 |
Bordeaux 2005 in hot demand |
|
 IT is blistering hot in Bordeaux with temperatures hitting 32 degrees C and beyond by the late afternoon. In fact, the only thing hotter is the Bordeaux 2005 en primeur market, and it's no joke.
Trickles of Bordeaux began appearing on the market in mid-May but the real en primeur campaign was still pending, as producers waited for Vinexpo Hongkong to finish.
By the beginning of this week, though, the serious stuff was coming out, with a rush of heavyweights coming out on the market - the two Pichons, Montrose, Palmer, Haut Brion, La Mission Haut Brion, Pape Clement, etc - and if anyone thought pundits were joking about opening prices being double or more than the opening prices for 2003 (the last record high prices), they are now sadly and miserably wrong. Haut Brion came out at 240 euros - per bottle - and there is every reason to expect the other Firsts to come out higher. There is even speculation that 300 euros would not be too high - translating to S$600 a bottle.
Yet there is no shortage of buyers. The UK is buying heavily - there is talk that the UK wine trade has received big 'buy' orders. Big buying is also coming from the US, Singapore and Hong Kong, mainland China - indeed from the whole world. I was with Anthony Barton tasting his 2005s and 2003s - the 2004s were being bottled and would not be good to taste. I commended him on his extremely modest price - he had just the day before released his Leoville Barton at 42 euros. Within two days it had gone up to 60 euros. 'It is not worth that much,' he said, adding: 'We released our 1992 vintage at the same price, but in French francs, which means our 2006 is seven times the price of the 1992!'
So what does the genuine wine lover do? There are two wine markets at play during this campaign - the speculative wine market and the genuine wine lovers' market. In the over-heated Bordeaux 2005 en primeur market today, the wine lover has no choice but to pay the highly-speculative market price.
Undoubtedly this is a vintage all serious wine lovers should have, but the saving grace of the 2005 Bordeaux is that the exceptional evenness of the vintage across the board has resulted in many very good wines amongst the lesser names and amongst the second wines of the top Chateaux. If you absolutely have to have the likes of Lafite, Margaux, and Latour etc in your cellar you would be looking at 250 (S$750) per bottle.
If you simply want to have delicious but affordable (relatively) wines to drink in 10 years, there are many wines below $60 a bottle. General comments on the 2005s What made the 2005s was the weather. It was another dry and hot year with lots of sunshine, but the hot days were accompanied by fresh cool nights, a combination which resulted in a long maturation period for the grapes. The outstanding features of the 2005s are the deep colours, very ripe fruit and great freshness on the palate.
Pierre-Antoine Casteja of Joanne, one of the largest and most important negociant companies in Bordeaux, summed up: 'This is an exceptional vintage, the best I have ever tasted. These are truly Bordeaux wines - the acidity, tannins and freshness are of a degree which will make them fantastic wines in the long term.'
Tasting notes (in no particular order):
Chateau Gloria, St Julien: Deep flavours with coffee and chocolate on the palate, good length. Good value.
Chateau Saint Pierre: Soft lush deep flavour with coffee and liquorice elements, good length. Another good value wine.
Leoville Poyferre: A very concentrated, very intense almost chewable wine, very very long. A great success.
Branaire Ducru: Not as well integrated or as harmonious as Leoville Poyferre, but potentially very good, if a little pedestrian at the moment.
Lagrange: Seemed a little on the light side in comparison with the preceding Saint Juliens. Good nevertheless.
D'Issan: This is a super effort - very Margaux in character. Sweet ripe fruit with freshness and very harmonious.
Giscours: Good effort, much improved over recent years. Good, well-made but lacks the style and elegance of the D'Issan.
Lascombes: There is very good fruit, well concentrated and integrated but appeared to lack enough freshness.
Rauzan Segla: This is a serious wine - a lot of weight, dense deep flavours, very long finish.
Grand Puy Lacoste: First sample tasted well balanced; excellent wine but not singing at the moment. Second sample tasted the next day was totally different. Very very good, very 'Pauillac' in style. Great density, concentration, freshness and length.
D'Armailhac: One of the wines in the Mouton (Baron Philippine Rothschild) stable. This wine sings - extremely good and elegant.
Clerc Milon: Another wine from the Mouton stable. Like D'Armailhac, this one sings.
Duhart Milon: From the Lafite Rothschild stable - Domaine Barons Rothschild. Very characteristic Pauillac wine, with great concentration and length.
Domaine de Chevalier: This is extremely good - harmonious, not big powerhouse, just very fresh and charming. A great success.
Figeac: A lovely wine - profound, rich and ripe, great complexity and very good freshness, but reserved at the moment. A wine for the long term.
Tertre Roteboeuf: This is a powerhouse. Very powerful, intensely concentrated very ripe fruit, with very good freshness. A great success.
Clinet: Great depth of concentration, very rich, soft fat wine with good acidity and length. Superb.
Roc de Cambes, Cote de Bourg: This would be one of the great values of the 2005s - great freshness and concentration, palate goes on forever. Being from the Cote de Bourg, this will be very competitively priced.
Langoa Barton: Very deep purple black, very ripe fruit very sensuous nose; very fresh, very complex, and elegant. Super wine.
Leoville Barton: Black purple opaque centre. Very fine nose, black currants and cedar. Superbly harmonious, the new wood well integrated. Goes on forever. A great classic in the making.
Cos d'Estournel: Very vibrant colour, purple black. Strong nose of black currants, cassis, tobacco and cedar. Great freshness, intensely packed foundation of very ripe fruit. Super wine.
N K Yong - June 16, 2006
The Business Times
|
Posted on Tuesday, November 21 @ 17:51:09 MST by pierre
|
|
| "Bordeaux 2005 in hot demand" | login/become a member | 0 comments |
|
| | The comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content. |
|
|
|
|
|
| no comments allowed for Anonymous, please register |
|
|
|
|
|
Login:
Membership:
1 
People Online:
