Magrez declares Bordeaux vintage “mythical”

Bernard Magrez has declared 2009 Bordeaux “mythical”, comparing it to the legendary 1947 and 2005 vintages.

Commenting on the harvest at Chåteau Pape Clément and Chåteau Fombrauge in particular, he said: “There is everything to suggest that the 2009 Bordeaux vintage will be known as a mythical year, just like 1929, 1945, 1947, 1961, 1982 and 2005”.

He added: “Indeed, the weather conditions were very similar to 1947”.  

At Chåteau Pape Clément, he said thick skins on the red grapes demonstrate great potential for fine tannins and structure in the wines.

As for whites, he noted that the Semillon variety had reached a quality rarely seen.

He also used his views on the vintage to promote the advantages of manual de-stemming, explaining that he had invested in over 100 employees to manually destem bunches at Chåteau Pape Clément and for the Cru d’Exception at eight other French vineyards.

“The human eye and analytical power is far superior to any machine,” he said. “Hand de-stemming allows us to select the best grapes, effectively eliminating damaged grapes and stalks and ensuring an optimal final result.”

As for laser technology he added, “New sorting machines using laser optics are important and after two or three years of tests we will look to use these new machines in vineyards where we use little or no manual de-stemming.”   

Patrick Schmitt, 29.10.09