The quality of Bordeaux 2010, across the region, is very high.  A raft of lesser known Cru Bourgeois and Petit Chateaux have produced beautiful wines, at accessible prices. Wines that have something to say about the place in which they are grown. As money chases the big guns, such chateaux have been widely hailed as offering some of the best value to be found in the fine wine market.

‘Nearly 100 wines are reviewed below, few of them likely to be fought over en primeur. You may wonder therefore why I am even bothering to publish such detailed notes. The reason is that from the point of view of us consumers, many of these wines are likely to represent some of Bordeaux's finest value in the 2010 vintage.  And from the point of view of the producers, many of them have made such progress and taken such expensive steps to improve quality, that I think these wines deserve as much publicity as they can get. The 2010 vintage with its just-ripe fruit, high alcohol, fresh acidity and high tannic charge seems particularly eloquent throughout the Médoc.’ Jancis Robinson MW

 

A classic vintage? 

In our tastings and reviews a number of chateaux stood out for their elegant cassis perfume, freshness and attractive cedar wood tannins, exceptionally ripe in historical terms yes, but nonetheless reminiscent of the best vintages of classic claret.

Bordeaux expert Stephen Spurrier compares vintages:

‘As with great vintages, which 2010 undoubtedly is, comparisons are made with previous years and at this level of quality, there are few contenders. Only 2005, and to a lesser extent 2000, were mentioned from the past decade. 1998 was referred to as a benchmark on the Right Bank, 1996 and 1995 mentioned in passing on the Left, 1990 certainly, 1986 for the Médocs, 1970 (the first vintage when many of the classed growths made a profit, following the washouts of 1963, 1965 and 1968 and the under-ripe 1967 and 1969) and, for those with longer memories, 1949, 1945 and 1929.’

‘So, not just in my opinion’, he continues, ‘2010 is looking like THE greatest Bordeaux vintage, so far, and, contrary to expectations, not tiring to taste.’
 

So what should we be drinking?

Let's focus on that for a change, drinking. Honest, delicious Bordeaux without breaking the bank. Take your pick because 2010 has produced lots of wines that fit into that category. The Médoc is certainly the most consistent overall. However, prepared to hand-pick, the experience of quality-conscious Right Bank growers’ shines through in many a chateaux with the best ones having succeeded in the delicate interplay of picking times and extraction.  Such chateaux are likely to provide the most enjoyable – and affordable – drinking in the short and medium term.

Here is a sample of our favourites, watch this space for prices. The Chateaux that have already released have done so at reasonable prices, similar to 2009 whilst 2010 in our opinion provides better value at this level, Don't forget to request your allocation in advance, to avoid disappointment.

 

Haut Medoc	RP	JR
Beaumont		16.5
Cantemerle	91-93	16
Petit Bocq		16
Capbern Gasqueton	87-89	16.5
Belgrave	90-93	16.5
Bernadotte	87-89	17
Belle – Vue	87-89	17
Cambon La Pelouse	89-92	16
Camensac	89-91	15.5
La Lagune	93-96	16.5
d'Aurilhac	88-90	16
Medoc
d'Escurac	86-88	15.5
Greysac	87-88	16
Caronne Ste Gemme		16.5
Goulee	90-92	16.5
La Tour de By		16.5
Labegorce	89-90	16.5
Ferriere	85-87	16.5
Tour St Bonnet	87-88	16
Haut-Medoc Cru Bourgois
Sociando Mallet	91-93	16.5
De Pez	90-92	17
Du Boscq	86-88	16.5
Le Crock	90-92	16.5
Les Ormes de Pez	87-90	17
Senejac	87-90	16
Poujeaux	90-92	16.5
Chasse-Spleen	88-90	16
Medoc Cru Bourgois
Potensac	87-89	16
Labadie		16
Labat		16.5
Pessac-Léognan
de Fieuzal	90-92	17
Haut Bergey	92-94	16
Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux
Reynon	87-88	16
Fronsac
Villars	90-92	15.5
St Emilion
Fonbel	85-87	16
La Dominique	92-94	17.5
Teyssier	89-91	16.5
Bellevue	92-94	15.5

 

Apart from requesting your allocation in advance, one of the best ways to stay abreast of releases is to follow us on Twitter. It's the quickest way to see what's being released and at what price. Not just by following us, do check out other "Twitterati" as well.

By James Swann

Robert Parker has released his in-bottle scores for 2008, the vintage that he previoulsy loved but that other critics weren’t as positive about. The result is quite extraordinary: the vintage as a whole is downgraded by a massive 1.18 point.

Issue #194, which also covers Parker’s scores for the Bordeaux 2010 En Primeur wines, has had a bit of an impact. The 2010 vintage receives massive scores (we will cover those next week) whereas – with more of an immediate impact – Parker downgrades 2008. In the last 9 years, only 3 vintages have seen lower in-bottle scores than barrel-scores, the other 2 being 2002 (-0.83) and 2007 (-0.06). So 2008 by far sees the largest downward revision. Having previously ranked above 2006 and 2003 and only marginally lower than 2005, the result of the downgrade is that 2008 now ranks below all 3 vintages with an average score of only 94.40

Overall, the majority of the scores fall at the lower end of Parker's initial barrel score spreads whilst there are quite a few scores that are even lower than that. On individual wine level, some of his scores are quite remarkable. Let’s start with the First Growths:

 

Wine	in btl	barrel
Lafite-Rothschild	98	98-100
Haut Brion	96	95-97
Latour	95+	96-98
Chateau Margaux	94	95-97
Mouton-Rothschild	94+	94-96

 

There are only 10 wines that score 96 points or more, 98 being the highest. Please see below for all wines receiving 95 or more:

 

Wine	in btl	barrel
Ausone	98	96-100
Lafite-Rothschild	98	98-100
Petrus	97	98-100
Chateau d’Yquem	96	95-97
Haut Bailly	96	95-97
Haut Brion	96	95-97
La Mondotte	96	93-95+
Pontet-Canet	96	96-98+
Troplong-Mondot	96	95-97
Trotanoy	96	96-100
Bellevue Mondotte	95+	96-98+
Chateau de Fargues	95	94-96
Clos de Sarpe	95	93-96+
Clos Dubreuil	95	92-94
Ducru Beaucaillou	95+	96-98
Gracia	95	94-97
Hosanna	95	96-98
L’Eglise Clinet	95	94-96+
La Conseillante	95	92-94+
La Fleur Petrus	95	92-94+
La Violette	95	96-98
Latour	95+	96-98
Magrez Fombrauge	95	92-94+
Montrose	95	95-97
Pape Clement	95	94-96
Pavie	95	96-98+
Pichon-Longueville Baron	95	92-94

 

Note that this list of 27 wines does not include Mouton or Margaux...

The biggest "losers" are the wines that have fallen outside of their initial, barrel spread:

 

Wine	in btl	barrel
Petrus	97	98-100
Ducru Beaucaillou	95+	96-98
Hosanna	95	96-98
La Violette	95	96-98
Latour	95+	96-98
Pavie	95	96-98+
Chateau Margaux	94	95-97
Le Dome	94	95-97
Palmer	94	95-97
Cheval Blanc	93	95-97
La Providence	93	95-97
Leoville-Las Cases	93+	95-97+
Cos d’Estournel	92+	94-96+
Le Pin	92	94-96
Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande	92	94-96

 

Pichon Lalande, Le Pin, Cos Estournel, Leoville Lascases and Cheval Blanc receive the biggest downgrade.

However, it is not all carnage. There are also wines that do better. Below is a list of the winners that receive 95 or more points: 

 

Wine	in btl	barrel
La Mondotte	96	93-95+
Clos Dubreuil	95	92-94
La Conseillante	95	92-94+
La Fleur Petrus	95	92-94+
Magrez Fombrauge	95	92-94+
Pichon-Longueville Baron	95	92-94

 

The effect on the trade and on prices so far has been modest. Whilst Mouton Rothschild is being off-loaded by some, we will have to wait and see what the longer term effect on pricing will be. If anything, it will make some of the back vintages look good, in particular 2006. We have covered the "back-vintage" investment strategy before and will continue to do so during the 2010 En Primeur campaign. 

At the moment though, most attention seems to be for the winners of 2008. In particular Ducru Beaucaillou (despite it’s downgrade still a monster score), Pichon Baron (which has also received a fantastic score for the 2010 and at £800 a case, the 2008 looks to be an excellent opportunity) and Pontet Canet.

 

 

Guest blog by Gavin Quinney (@GavinQuinney)

This report was also posted on the Liv-ex blog. Gavin has kindly allowed us to post this follow up on his excellent report Bordeaux en primeur 2010: the wines and previously Bordeaux en primeur 2010: the weather. Gavin is a local winegrower in Bordeaux. He has been writing the annual Bordeaux "en primeur report" for Harpers Wine & Spirit magazine. Gavin has also tasted all the top wines from Bordeaux en primeur for 10 years and has been following these up in bottle. Do check out his blog for lots of excellent, factual information. 

There was something different in the air this year, and it wasn’t just the constant tweeting of what the 2010s tasted like.
 
En primeur attendances were higher than ever at the top estates, according to Paul Pontallier of Chateau Margaux. Much in evidence there, and at all the Firsts, were the Chinese translations of the brochures, to add to the long-standing piles of English and French versions. Based on visits to the leading properties the week after the UGCs, these were still being snapped up by Bordeaux’s new best friends.

Perhaps that’s what’s changed. Opinions about many of the great wines no longer matter. For the top chateaux, even huge Parker points or double asterisks won’t be required to sell the iconic brands and for most of us, some of the tastings were academic.

A pity, because the First Growths made belters this year, with all four Médoc Firsts coming close to perfection. What is unusual is the varying levels of alcohol between these four Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated wines: Lafite and Margaux at 13.5%, Mouton at 14% and Latour at 14.5%. Note that Cabernet Sauvignon comes in at lower potential alcohol than Merlot, so it’s no wonder that second and third wines for many estates, with higher percentages of Merlot, pack quite a punch. Chateau Margaux is typical in this respect (13.5%, 14% and 14.5%). Refreshing acidity – much touted by all the chateaux – provides the balance.