The barrage of releases tend to render blogging instantly out of date so rather than give my thoughts on every release – that’s what the email offers and twitter are for – I thought I would summarise at what I guess is the moment when things are about to go vertical/exciting/silly depending on who you are. It is interesting at this point to start looking at the earlier releases and compare them to the “top” wine. For instance a case of the just released La Mission Haut-Brion (we will offer all the firsts and assorted other wines later) is worth 22 cases of Phélan-Ségur or 20 cases of Rauzan-Gassies. Quality often has a premium but it actually strikes me that the drinker can do very well out of 2009. The people I feel sorry for are those that have always followed a certain wine that then gets the plaudits and rises out of their price range. The obvious candidates that fall into this category are Pontet-Canet, Haut-Bailly and Lascombes. Now nobody, and least of all us, begrudges quality wines getting a good price and the quality has been rising steadily at the likes of Pontet-Canet but is it sustainable and does it offer the “traditional” advantages of buying En Primeur? Getting the stock? Well yes, if you do and you have to be quick. Choosing format? Again yes. Getting the best price? Now this is the tricky one, in the case of the first of the three Châteaux mentioned then yes but for the other two? Possibly not.

The pecking order amongst the Châteaux due to fashion, who is on form etc is always liable to change and let’s face it everyone looks at house prices and things “they’ll never go over £????” but then I guess that happens all the time. All I feel, and this is my view, is that wine has to be very careful to remain close to the drinker, as soon as the gap between investment or the need for an increase in value and drinking becomes too large the whole thing is liable to risk bursting….as ever I guess only time will tell…in the meantime my advise is to stock up on wines like Phélan, Rauzan Gassies and other wines you like in that sub £300 bracket.

See all the latest releases and price on http://www.corneyandbarrow.com/s-55-bordeaux-2009.aspx

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Then on to this week where there was a significant release – Gazin (545) – this sold very fast, faster than expected in honesty. As I sit here nothing else has come out. It will be interesting to see if other things do appear this week. We will end the week on a high with the release of the Moueix and Mitjavile offers – both will be on allocation.

More news to follow

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A quick update following the first week of releases (not many of them!). Last Tuesday saw d’Angludet out at £219, demand seemed steady, it’s a wine that tasted well this year and has a good following. The other three wines we offered last week were all quite different “beasts” – the Sweet Doisy-Vedrines (£245 or £255 in halves), I won’t tell you the in house nickname, some sold but I think people like to wait and see what the Sauternes prices are like as a whole before selecting – although a few will be in big demand and therefore worth grabbing if you want them. Then there was the deep and serious Certan de May (£725) which sold well, I had been very impressed with this when tasting it in London on the day before release. The last wine of the week and a real C&B drinking favourite was Ch Lamarque (£130) a Haut Medoc on the up and up – selling well as people who know the wine “shove” a case or two away to drink at home in a few years….

So what will happen this week? Quite honestly nobody knows…there will be more press reviews out…a Chateau or two will no doubt come out but it still looks like the campaign will be more of a marathon than a sprint….

On other fronts we had two notable tastings last week.

Olivier Leflaive and his winemaker, Franck Grux, were in London to present the (now offered 2009’s) to the entire team…22 of us crammed ourselves into the tasting room. The wines were so much easier to assess than the 2008’s which had more pronounced acidity. The 2009’s looked lovely, lush and full but with underlying structure…white burgundy fans now have quite a trio of vintages to “play” with in 2007,2008 & 2009 – all will have their fans and all are good just with different characters.

Secondly Edouard Moueix was in town on Thursday night to host a really enjoyable and relaxed dinner at Papillon (which stayed open especially for the night). Rather than hype the 2009’s we focused on a slightly forgotten but good value vintage – 2006. Edouard took us through the wines in amusing style with many a story along the way. The tasting order was spot on as each wine built on the former. A full “Menu” of the wines and food is below…a really great night on which the really style and balance of Magdelaine was the highlight for me, saying that I feel guilty as the La Grave 2001 was so delicious…

Tasting

St-Emilion

Barrail du Blanc 2006

Franc Bigaroux  2006

Côte de Baleau  2006

Belair 2006

Pomerol

Bourgneuf 2006

Hosanna 2006

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Champagne Delamotte NV

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Dinner Wines & Menu in Order

Terrine of rabbit and ham, herb salad, pickled Mushrooms

Les Songes de Magdeleine 2006

L’Hospitalet de Gazin 2006

Roast chump of lamb, potato gratin and rosemary jus

La Grave à Pomerol 2006 & 2001

A selections of farmhouse cheeses:

Brie, Fourme d’ambert, Comte and St Maure

Magdelaine 1er Grand Cru Classé St-Emilion 1999 & 1997

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After a disastrous performance in the hotel inter merchant pool tournament last night it was actions stations to get packed, checked out and up to St-Emilion for a 9.15 appointment at Cheval-Blanc. Yet again some formula 1 inspired driving from Helen got us there with 10 minutes to spare.

There is major building work going on at the moment at Cheval-Blanc so the view was a little impaired by two enormous cranes towering over the tasting room and chateau. Thankfully there were no industrial accidents and the wines showed well. Cheval Blanc has recently purchased Château La Tour du Pin Figeac, the property sits right at the end of their drive. We tasted the 2009 at the Château and it was a sound effort.

From there, we managed, thanks to some speedy tasting, to squeeze in the UGC tastings at Pomerol and St-Emilion before arguably the most exciting appointment of the week, Pétrus. Before that though a word or two about the UGCs. Pomerol is small, around a dozen wines. Generally the standard here was high with plenty of wines showing ripe, juicy fruit allied to ripe but present tannins. Highlights included Beauregard, Conseillante and Clinet.

As is so often the case, St-Emilion was a much more mixed bag with wines swinging from the outrageously over-extracted to some that were delightfully balanced and full of fresh, focussed fruit. Figeac and Clos Fourtet have both made great wines this year.

I have never visited Pétrus before and, as properties go, it is far from glamorous. Very pleasant, but small and understated and definitely unassuming. The wine on the other hand was a different thing all together. Olivier Berrouet met us and talked us through the technical points of the wine. It was all picked in a single day, 1st October, and the wine then began the fermentation process. If you are looking for a huge, powerhouse wine with massive extract, searing tannins and lots of oak, then your time will be wasted here. Instead, what you have is the fruit of a quite exceptional piece of terroir handled, in a skillful and respectful manner by a winemaker at the very top of his game. The wine is concentrated, impeccably balanced and utterly seamless. Breathtaking.

Breathtaking, but for very different reasons, was our final visit of the trip to one of our key négociant houses on the outskirts of Bordeaux. This enormous warehouse is packed floor to ceiling with pallet after pallet of amazing wines. Just in the short walk to our meeting room I saw Latour 2005, Ausone 2000, magnums of 2005 Haut-Brion – truly incredible. This was an absolutely terrific opportunity to re-taste key wines we were undecided on, mop up anything that had eluded us and generally ensure that we had every base covered. It was an intense session where we must have tasted 40 or 50 wines, reds, whites and stickies.

And so to the airport and home……

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Lafite was first up. Very difficult to assess on this showing but, given the incredible demand for these wines, what they taste like seems to be almost secondary to anything else. Suffice to say that the Grand Vin will score well from the critics and seems to be in a very classical Lafite style.

As works are being done at Lafite at the moment, the tasting was at sister property Duhart-Milon (above) from where we nipped across the road to Grand Puy Ducasse. There is a new winemaker and technical director here who is undertaking major changes at all three properties that seem to have already fed through to the wines. Meyney was good so too Grand Puy Ducasse. We also had our first glimpse of the Sauternes with a taste of Rayne-Vigneau. Amazingly sweet with a hint of botrytis and fine balancing acidity. We would be tasting these later on in the afternoon so it was a good omen.

Next it was a dash back south to Pichon Lalande. We had tasted this on Sunday morning and I had not been convinced by it so was looking forward to an opportunity to re-taste. The outcome was much more positive with the wine exhibiting its classic feminine charm and seducing us all. Now owned by Roederer champagne, the stable also includes de Pez, Haut-Beausejour, Reserve de la Comtesse and Bernadotte.

Leaving Lalande, we headed south again to Kirwan, on a roll for the last few years, 2009 was no exception. They too have a comparatively new wine-maker, Philippe Delfaut, who joined from Palmer in 2007. We also had an opportunity to taste a couple of back vintages of the second wine, Les Charmes de Kirwan. Both 2006 and 2007 were delicious and would make great drinking in the near future. Watch this space….

Before lunch we dived into Chateau Desmirail for the Margaux UGC. Arguably this is the patchiest of the communes on the Left Bank. Of course there are some great wines but there were a number of wines that were simply too hard and aggressive to support the fruit.

Lunch was back at the hugely popular Lion d’Or in Arcins. We were joined by Peter Sisseck who has just purchased a small property in St-Emilion. Extremely exciting news but very early days. He had brought with him some samples of the 2009 Pingus, Flor de Pingus and Psi for us to try. It was like being back at school as Peter snuck these unlabelled half bottles out from under the table and quickly put a sample in our glasses. I don’t know if this excitement added to the perceived quality of the wines but they were really very very good and such a refreshing change from Red Bordeaux.

After lunch our party was broken up with Paul Marus heading back into Bordeaux to see négociants. He managed to beg a lift from Peter and his daughter whilst Bryce Fraser jumped into a cab for the airport. The poor man ended up having to walk 2 miles home through 2 feet of snow. Alison, Simon, Adam and I headed off to Chateau Cantemerle for the Haut-Medoc UGC. Like Margaux there were highlights and lowlights. Some good wines but a number with very aggressive, hard tannins, that did not have the fruit to support them. What was reassuring was that Lamarque was for all of us the best wine at the tasting.

Next stop was Dauzac, for the Sauternes tasting. It appears to be a fine vintage for the sweet wines of Bordeaux although some showed rather too much sugar and a bit of a lack off supporting acidity.

With our palates somewhat refreshed by the sauternes, we arrived at Lynch-Bages. The second wine here, previously known as Haut-Bages Averous has been renamed Echo de Lynch Bages. Ormes de Pez in St-Estephe is also part of the Lynch stable and both it and Echo were showing really well, the Echo particularly. Lynch itself was a real belter, displaying lovely freshness and poise backed up by power and concentration.

Time was now getting on so we had to say our goodbyes and headed down to our last appointment of the day at Las Cases. There was a recently announced second wine here. Many mistakenly believe that Clos du Marquis is the second wine but in fact it comes from vineyard plots outside of the original Leoville estate. The second wine is known as Le Petit Lion de Las Cases and was delicious. It will not be released en-primeur. Both Clos du Marquis and Las Cases itself were absolutely beautiful and the latter will surely be one of the highlights of the vintage.

That was it the end of our final full day in Bordeaux. A day on the Right Bank on Thursday and then back home to Blighty.

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The whites were on the whole good although some seem to lack a little of the acidity one would expect at this stage. Picque-Caillou again was a star despite having changed its blend this year to around 80% Sauvignon Blanc. Domaine de Chevalier, Pape-Clement and Smith Haut-Lafitte have produced delicious wines although the Pape was incredibly opulent and expensively made which will no doubt be reflected in the price.

After tasting here it was a dash to St-Julien in the pouring rain for tasting and lunch with Anthony Barton. There is plenty of water around in Bordeaux at the moment so there should be no worries about hydric stress later in the year. As one has come to expect, the two Barton wines are exceptional this year. Langoa has come on in leaps and bounds of late and the gap between the two is as close as it has ever been. Leoville a little more masculine and, as always, sturdily built at this young age. Langoa bursting with ripe, succulent fruit and beautiful intensity.

We have been spoiled for lunches this week and this one will take a lot of beating. Anthony and his Eva are wonderful hosts and we were treated to a delicious meal. We kicked off with Gosset Grande Reserve which Anthony buys and then keeps for 3 or 4 years to give it some bottle age. It was deep gold in colour, biscuity, rich and utterly delicious. On going through to lunch it quickly became clear we were going to have to sing for our supper as the reds were sitting anonymously in decanters. I am very pleased to say that Messrs Marus and Fraser increased the Corney & Barrow stock immeasurably by naming both wine and vintage first time – apparently a first. They were 1986 Langoa-Barton and 1982 Leoville-Barton. Both quite stunning, beautifully balanced and wonderfully elegant. We thanked Anthony and Eva for a real treat and tried with a little difficulty to refocus on the task as hand.

Batailley (above) was next up for the UGC tasting of St.Julien, Pauillac and St-Estephe. It has become clear this week that these three communes and in particular St-Julien are the star performers with a consistency not found in the other appellations. With only an hour to taste the lot we set to. Now we are all well tuned to the requirements we had the whole room licked in 40 minutes, giving us a rather more sedate drive to our next appointment at Grand Puy Lacoste. Here we met Xavier Borie and his daughter who has just returned from a couple of years selling wine in Vietnam to join her father. Grand Puy Lacoste is unusual for a Medoc property in that is sits on quite a distinct hill, a rarity in this generally flat part of the world. There are three wines in the stable her, Lacoste Borie, Haut-Batailley and Grand Puy Lacoste. All three showed superbly with different styles. The latter two had such wonderful charm and grace that, had they been blind I would have almost certainly had them in Margaux. We tried to squeeze Xavier a little on the likely timings of the campaign but like a good politician he would not be drawn.

Onwards then to our last slot of the day at Pichon Baron. Once again there was a flight of AXA owned properties to taste here from Pibran in the Haut-Medoc through Tourelles de Longueville, Baron itself, Petit-Village in Pomerol and finally Suduiraut. Opinions were a little divided here with some preferring Pibran to Tourelles but we were unanimous on the Baron itself; a terrific effort, packed with dark fruit, big structure and a long, balanced finish. Will this be better than its sister property Pichon Lalande. At this early stage I think it has it by a nose. Petit-Village was a little underwhelming on this showing but we will try it tomorrow at the UGC so I will reserve judgment until then. Finally Suduiraut, the dry wine ‘S’ de Suduiraut was rich, ripe and bursting with flavour but lacked a little of the required acidity to back it up. The stickie was incredibly sweet having a whopping 160 grams of residual sugar. Not a huge amount of botrytis and again judgment reserved until a more detailed tasting later.

We were now up against it to get Mr Marus back to Bordeaux in time for his grand Academie des Vins Dinner in Bordeaux. Helen, our terrific driver, did us proud with some canny shortcuts and we made it back to the hotel in time for a well earned beer for the team and for Mr Marus to get into his penguin suit and get to dinner.

Another day down and suddenly only a day and a half to go. More tomorrow….

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The middle day of our trip and a few Château visits before the onslaught of the UGC tastings tomorrow.

We kicked off with an early morning visit to Latour. A terrific range of wines here as you would expect, from the generic Pauillac to the big chap himself. The “Forts” was particularly impressive packed with beautiful fruit and impeccably balanced. The Grand Vin was a little more difficult to assess at this early stage but was typically powerful. If it comes off it will be an amazing bottle off wine but it will be for my children to discover as it will almost certainly take 30 plus years to come round.

Onwards then to First Growth number 2 – Mouton. Here the bun fight really got going with hordes of UK and Far East visitors milling around. Mouton is definitely geared up for the US market this year with little golf buggies ferrying you the fifty yards from reception to tasting room. It would never have happened in the UK as there were no seat belts so the “elf n safety” collective would have shut it down. Anyway it was quite fun. The wines themselves were impressive although we all felt that probably the best in terms of price:quality were d’Armailhac and Clerc-Milon. Mouton was good but, at this stage a notch behind Latour.

Next stop Margaux (photo above). Always a beautiful visit and it did not disappoint this year. Paul Pontallier was on hand to guide us through an exceptional flight of wines. Both Pavillon Rouge and Ch Margaux were awesome. M. Pontallier said that it is the finest Pavillon Rouge that has ever been made. “He would say that” I hear you say, but on the strength of this tasting it would be hard to argue.

A blast north next to Leoville-Poyferre. They own a total of three properties here, Le Crock in St-Estephe (unfortunate name I know), Moulin-Riche and Poyferre itself both in St.Julien. Again this was a really impressive flight. Poyferre continues its exceptional run of form and for me has eclipsed Barton in 2009. The Moulin-Riche and Le Crock should be terrific buys too though, particularly if the bottle of 2002 Le Crock enjoyed later at dinner is anything to go by.

A working lunch in Le Savoie in Margaux, where we tried Les Ricards, or “Keith” as it has become known to us (I will leave you to work it out!), and Bel Air La Royere. Both were really terrific and will offer great value when offered. Bel Air is a modern, toasted sweetly fruited number but very well put together whilst Keith is a little more traditional and fruity with a beautiful balance and concentration. At sub £100 a case it should be a cracking buy.

Straight after our working lunch, we had an appointment at Palmer. A charming welcome and again a terrific pair of wines. A little more muscular than Chateau Margaux itself but certainly the finest offering en-primeur that I can remember. The only question remaining is one of price. Hmmm!!!

A blast up the Medoc then took us to Cos d’Estournel (below). An impressive visit in all senses. After the unfortunately named Le Crock, we were presented with another unfortunate piece of nomenclature in Cos’ Haut-Medoc property “Goulee”. Good wine bad name! Les Pagodes de Cos, the second wine, was very impressive indeed with sweet fruit, concentration and lovely St-Estephe power. Cos is a little more contentious. Unquestionably awesome but so utterly impenetrable that one has to ask whether it will ever come round. It is likely to score a big number from Mr Parker which brings us on to price. Jean-Guillaume would not be drawn on price or date of release other than to say that he thought 3 of the first growths would be 1000 euros a bottle by the end of the summer.

Next up, two quick visits to a pair of really brilliant properties. St Pierre was terrific and again one that is under the radar of many Bordeaux buyers, making it very affordable for a classed growth St-Julien (2006 tasted recently would back this up). Branaire-Ducru is another property whose star is rising. From their winery that looks like the lair of a James Bond villain they are turning out some sensational wines – 2009 arguably being the best yet.

Finally Ducru-Beaucaillou. Always entertaining to visit at UGC. 2009 did not disappoint with some extraordinary modern art on the walls and hordes of incredibly beautiful girls to escort you to the tasting rooms. Pretty would not be a word I would use to describe the wines themselves and certainly not for the label of their latest acquisition in Listrac. Ducru itself was a superb effort with incredible tannic structure but the fruit and depth to support it. Unlike Cos it gave you a tiny glimpse of what was locked up inside and it looked impressive.

Onwards and upwards.

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Pretty dull and overcast but sun fighting to force through…A trip to a more general négociant tasting was first up this morning. An interesting opportunity to get a feel for the overall quality of the vintage from all the key appellations, including dry whites and stickies. We had an hour and a quarter before we had to hot foot it across the river to meet up with François Mitjavile (on the right below) at Tertre Rôteboeuf, of which more later.

With such a small amount of time the pressure was on. It quickly became apparent that St-Julien was one of the more successful communes. Elsewhere though, there was definitely not the homogeneous success we might have anticipated. Yes there were some undoubted triumphs, including, in no particular order Pichon-Lalande, Beauséjour-Bécot, Cantemerle, Léoville-Barton and Rauzan’s Gassies and Ségla. Margaux too seems to have produced some good wines with the Cantenac’s – Brane and Brown both turning in strong efforts.

However, our comments turned towards the wines that were less than successful, naming no names, but they had a distinct forced, extracted nature to them. Too many tasting notes ended with comments like, “drying tannins” or “searing tannins”. Despite there being some sensational wines there was a bit of a deflated feel that this was perhaps not the vintage to beat them all.

Tertre Rôteboeuf on the other hand was a different case altogether. What a spectacular range of wines, produced by one of the most dynamic and maverick producers I have ever had the pleasure to meet. Francois Mitjavile produces two wines on the Right Bank, Roc de Cambes in the Côtes de Bourg and Tertre Rôteboeuf in St-Emilion. Both sit on amazing terroir of deep clay and limestone. After a guided tour of Tertre Rôteboeuf we went down to taste the wines in the cellar. Sadly Bryce is still not talking to Simon and I after we explained that the first wine offered, 2006 Tertre Rôteboeuf, we had tasted just last week! Sorry Bryce.

2009 Roc and Tertre were quite exceptional and without a shadow of a doubt amongst the very best wines we have tasted thus far. Tertre was unbelievable, having only stopped fermenting 10 days ago. Yes, that really says just ten days ago.

These wines have such amazing purity, texture and opulence of fruit, one almost feels that you could drink them now. Given that 09 was the year my daughter was born, these two will definitely be on the shopping list.

We enjoyed a superb lunch with Francois and his wife accompanied by 1992 and 1989 Tertre Rôteboeuf. The 1992 was lovely; light and soft but given the amazing rains during harvest and vintage it was an incredible success. 1989 was what François described as a “difficult vintage” as was his 2008. Here the fermentation finally stopped in June, yes June, all full 8 months after harvesting. An amazing wine with wonderful, sweet, decadent fruit and amazing intensity – stunning.

Although we had another tasting to head to, there was a distinct theme to the afternoon. We departed Tertre heading for the beautiful rolling hills of the Côtes de Castillon, and François’ son’s property, Domaine de l’Aurage. Work has been going on a pace since Louis took over and the differences are evidet in both vineyard, cellar and most importantly the wines themselves. As with Roc de Cambes, l’Aurage punches seriously above its weight.

After a sleepy trip back to Bordeaux, we gathered for dinner in the Bordeaux institute that is Les Noailles. Good food including yet more beef (I am sure we have eaten a full cow already), was washed down with a bottle of 2007 Carbonnieux Blanc (good but a little too young still) and 2006 Malartic La Gravière. The more I taste 2006 the more I am enjoying them. Wonderful supple fruit and a lovely rich core all wrapped around juicy tannins.

Off to bed, big day tasting the majority of the first growths tomorrow.

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So, Day 2 over. A simply sensational visit to Moueix. We kicked off with a chat with Christian Moueix at their offices in Libourne. We learned here that, at least on the Right Bank, 2009 is not an absolutely homogeneous success. The first chink in the armour of this much-hyped vintage. A hail storm struck the east of St-Emilion in May damaging a number of vineyards, reducing yields, in some cases by as much as 40%. We will learn more of how this has affected the wines of St-Emilion at the UGC tastings next week.

The tasting of the Moueix wines was quite brilliant. Right through from Barrail du Blanc up to Trotanoy, the wines display the hallmark purity and high class fruit we have come to expect from these wines. Add to that the intensity and concentration of the vintage and the results are exceptional.

Barrail du Blanc is definitely going to be one of the star value buys of the vintage, so too Songes de Magdelaine. Opinion was split on the Magdelaine and Belair-Monange, half of us preferring the concentration and beautiful fruit of Magdelaine and the others blown away by the amazing intensity, freshness and mineral drive of Belair-Monange.

In Pomerol there was almost unanimous agreement that Latour à Pomerol was the wine of the tasting. That said, La Fleur-Pétrus, Hosanna and Trotanoy were also beautifully made. Those who were lucky enough to taste here last year (arguably the highest rated range of wines Christian and his team have produced) confirmed that the 2009s had scored slightly higher marks than the 2008s when tasted this time last year.

La Grave à Pomerol cannot go without a mention, probably the finest young vintage I can remember trying. A more reserved style than some but wonderfully balanced.

A delicious lunch with Christian and his wife, Cherise, was washed down with 2000 Hosanna – succulent, fleshy and ripe allied to beautiful purity – and 1995 Trotanoy. This comfirmed what a terrific vintage 1995 is, packed with dense fruit and lovely flesh all wrapped around succulent, fleshy tannins.

We left Chez Moueix and headed south to Bel Air Graves de Vayres, one of the stalwarts of the C&B list. We tasted right through from 2003 to 2009 which was fascinating. The undisputed stars were the 2003 and the 2006. After some canny negotiating we have walked away with a terrific parcel of the sumptuous 2003 which will be followed by the equally scrummy 2006.

La Tupina in Bordeaux tonight for a bit of traditional south-west French cuisine before a day in St-Emilion with François Mitjavile tomorrow.

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And so to bed….Moueix tomorrow

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