Last week Robert Parker released his scores on the much heralded 2009 Bordeaux vintage….
He has been incredibly enthusiatic and given huge scores to many of the wines. Almost all the 1st growths have the potential for the perfect 100 points as do both Ch Leoville Poyferre and Ch Pontet Canet. This is the 1st time that a 5th Growth has soared to the heights of a potentially perfect score.
He has described many wines as having ‘the finest potential of all the offerings I had ever tasted from that estate in nearly 32 years of barrel tasting samples in Bordeaux.” Reading through the notes he comments time and time again that they are quite simply the “finest” or “the greatest” he has tasted from the chateau in question.
We are not alone in our concern that these huge scores and exceptional write ups will encourage many of the top Chateaux to charge very high prices for their wines. However the exciting news for customers is that not only the classed growths have made outstanding wines. The Cru Bourgeois and many lesser Chateaux have produced wines that are extraordinary.
As Robert Parker wrote ‘I hope readers will take a serious look at many of the less prestigious appellations and wines from those areas as they will no doubt represent fabulous bargains in 2009’.
Whether the 2009s are better than the 2005 is not really the question. They are two different but great vintages. But Parker does feel that “‘the peaks of quality in 2009 may turn out to be historic.”
We dearly hope that the Chateaux exercise some restraint in their pricing of this vintage, for it is a great vintage for the Bordeaux buyer. We would very much like to be able to recommend the vintage both for its quality and also for its pricing.