This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
News
Bordeaux 2015 hype backed by negociant
Reports that Bordeaux may be on the cusp of a great vintage in 2015 have been strongly supported by one of the region’s leading negociants.
Renaud Ruer (Photo: Twitter)
Renaud Ruer, himself a winemaker in the past, concedes, however, that some appellations had better weather conditions than others and likens the harvest to a north-south divide rather than a Left or Right Bank year.
“I prefer to talk about north-south,” he said. “All the Sauternes had almost perfect conditions to welcome noble rot. Talking to Yquem, Sigalas-Rabaud, Coutet and Rayne Vigneau, they have all harvested fantastic rotten grapes. A good sign was the period of harvest – very early and consistently week after week.”
Further north in Graves, Ruer said he saw “perfect berries” at Pape-Clement, Malartic-Lagravieres abd Smith Haut Lafitte. “Haut Brion is very, very promising, and I can’t wait to taste their whites.”
In the Medoc, Margaux, the most southerly of the communes, could be the appellation that makes the best wine on the Left Bank in Ruer’s view. “What I heard from Palmer, Rauzan-Segla and Margaux itself sounds magic,” he declared.
“But St-Julien, Pauillac and St-Estephe, for once, could be the unlucky ones. Periods of rain were heavier there. Montrose, Calon Segur and Cos d’Estournel have something good but they know the conditions were not optimal.”
Ruer declared that St-Emilion and Pomerol may be the winners in 2015. Predicting that chateaux like Troplong Mondot could produce one of their best vintages, he added that Angelus, Pavie and Cheval Blanc “looked amazing” as well. He concluded: “As for prices, it’s far too early to imagine the percentage of increase or decrease from last year.”
I think California is far too big a place to make narrow or broad generalizatons about a vintage. In Napa (at Mondavi) we had our earliest start date ever, August 6 for Sauvignon Blanc (always the first to ripen) – it was August 8 last year. Grapes came in fast and furious this season – it was described by a veteran as “a compact harvest”. We pick mostly at night so it felt like 7/24 there for a while. While the crop (for Cab) is down at least 15% this year, we are very happy with the uniformity and ripeness of the fruit. Good luck to all you winemakers out there, you brave people who always dance with Mother Nature – you know she can sometimes be a bi**ch surtout au bord de la mer!