2008 proclaimed best value Bordeaux

The best value for money in Bordeaux can be found in the 2008 vintage according to Alain Moueix, president of the Association de Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Emilion.

Speaking to the drinks business at the association’s tasting of the vintage in London on Tuesday this week, he said, “The 2008 is a very good vintage that suffered because it was put on the market en primeur just in the middle of the international crisis – so the market was not there.”

This meant, he added, “It was sold at lower prices than 2005, 2006, and 2007, and now, today, the best value for money is 2008; it’s a very good classic vintage.”

Turning to the 2007s, which were also on show at the largest ever line-up of Saint-Emilion Grands Crus Classés in the UK, he said, “They are not so deep but they are very charming and approachable and elegant and fine and nice to drink today. They have the elegance from Bordeaux and you can drink them while you wait for 2005, 2006 and 2008 to be ready.”

Moueix also discussed the 2010 crop. “We are a bit shy,” he admitted, “because we think it is a great vintage but we are worried that the world will think we are crazy: 2008 was good, 2009 was great and 2010 is great. But we are afraid to say this, but we are not going to say it’s not great just because of this.”

He then suggested that climate change could be giving Bordeaux “more regularity in vintages,” and pointed out that although 2010, like 2009, is a “very rich vintage, it is maybe more classic than 2009, which was so approachable and easy to taste en primeur.”

Mouiex also spoke of the contested Saint-Emilion classification, which was last renewed in 2006 and annulled in 2008, after the courts declared the tasting procedure – which caused the downgrading of some châteaux – had not been entirely impartial.

“A new classification will have to be issued before en primeur 2012, so the process will start some time before the summer this year,” he explained.

“This will involve looking at the soil, the way you work, your reputation, pricing and the last 10 vintages will have to be tasted,” he said.

He remarked that although “the basic rules are the same, the way it is organised has changed to try to make it as equal as possible.”

In particular, he said, “All tastings will be blind and the people deciding [on the classification] won’t be from Bordeaux but will be very well known in the wine industry so you can’t argue with them.”

Speaking more generally of Saint-Emilion he added that “the regularity and the quality of the wines have improved, and maybe the style has changed a bit, maybe it is a bit more sexy than before, but there is still the fine tannin and fresh finish, the drinkability, and I think this classic style is coming back into fashion.”

Currently 49 of the 57 Saint-Emilion Grands Crus Classés are part of the association, which was formed in 1982 to promote jointly the members’ wines and the region. The association will be heading to Asia in May, after en primeurs in Bordeaux, and will organise tastings in Singapore, China and Indonesia.

Patrick Schmitt, 10.02.2011