Wine Regions: FRANCE - 2009 Bordeaux Futures

The 2009 vintage in Bordeaux was born with lots of expectation. At every stage of the growing cycle, the right combination of temperatures and rainfall occurred, leading to fruit with a ripeness and concentration nearly unprecedented in Bordeaux. As the harvest proceeded, the first whispers that it might be a truly great vintage were heard. In the winery, the wines proceeded through a steady, classic fermentation.

As the first tastings from the vats indicated, the fruit of 2009 produced wines with superb concentration, ripe, sweet fruit, and record high levels of very smooth, silky tannins. The whispers grew to open discussion of the potential greatness of the vintage. After a few months in barrel, samples were drawn for the wine trade and wine press of the world to taste at the annual "en primeur" tastings at the end of March, the first chance for the wine world to evaluate the vintage. Decanter magazine’s Steven Spurrier attended the tastings, then called 2009  “the best vintage that Bordeaux had ever produced." The Wine Spectator's James Suckling said "If I add up what I have tasted over the past two weeks - about 550 samples roughly - I come up with one hell of a vintage for reds."
 
Among those in Bordeaux for the barrel tastings were Gary's Wine Bordeaux team of Jon Visser and Geoffrey Brooke.  They tasted through several hundred different 2009s, many of them more than once.

Why is it important to you that Gary’s Wine team went to Bordeaux? You don't need them to tell you that Chateau Haut Brion and Chateau Petrus were great, although they will, if you ask. A vintage like 2009 produces great wines, but not every wine is uniformly great. What having "feet on the ground" for the barrel tastings does is to find which of the wines really excelled, and most importantly, which of the less well known wines outperformed their competition. 

With the near perfect conditions, some of these unknown wines will provide spectacular drinking at very reasonable prices. Jon and Geof have tasted those wines, and combined with their years of experience at evaluating young Bordeaux, their selections and advice can provide you with many years of very enjoyable sipping in the future.

2009 Bordeaux Futures will arrive Spring of 2012