Tasting Report: 2009 – The Great Modern Vintage of Bordeaux

It’s seldom that a vintage such as 2009 comes to Bordeaux. The last time may have been 1989, or even 1982. Some wine merchants in Bordeaux say it hasn’t happened since 1961,1959, 1945, or even 1929. One said 1899. But one thing is for certain: 2009 is an amazing vintage for Bordeaux.

Wine lovers who already purchased 2009 Bordeaux as futures or en primeur are never going to be disappointed with the quality in the bottle. And investors in the vintage for the long-term should be happy considering it will be revered for decades to come and should increase in value – although probably not in the short term, with a few exceptions due to the high prices paid at the beginning.

I tasted about 300 wines in blind tastings in Bordeaux in January from this venerable vintage, and I was elated. I couldn’t think of a vintage of young red Bordeaux that I tasted in the last 30 years that was so wonderfully fruity, so fabulously structured, and so vibrantly fresh. It is this remarkable combination of ripe fruit, powerful tannins, and relatively high acidity that makes the 2009 Bordeaux so exceptional.

Usually when wines are that concentrated and that ripe they lose their freshness. The sun literally burns the acidity away, making them heavy, even jammy. However, thanks to the unique grape growing-season in Bordeaux in 2009 when the nights were fresh and cool following sunny and hot days, the strength of acidity is relatively high in the wines, making them agile and lively to taste even though they are so intense.

“It’s the best vintage I have made in my 40 years of winemaking,” said Alain Vauthier, the owner and winemaker of the tiny and revered Château Ausone in St. Emilion. I rated his 2009 a perfect 100 points.

In fact, I rated nine reds 100 points during my weeklong tasting trip in France’s premier wine region. They included: Ausone, Cos d’Estournel, Haut-Brion, Lafite-Rothschild, Lafleur, Latour, Margaux, Montrose, and Vieux Château Certan. These wines have optimal harmony and balance where everything seems in perfect proportion. I also scored five wines 99 points: Cheval Blanc, L’Evangile, Le Pin, Léoville Las Cases, and Pétrus.

“We have never had something like 2009,” said Pierre Lurton, the head of Cheval Blanc and d’Yquem. “We have never had more tannin in a wine than 2009 Cheval Blanc, yet it is reserved and refined.”

Alexandre Thienpont, the winemaker of Vieux Château Certan, explained to me how 2009 is a vintage of extreme wines, yet their high intensity of fruit, tannins, alcohol, and acidity balance one another – like a perfect circle.

This perfect circle extends to the wine region of Bordeaux as a whole. The 2009 is a vintage when just about everywhere made good quality wines, from unknown vineyards and cooperatives to the great and famous châteaux.

It’s also a reason to look into second wines from all the top estates. There are some fabulous ones. Some such as the second wine of Ausone (Chappelle d’Ausone), Lafite (Carruades de Lafite) and Latour (Les Forts de Latour), I scored 95 points or more.

“You can buy just about everything and know that you are going to get a good bottle in 2009,” said Pierre Lawton, a Bordeaux-based wine merchant who has been specializing in château-bottled wines for decades with his firm Alias. His family has been trading in Bordeaux for over 300 years.

For me, this universal excellence is the definition of a great year for Bordeaux. Other years can be excellent, but the weather usually favors certain areas such as Pomerol or St. Emilion, or it benefits one grape variety over another, whether it be Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon. For example, in 2010, the vintage is clearly great for Cabernet Sauvignon. But it was not universally great for all grape types or appellations. Everything and everywhere was good to exceptional quality in 2009.

“It is very rare when every grape variety in our vineyard ripened to perfection,” said Jean-Philippe Masclef, cellar master of Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion. He said that the blend of Haut-Brion was exactly what the percentage of grape varieties was in the vineyards of the great first growth: 45% Merlot, 45% CS, 10% CF. “It shows how great the year was.”

I also noted in many tasting notes that this was “the best wine ever” from their respective vineyards. The combination of today’s pristine viticulture and precise winemaking with the excellence of Mother Nature made incredible wines on so many estates.

What’s also impressive is how beautiful the wines are now. They are so balanced and fruity that they already give great pleasure to taste. This is another sign of a great year. Bordeaux winemakers often say that a great wine is great from the beginning of its evolution, even from barrel. “It’s crazy, but you almost want to drink the wines now,” admitted Jean-Luc Zuger of Malescot St. Exupery. His 2009 is one of the best values in high-scoring wines in my tasting. I score his 2009 Malescot St. Exupery 98 points.

However, the aging potential for these wines is also phenomenal. For example, I left most of the wines I tasted blind in Bordeaux opened for four or five days and they showed very little oxidation after re-tasting them. They were fresh and fruity still. This suggests they are well structured for aging.

“These wines are extraordinary in how they maintain their freshness even after they have been opened for a while,” said Andy Lench, the owner of Bordeaux Locators, with offices in the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong. He experimented with opened samples of 2009 and had the same experience. “They are wines that are going to age incredibly well.”

As I already wrote, however, many of the lesser wines of the vintage are already approachable to drink. Reds from more modest appellations such as Bordeaux, Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux, or Côtes de Franc are beautiful to taste now, but will be even better in two or three years of bottle age. The top appellations and names need at least five to six years before opening, but will be even better in 10 to 15 years.

“The problem for my customers will be to have the best 2009s in their cellar and not be able to drink them for many years,” admitted Paulo Pong of Altaya wine merchants in Hong Kong. “But they have fabulous wines.”

This may not matter to numerous buyers of 2009 Bordeaux, however. The young vintage may have been the biggest year for speculation ever. Wine merchants in Hong Kong alone reported selling tens of millions of dollars each in 2009 futures, when the wines were just barely aging in barrels in the summer of 2010. Their first buyers may never consume those wines.

I have to question what will happen now when the wines arrive in the marketplace and some are the same price or less than what investors paid for them. Will investors be willing to wait until prices appreciate? They most likely won’t be happy in the short term.

In the end, it doesn’t really matter. The 2009 Bordeaux are just at the beginning of their lives as some of the best wines ever made in the region. They certainly will be enjoyed one day, or another.

Below are my tasting notes of most of the top wines of Bordeaux in 2009. They are listed by highest to lowest points and then alphabetically. I will taste more 2009 Bordeaux in March in the region when I taste 2011 from barrel.

Also tasted, but not receiving marks of 90 points or more:

2009 Baby Bad Boy Vin de Table de France  2009 Chateau Carignan Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux  2009 Chateau de Pez St.-Estephe  2009 Chateau Domeyne St.-Estephe  2009 Chateau Grand Barrail Lamarzelle Figeac St.-Emilion  2009 Chateau Haut-Corbin St.-Emilion  2009 Chateau Jean Faux Sainte-Radegonde  2009 Chateau La Prade Cotes de Francs  2009 Chateau Malescasse Haut-Medoc  2009 Chateau Rolland-Maillet St.-Emilion  2009 De Siran Margaux  2009 Haut Castenet Cotes de Bourg  2009 Sarget de Gruaud-Larose St.-Julien  2009 Chateau Beau-Site St.-Estephe  2009 Chateau Bernadotte Haut-Medoc  2009 Chateau Cadet-Bon St.-Emilion  2009 Chateau Claud La Chapelle Cotes de Castillon de Bordeaux  2009 Chateau La Tour de Mons Margaux  2009 Chateau Le Pin Beausoleil Bordeaux Superieur  2009 Chateau Les Grands Marechaux Premieres Cotes de Blaye  2009 Chateau Lyonnat Lussac-St.-Emilion  2009 Chateau Tauzinat L'Hermitage St.-Emilion  2009 Chateau Trianon St.-Emilion  2009 Cheval Noir St.-Emilion  2009 Domaine de Courteillac Bordeaux Superieur  2009 Chateau Bellevue de Tayac Margaux  2009 Chateau L'Armont St.-Emilion  2009 Chateau Marsac-Seguineau Margaux  2009 Chateau Teyssier(St.-Emilion) St.-Emilion  2009 Connetable de Talbot St.-Julien  2009 Chateau Bertineau St.-Vincent Lalande-de-Pomerol  2009 Chateau Corbin-Michotte St.-Emilion  2009 Chateau L'Isle Fort Bordeaux Superieur  2009 Chateau Leon Cotes de Bordeaux  2009 3 de Valandraud St.-Emilion  2009 Chateau Joinin Bordeaux