Here we go again…2008 Bordeaux

Posted on | May 4, 2009

2008 is an interesting year in Bordeaux by any standard. Set against a backgrop of the worst economic crisis to hit the modern world for 70 years, it was also one of the most unheralded vintages of recent times. Even in the later part of 2008, the French press were forecasting a disaster. But even so, the perception of the vintage was greatly influenced by the reports of the weather during the year (see my article on this background here).

Early on in the en primeur campaign wines were released which showed that the Bordelais had heeded some calls for some moderate pricing, which also tended to cloak the vintage with a sense that it had been a poor year. A mistake in my humble view. The mistakes had already been made - in 2006 and 2007 - there was no need to compound the pricing errors of these years by offering the vintage too low, since in any case, it seemed likely there were no buyers at any price. Of course, a cheap price would attract buyers, but what are they buying? A wine which will need decades to mellow. Better to stock the wine at fair value avoiding too much damage to the immediately preceding vintages which were released at too high a price. The offer for 2008 could hardly be described as an exercise in forestalling.

Now, of course, the scores are circulating from various sources and it’s interesting to note the intrusion of the professional wine buyer, who through the offices of Liv_ex have contributed their own measurements of the vintage - you can see these here, but for speed’s sake let me reproduce the list within this article so I can append my comments:

Liv-Ex

The Liv-Ex poll
1. List in order of preference Liv-Ex’s users top 5 wines from Bordeaux 2008.
1. Lafite
2. Latour
3. Ausone
= 4. Cheval Blanc
= 4. Mouton
6. Haut Brion
7. Lafleur
8. Le Pin
9. Leoville Las Cases
= 10. Palmer / Petrus

The results above show the top 10 wines of the vintage according to the ‘experts’ irrespective of price. Wines ranked number one by respondents were awarded 10 points, second were given 5 points, third 3, fourth 2 and fifth 1. Lafite was the clear winner, with two thirds of survey respondents placing it in their top five — the first time it has topped the survey rankings since the 2003 vintage. Last year’s top wine, Ausone, drops back to third place. Cheval Blanc, with joint fourth, achieves its highest ranking in seven years of Liv-ex surveys. Lafleur, Le Pin and Petrus round off a good year for the Right Bank.

2. List in order of preference Liv-Ex’s users top 5 value wines from 2008 (value wines are wines with an expected release price of less than £350 per case)
1. Pontet Canet
2. Leoville Barton
3. Leoville Poyferre
4. Talbot
5. Domaine de Chevalier Rouge
6. Malescot St Exupery
7. Calon Segur
8. Langoa Barton
9. Armailhac
10. Grand Puy Lacoste

Wines in the value category were ranked as above. Pontet Canet tops the table for the second time in three years, swapping places with last year’s winner Leoville Barton. Pontet Canet has now been in the value top 5 for seven years in a row.

3. List Liv-Ex’s users 5 most disappointing wines from 2008 with the most disappointing first.
1. Montrose
2. Margaux
3. Gruaud Larose
4. Pichon Lalande
5. Giscours
6. Beychevelle
7. Mission Haut Brion
8. Pape Clement
9. Pavie
10. Pavie Macquin

Montrose’s run of bad form continues. It has now been named as one of the two most disappointing wines of the vintage three years in a row.

The poor showing of Montrose must be music to the ears of the young winemaker, Philippe de Laguarigue, who was kicked out a few years ago when the new owners took over.

It is interesting to note the disparity in the Liv-Ex list (which doubtless forms some basis for recommendations from merchants) with that of Mr Parker (in particular, Montrose, Margaux, and Mission Haut Brion — for me, one of the best wines in 2008) and other critics -see the list below.

Robert Parker
The influential wine critic Robert Parker had some of his scores summed up by Decanter’s web site as follows [source: Decanter]:

Selected Wine Advocate scores for Bordeaux 2008
Ausone 96-100 (’flirts with perfection’)
Cheval Blanc 95-97 (’should evolve for three decades or more’)
Cos d’Estournel 94-96+ (’should gain weight, richness, and a few Parker points by the time it is bottled’)
Le Dome 95-97
La Fleur Petrus 92-94
Fombrauge 90-92
Haut Brion 95-97 (’seemingly light on the palate, but very intense in flavor’)
Lafite 98-100 (’one of the most profound young wines I have ever tasted’)
Latour 96-98 (’Damn me for saying it, but I actually think the 2008 Latour will turn out to be even better than the 2005 or 2000′)
Leoville-Barton 92-94
Margaux 95-97 (’a superb vintage for Chateau Margaux’)
Montrose 95-97
Mouton 94-96 (’charmingly forward and fleshy’)
Palmer 95-97
Pape Clement 94-96
Petrus 98-100 (’destined to be one of the greatest Petrus ever made’)
Smith Haut Lafitte 93-95
Troplong Mondot 95-97
Valandraud 92-94

If you are a consumer who enjoys specific wines (one hopes that there are people who buy wines because of their taste and not because of their scores) it is not clear why you would choose Pontet Canet this year, when you can buy 2005 for around $60 per bottle.

Bertrand Leguern is just coming online with his critics’ scores and it is interesting to compare the Liv-Ex results with his well researched poll. The Top 20 as rated as an average by critics around the world was as follows:

Ausone
Cheval Blanc
Haut-Brion
Lafite Rothschild
Latour
Petrus
d’Yquem
Cos d’Estournel
Haut-Brion blanc
Lafleur
Le Pin
Léoville Las-Cases
Mouton-Rothschild
Pavie
Trotanoy
Domaine de Chevalier blanc
Ducru-Beaucaillou
L’Eglise-Clinet
La Mission Haut-Brion
La Mondotte

There are many wines in 2008 which are really excellent, and it is a lovely and exceptional vintage in my view but it will take decades for these wines to mellow. It’s not a time to speculate on their eventual outcome. Some will undoubtedly turn out even better than one might have hoped, and others will never reveal the depth of character which their early promise foretold. But don’t be put off buying them if that is your habit. If you’re new to the world of en primeur then these wines may be bought at prices which you may never see again — along with plenty of other vintages which you can start drinking now. On the other hand, if you can post yourself a wake up call in a couple of years, the chances are that you’ll still be able to find them at keen prices.

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