Category Archives: Bordeaux

The future is now – Bordeaux 2009 white and rose

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The 2009 vintage in Bordeaux continues to receive rave reviews, but for now, the only red wines available for purchase are being sold as futures. Instead, consumers can look to Bordeaux’s whites and rosés – yes, you read that right, rosés – for a taste of this vaunted vintage.

Château Penin AOC Bordeaux Clairet 2009, Bordeaux, France
Located within the area of Entre-deux-Mers in the village of Génissac, Chateau Penin has been in the Carteyron family since 1854. Patrick Carteyron, a member of the fifth generation, has been the current owner as of 1982. The château’s white wine is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon, along with Sauvignon Gris. The remaining range of wines is predominantly produced with Merlot, the most widely planted grape in the Bordeaux region. Two of those wines are rosés – an AOC Bordeaux Clairet and an AOC Bordeaux Rosé.

The Château Penin Bordeaux Clairet is 100% Merlot. This wine spends 24-60 hours of maceration on the skins, which accounts for its depth of color. In addition, approximately 25% of the wine underwent malolactic fermentation, rounding out the acidity on the palate, before spending four months ageing on the lees. With its deep rose color, you have to look twice to confirm that this is in fact a rose wine, but its cherry and strawberry aromas confirm its identity. With medium acidity, medium+ body, bright fruit and low tannins, this is a structured and dense wine that drinks more like a chilled red than a rose, but certainly hits the spot on a hot summer’s day.

Château Les Vergnes Bordeaux Blanc 2009, Bordeaux, France
Château Les Vergnes has been involved in viticulture from the very beginning with efforts to establish a national plan to combat phylloxera at the start of the 19th century and experiments with the first use of potassium thiocarbonate in 1879. Today, the château is committed to preserving the environment and qualified for the title, l’Agriculture Raisonnée in 2005 for its sustainable agriculture practices. 

Its Bordeaux Blanc wine is produced from a blend of 55% Sauvignon Blanc, 35% Muscadelle and 10% Sémillon, with grapes sourced from throughout the Bordeaux region. The nose carries aromas of grapefruit, floral and a waxy/lanolin note (likely from the Sémillon). The dry palate boasts vibrant acidity with medium body and flavors of citrus, pith and a slight hint of lanolin, which persist throughout the medium+ length.

Bordeaux futures — the 2008 en primeur campaign

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The Bordeaux Futures campaign kicked off this month, providing consumers with the opportunity to purchase wines from this vintage. The wines are currently still in barrel, ageing in the cellars of their respective Chateaux. Accordingly, wines bought now won’t be delivered until 2011. Robert Parker and other wine critics have declared this to be a good vintage, but note that it is not on par with 2000 or 2005. More specifically, they are comparing it to 2001.

Given the economic climate, the initial prices have been dropped with some wines being offered at the same prices as 2004. However, some of the prices have since increased as purchases have been made, indicating more interest from the trade than was initially expected.

While some people have cautioned that it is not necessary to buy this vintage during the Futures campaign given the economic climate, others have suggested that this is a great opportunity to buy Bordeaux from a quality year, at more reasonable prices than we had seen.

As an indication of the mixed messages, some wine merchants who traditionally offer a large selection of Bordeaux wines through a Futures campaign have decided to forgo participation this year or will be offering only a small set of wines to their customers.

For consumers who do choose to buy en primeur, it is extremely important to buy from a reputable merchant to ensure that you will actually receive the wine you purchase. The key issues are that the store will still be in business when 2011 rolls around and, more importantly, that you are not being scammed as had been the case with a number of dishonest people in 2003 with the 2000 campaign.

If you don’t have a trusted store (or if yours isn’t offering Bordeaux Futures), here are a few recommendations. I have personally had continued success with Sherry-Lehmann, which has posted a list of 59 wines to its site for the 2008 campaign. I have not bought Futures from, but would also recommend, Zachy’s (located in Scarsdale, but you can do a search on their site with key words: Bordeaux 2008) and Acker, Merrall & Condit (no information is on their site, but you can call and speak with a salesperson to discuss availability). In addition, while I am less familiar with Gary’s Wine & Marketplace, they, too, are offering Bordeaux futures (there are 38 wines listed on their site) and they have a good reputation. Obviously, this is not an exhaustive list.

The Wines of Bordeaux

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Bordeaux wines are among the most venerated, with a long history and sizable production. Bordeaux has been a major force on the wine scene since the 18th century and continues to be highly regarded by wine drinkers and collectors alike.

The Bordeaux region can be found on the Western coast of France, along the Atlantic Ocean and including the Gironde estuary and Garonne and Dordogne Rivers, which all help to moderate the climate, which is maritime. The weather generally permits grapes to do well, but frost can occasionally be a problem as can issues with flowering in the spring. Rainfall can also pose a threat if it comes too close to harvest. Moreover, the moisture from  the ocean and rivers, coupled with the rain, can cause rot and fungus among the grapes. In some instances, as in the case of sweet white wines, this can be a good thing. However, for the most part, rot is to be avoided.

As a moderate climate, the grapes achieve full ripeness, but not in the manner that they do in warmer climates such as California. Hence, the resulting wines are more restrained and less fruit forward. They tend to be of medium acidity, medium body, garnet in color and with aromas and flavors of red or black fruits, cedar/oak, pencil lead and minty notes. When young, these wines have less to offer than they do when they have been aged for 20 years or more.

The region is divided along several lines, most notably the Left Bank (left of the Dordogne) and Right Bank (to the right of the Dordogne). The Left Bank is home to the top chateaux, which were classified in 1855 from Premier Cru (First Growth) through Cinquieme Cru (Fifth Growth). These properties are still at the pinnacle of the Bordeaux wine market. All but one of the First Growth wines are located in the Northern half of the Left Bank, known as Haut-Medoc.

Bordeaux wines are primarily blends, made from several different grapes. There are 14 grape varieties permitted, but in truth, only five red grapes and three white grapes are used. For red, Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Left bank wines, with classified chateaux using ~70% in their blends, along with Merlot and Cabernet Franc. These latter two grapes take greater precedence on the Right Bank, particularly in the communes of St. Emilion and Pomerol.

White wines from the region are both sweet and dry, blended from Semillion, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle with Sauvignon Blanc finding increasing favor and Muscadelle losing the same. Most of the whites come from Graves (southern part of the Left Bank) and Entre-Deux-Mers, the portion of land between the Dordorgne and Garonne Rivers.

Soils on the Left Bank are generally gravelly, particularly in Graves, which provides extremely good drainage for the vineyards. The Right Bank has a diversity of soils, notably in St. Emilion. Here, soils may consist of sandy gravel or clay over limestone. The better vineyards are found on the hillsides with soil of either type. Alluvial soils found close to the river banks are much less suitable and do not produce wines capable of using the Bordeaux appellation.