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Spring is a time for new beginnings and fresh starts – and the onset of the annual en primeur campaign – so March 2010 was an appropriate time to taste 48 wines from a Bordeaux vintage that was touted as “vintage of the century.”
Hosted by one of London’s leading wine merchants, this tasting allowed the lucky invited journalists to see whether the top wines were turning out to be shooting stars or if they were, like the Led Zeppelin song, “holdin’ on, ten years gone”. (My dad went to school with John Bonham!)
At the time of their release these were the most expensive wines ever to be sold in Bordeaux. The combination of an outstanding vintage with a prosperous world economy had not occurred so fortuitously since 1982. En primeur prices erupted like a volcano.
The 2000s remain highly sought after. After slipping in October 2008 when Lehman Brothers collapsed and the credit crunch began, the fine wine market has found its feet again and prices have continued to rise like smoke from a bonfire.
Millennium Falcons
We were asked to give our top five wines by quality and top five by value – a choice at least as difficult as choosing an all time Ashes XI. My nominations for quality were, in order, Pétrus; Lafite; Cheval Blanc; Haut-Brion; and Latour. These were all classic examples. The Latour had a dark, brooding nose, almost hinting at tar, and was powerfully structured on the palate, more so than the other First Growths. Although disjointed at the moment it hinted at greatness. If not quite as moreish as the Cheval Blanc, Haut-Brion was more elegant than either the meaty La Mission Haut-Brion or the huge Ausone. Massively structured, with a potently tannic finish, I could see why American critics so adore the latter.
Cheval Blanc was also enormously concentrated and exotic, its power recalling Ausone and Angélus, but it was distinguished from these by its velvety texture and great persistence. The wine of choice for China’s bao fa hu (“explosive rich”), Lafite showed why they and others are drawn to it like iron filings to a magnet. The 2000 is a triumph – pure silk in a glass. My Millennium Falcon was Pétrus. This was the last of the 48 wines and my palate was starting to feel jaded. But to me it still shone more brightly than any other wine. Its concentration, length and intensity were quite spectacular. If I could afford it I’d buy it.
Langton’s most recent sold price is $6,200 – per bottle. The overall result from the journalists who attended the tasting was Latour; Haut-Brion; Lafite; Cheval Blanc; and Pétrus. So I was in agreement with the other, very experienced tasters but was reminded of the Eric Morecombe joke: “I am playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order.”
Personal values
There was plenty of agreement on what wines were the best, then, but the nominations for best value were far more subjective. My five here were Vieux Château Certan; Haut-Bailly; Domaine de Chevalier; du Tertre; and Grand-Puy-Lacoste. At $2,500 a case, VCC is one-tenth the price of Lafite. Value is relative at this level but for its great length and potential longevity VCC is well priced. Its UK importer once told me that in some years it could be better than either Pétrus or Le Pin.
Haut-Bailly and Domaine de Chevalier are both favourites of mine and always good drinks. Probably in 2000 they were a bit more exotic and voluptuous than usual but the wines are still characteristic and reasonably priced. Since it was taken over by the Dutch businessman Eric Albada Jelgersma in October 1997, Château du Tertre has gone from strength to strength, as indeed has its stable-mate Giscours. I liked the Grand-Puy-Lacoste for its smooth tannins and sweet finish. My fellow tasters chose as their best value wines, in order, Langoa-Barton; Smith Haut-Lafitte; Cos d’Estournel; Domaine de Chevalier; and Léoville-Barton. I would happily agree with Langoa and Smith-Haut-Lafitte.
The Cos was nicely textured and very long but I would take VCC over this. At over $3,700, Léoville-Barton 2000 is twice as much as the less impressive but fully mature 1982!
The Acid Test
I was not convinced that all the wines here showed the “abundant acidity” noted by some critics. Indeed, most of them had relatively low acidity and for me only Château Palmer showed conspicuously that “abundant acidity”. But as the UK writer Stephen Brook has pointed out, the generally low acidity “is more than compensated for by the vibrant fruit and mature tannins.”
On the whole, then, the wines had concentrated fruit and velvety tannins but subdued acidity. With all that plush richness, some were as seductive as Lolita. But even the most moreish 2000s need a bit longer, three to five years perhaps, to reach maturity. And once they do become responsible adults they will stay that way for a long time.
Seizing the moment
The overall standard was exceptionally high but two wines proved to be sore disappointments. Quite how Sociando-Mallet produced a green, unripe wine in a year drenched in sunshine boggles the mind. An attack of millennium bugs in the vineyard, perhaps? Second only to Pétrus in the price league these days, Le Pin had a vulgar, jammy nose that surely was not right – and certainly not at the equivalent of $50,000 per case. Probably this was not a good bottle.
The Times’ Chief Sports Writer Simon Barnes defined greatness as “the ability to seize a moment” (he was thinking of Andrew Flintoff’s 92–5 at Lord’s in July 2009). This superb tasting showed how, with few exceptions, the Bordelais did that in 2000.
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