The best of Bordeaux 2007

published 11 April 2008

This time last week, I was rolling off a plane at Heathrow, having tasted most of the 2007 vintage en primeur' offerings in Bordeaux. Here is the very first preview, so you can decide whether to invest in a few cases or not.

Firstly, what happened in 2007? You recall the dreadful summer it was the same in Bordeaux. Rain and cold weather retarded the ripening of the grapes. Bunches were dotted with red, pink (lagging behind) and green (totally unripe) berries. If left, these would result in an uneven harvest and wines would taste tart, green' and mean. The best wines come from the chateaux who brought in armies of workers in August to cut off the unripe grapes, and then to leaf-pluck the vines to ensure any sunshine would make its way onto the bunches, hastening the ripening.

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The Right Bank, despite large plantings of Merlot, did not seem to suffer the dilution issues that plagued the Mdoc/Left Bank and the reliable chateaux-made good wines, especially in Pomerol. But I feel the Cabernet-dominant Left Bank superstars just have the edge in 2007, although there will be a lot of juicy St-Emilions and Pomerols coming onto restaurant lists earlier than usual, giving us some nice, short-term drinking wines.

Julian Chamberlen from Goedhuis & Co, one of the best en primeur' specialists in the UK (020-7793 7900), said: "This is a year that needs very careful inspection before you buy. We have our entire team in Bordeaux analysing every wine and getting under the skin of the vintage in microscopic detail. We have definitely identified the very best 2007s. This year is a case of caveat emptor' like never before".

The wines are undoubtedly more forward than the past few years' wines this is not a bad thing. The main bone of contention will be pricing: 2007 is not as good a vintage as 2005 or 2006. Will the Bordelais ignore the merchants and maintain stellar prices, knowing that emerging markets around the world will mop up the stock? Or will they act responsibly and cut prices in line with their quality? We will find out very soon.

Matthew Jukes has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books.

Matthew regularly lectures, judges, speaks at wine conferences and runs masterclass tastings for both corporate and private clients all over the world. Matthew is also the creator of his ground-breaking initiative, the One Day Wine School, an indulgent day of tasting and learning first performed in 2006.

He has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006 and has written a weekly column for the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine since 1999. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website, www.matthewjukes.com.

Matthew is one of the world’s leading experts on Australian wine and, with Brisbane-based wine writer Tyson Stelzer, runs an annual competition in Australia to find ‘The Great Australian Red’. He was made Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK at the 2012 Australia Day Foundation Gala dinner.

Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy. His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.

The best of Bordeaux 2007

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