Wine Spectator
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2007 Bordeaux: Good but Nothing Special
In a difficult vintage for most Left Bank and Right Bank reds, Pessac-Léognan, Sauternes and dry whites shine. . .
Bordeaux is introducing its 2007 vintage to the world, but instead of generating excitement, this year the process has felt monotonous. So many people were just going through the motions: Pour the wine. . . say how good it is for the vintage. . . smile. . . next.
I don't blame anyone. Tasting a range of 2007s can be pretty boring. I tasted nearly 300 wines over the past seven days. It's clear that 2007 is a good but nothing-special vintage for most of the well-known wines of Bordeaux. Sauternes and dry whites are the exceptions; they can be fabulous. And there are a few outstanding reds as well. But overall, I am not sure the new vintage is even on the same level as 1999.
I give the 2007 reds a tentative vintage rating of 84-87 points for the Left Bank and 85-88 points for the Right Bank (on Wine Spectator's 100-point scale).
If producers are reasonable with prices, 2007 will deliver some pretty wines for early drinking that can be enjoyed while waiting for the 2005s, '03s and '00s to mature.
This all said, however, the wines are much better than anticipated considering the bad weather during the growing season. The Bordelais, as I wrote a few days ago, are some of the most gifted vineyard growers and winemakers in the world. In any given harvest, they will get the most out of the vintage.
Yes, there was mildew in the vineyards. And yes, there was a lot of rain. But they are used to that, and the top estates have the resources and know-how to compensate for such difficulties. What they can't improve upon, however, is a lack of sunshine - at least not yet! 2007 lacked sunshine until the end of August and then it only lasted for a little more than two weeks.
So the best reds came from the vineyard areas that were the most precocious, as well as those with the best drainage. "Vineyards with gravelly soils did the very best," commented Christian Moueix, whose family owns and runs some of the most prestigious names on the Right Bank, including châteaus Pétrus, Trotanoy and La Fleur-Pétrus.
The wines of the vintage are Château d'Yquem, the great Sauternes, and Haut-Brion White (both 97-100 points). Then among the reds, Ausone, Lafleur, Mouton-Rothschild and Le Pin (90-93) and Haut-Brion and Pétrus (89-92).
The most consistent appellation for reds was Pessac-Léognan, where many of the wines were very close to the quality of 2006 (and some might be better). The region's gravelly soil and the châteaus' earlier harvesting helped them in 2007.
The Pomerol appellation was also good, but mainly the top estates located on or just off the famous clay knoll. Top wines include such names as Pétrus, Le Pin, Lafleur, L'Église Clinet, Vieux-Château-Certan, Certan de May, L'Evangile and La Conseillante. Certan de May may have made a better wine in 2007 than 2006, due to improvements in winemaking and vineyard techniques. Lesser names made reds that are good but nothing special.
I had hoped St.-Emilion would be up at the same level as Pomerol, but I think that many châteaus tried to push their wines too much through concentration and extraction. The concentrating machines (mostly using reverse osmosis) were on full throttle in 2007 to cut some of the diluted juice, but there was very little goodness in the grapes to concentrate. This led to slightly dry and austere young reds from producers who went for too much concentration.
The Médoc was a bit of a minefield, with very good to weak reds in 2007. It appears only the very best estates could afford to make draconian selections in their vineyards to get the best grapes, though it paid off for those that did. Otherwise, most of the well-known, lower-ranked estates made good reds, but again, nothing special.
I was surprised by the quality of some wines from lesser appellations, including Côtes de Franc, Côtes de Bordeaux and Côtes de Castillon. A number of the wines were fresh and fruity with light tannins and clean flavors. I think that these properties had less to work with so they focused on harvesting and selecting ripe, clean grapes and nothing more. They didn't try to do too much with their winemaking either, meaning they didn't overextract.
"It cost me a lot, but I worked hard on getting only the best grapes we had into the fermentation vats," said Pierre Lurton, who makes a simple Bordeaux called Marjosse at his home estate in Entre-Deux-Mers, as well as manages the great estates of Cheval-Blanc and Yquem.
Nonetheless, the basic wines of Bordeaux are not expected to be very good in 2007. Some wine merchants and winemakers said the thousands of growers and wine producers in the region had few resources to treat their vineyards and cut back their crops in 2007. So they made very poor wines. As a result, some wine merchants will not be making their house wine blends in 2007. Who knows where these wines will be sold. This threatens to exacerbate the financial crisis so many small growers in Bordeaux are already facing.
How to sell the 2007 wines is a big question for Bordeaux. It's all about lowering prices. The general expectation is that prices for the expensive wines of Bordeaux will drop significantly in light of the lower quality of most in 2007, compared to other more recent vintages. This will not be a vintage for speculation in any sense of the word, or part of the world. Moreover, the world economy is in pretty bad shape. Many expect that the U.S. market will be completely out of the futures game with the dollar now close to $1.60 to the euro. The British pound has lost 15 percent against the euro, so they may also sit out of the game.
A lot of château owners told me that they were not worried about any of that because they had new customers, and new economies such as China, Russia and India are really coming on line now for premium Bordeaux. I have spent a good deal of time in the Far East over the past few years, and I tried to explain to the Bordelais that these markets are not futures markets. These customers like to buy wines in bottle and consume them upon arrival. Moreover, the stock markets of China and India are also volatile, like other key markets at the moment, and I am not sure the affluent are ready to buy a new vintage of Bordeaux.
The château owners and managers didn't look convinced. "Why ruin our lunch?" asked one in the Médoc, as we discussed the market during a meal last week.
Whatever happens, the 2007s will one day find a market, and consumer demand will set the prices. For example, 1997, another good but not great year (85 points for the Left Bank, 86 points for the Right Bank), initially sold at high prices as futures to négociants and importers, but when the wines came on the market in bottle, they could only be sold to consumers by reducing prices below cost. Even now, they are very cheap compared to more recent vintages. They were overpriced from the beginning.
"I think that 2007 is a friendly vintage, and it should be sold at friendly prices," said John Kolasa, the manager of Rauzan-Ségla and Canon, two châteaus that made very good wines in 2007. "This is our chance to reach out to the consumer and welcome them back to Bordeaux with good wine for good prices."
Wouldn't that be great for everyone concerned who loves a good bottle of Bordeaux?
James Suckling
