château Haut-Brion Bordeaux, France
10 Lafleur 100 Château Lafleur Bordeaux, France
11 Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche 100 Joseph Drouhin Burgundy, France
12 Château Ausone 100 Château Ausone Bordeaux, France
13 Montrose 100 Château Montrose Bordeaux, France
14 Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou 100 Château Ducru-Beaucaillou Bordeaux, France
15 Vieux Chateau Certan 100 Vieux Château Certan Bordeaux, France
16 Le Montrachet 100 Olivier Leflaive Burgundy, France
17 L'Eglise-Clinet 100 Château L'Eglise-Clinet Bordeaux, France
18 Musigny 100 Domaine Leroy Burgundy, France
19 Montrachet 100 Louis Jadot Burgundy, France
20 Bones Mares 100 Robert Groffier Burgundy, France
21 Chambertin 100 Domaine Dujac Burgundy, France
22 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 100 Méo-Camuzet Burgundy, France
23 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Réservé 100 Château Rayas Rhône, France
24 Dom Pérignon Rosé 100 Moët & Chandon Champagne, France
25 Ermitage L´Ermite 0 M. Chapoutier Rhône, France
26 Ermitage Le Méal 100 M. Chapoutier Rhône, France
27 Château Smith Haut Lafitte, Casher 100 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Bordeaux, France
28 Grenache Upside Down 100 Sine Qua Non California, United States
29 Romanée Conti 99 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Burgundy, France
30 Montrachet 99 Domaine Ramonet Burgundy, France
31 Chambertin 99 Domaine Armand Rousseau Burgundy, France
32 Montrachet 99 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Burgundy, France
33 La Tâche 99 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Burgundy, France
34 Château Palmer 99 Château Palmer Bordeaux, France
35 Château Cos d'Estournel 99 Château Cos d'Estournel Bordeaux, France
36 Pavie 99 Château Pavie Bordeaux, France
37 Chambertin 99 Domaine Leroy Burgundy, France
38 La Mission Haut Brion 99 Château La Mission Haut-Brion Bordeaux, France
39 Château Beauséjour Duffau-Lagarrosse 99 Château Beauséjour Duffau-Lagarrosse Bordeaux, France
40 La Mission Haut Brion Blanc 99 Château La Mission Haut-Brion Bordeaux, France
41 Château La Fleur-Pétrus 99 Château Lafleur-Pétrus Bordeaux, France
42 Barolo Monfortino Riserva 99 Giacomo Conterno Piedmont, Italy
43 Tertre Roteboeuf 99 Château Tertre Roteboeuf Bordeaux, France
44 Château Nairac 99 Château Nairac Bordeaux, France
45 Romanee-Saint-Vivant 99 Maison Leroy Burgundy, France
46 Château La Tour Blance 99 Château La Tour Blance Sauternes, France
47 Richebourg 99 Domaine du Clos Frantin Burgundy, France
48 Musigny 99 Domaine de la Vougeraie Bourgogne, France
49 Richebourg 99 Maison Leroy Burgundy, France
50 Barolo Gran Bussia Riserva 99 Poderi Aldo Conterno Piedmont, Italy
51 Chambertin 99 Domaine Ponsot Burgundy, France
52 Montrachet 99 Maison Louis Latour Burgundy, France
53 Puligny-Montrachet Les Folatières 99 Louis Jadot Burgundy, France
54 Chapoutier Ermitage l'Ermite Blanc 99 M. Chapoutier Rhône, France
55 Puligny-Montrachet Clos de la Garenne Duc de Magenta 99 Louis Jadot Burgundy, France
56 Chevalier-Montrachet 99 Olivier Leflaive Burgundy, France
57 Le Montrachet 99 Domaine Marc Colin Burgundy, France
58 Chevalier-Montrachet 99 Domaine Michel Niellon Burgundy, France
59 Château Mouton-Rothschild 98 Château Mouton-Rothschild Bordeaux, France
60 Côte-Rôtie La Mouline 98 E.Guigal Rhône, France
61 Côte-Rôtie La Landonne 98 E.Guigal Rhône, France
62 Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 98 Bryant Family Vineyard Napa Valley, United States
63 Léoville-Las Cases 98 Château Léoville-Las Cases Saint-Julien, France
64 Château Angelus 98 Château Angelus Bordeaux, France
65 Hill of Grace 98 Henschke Eden Valley, Australia
66 Chateau Leoville-Barton 98 Château Leoville-Barton Bordeaux, France
67 Château Troplong-Mondot 98 Château Troplong-Mondot Bordeaux, France
68 Château Haut-Brion Blanc 98 Château Haut-Brion Bordeaux, France
69 Unico 98 Bodegas Vega Sicilia Ribera el Duero, Spain
70 Château Climens 98 Château Climens Bordeaux, France
71 Barbaresco Riserva Starderi Vürsù 0 La Spinetta Piedmont, Italy
72 Château La Conseillante 98 Château La Conseillante Bordeaux, France
73 Clos des Papes 98 Clos des Papes Rhône, France
74 Essencia 98 Royal Tokaji Wine Company Tokay, Hungary
75 Château Calon Ségur 98 Château Calon-Ségur Bordeaux, France
76 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 98 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande Bordeaux, France
77 Trotanoy 98 Château Trotanoy Bordeaux, France
78 Chevalier-Montrachet 98 Domaine Leflaive Burgundy, France
79 La Mondotte 98 La Mondotte Bordeaux, France
80 Château Pontet Canet 98 Château Pontet Canet Bordeaux, France
81 Cristal Rosé 98 Louis Roederer Champagne, France
82 Château Clinet 98 Château Clinet Bordeaux, France
83 Château d´Ampuis 98 E.Guigal Rhône, France
84 Château Hosanna 98 Château Hosanna Bordeaux, France
85 Romanée St.Vivant 98 Domaine Leroy Burgundy, France
86 Château Léoville Poyferré 98 Château Léoville Poyferré Bordeaux, France
87 Le Dôme 98 Le Dome Bordeaux, France
88 Musigny 98 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Burgundy, France
89 Chambolle Musigny Amoureuses 98 Domaine Georges Roumier Burgundy, France
90 Richebourg 98 Domaine Anne & François Gros Burgundy, France
91 Château Violette 98 Château La Violette Bordeaux, France
92 La Romanée 98 Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair Burgundy, France
93 Château de Figeac 98 Château de Figeac Bordeaux, France
94 Steinberger Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese Goldkapsel 98 Kloster Eberbach Rheingau, Germany
95 Vin de Constance 98 Klein Constantia Cape Town, South Africa
96 Barolo Riserva Villero 98 Vietti Piedmont, Italy
97 Chevalier-Montrachet La Cabotte 98 Bouchard Père & Fils Burgundy, France
98 Dom Ruinart 98 Ruinart Champagne, France
99 Musigny 98 Domaine Georges Roumier Burgundy, France
100 Chambertin Clos de Bèze 98 Drouhin-Laroze Burgundy, France
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