Following up on my irrigation report last spring, it continues to be a perilous state of affairs in Australia with an ongoing seven-year old drought, evaporating irrigation quotas, rising salinity levels and the devastating October 2006 frost affecting both the 2007 and 2008 harvests.

The Riverland (50% of SA production, which in turn is 50% of total Australian production) was down 30% for the 2007 harvest and is under real threat if the Murray River Basin continues to be tapped by Victorian cotton & rice farmers; then by the wine growing regions in the state.

Berrys’ Buyer, David Berry Green notes: “Prices are set to rise unless the corporates follow Lindeman’s lead & buy fruit from across the globe (for the domestic market initially) rather than face paying top dollar for the sake of provenance.”

He adds: “The whole balance of power has suddenly shifted from corporates back to the growers, who incidentally have actually made some quite interesting wines as a result of such low yields (40 hl/ha vs a norm of 60-80).”

Perhaps Australian terroir will finally have its day, but are wine consumers ready to accept Australian regionality?

I recently joined our Rhône Buyer, Simon Field MW, to taste the Rhône 2006s and fermenting examples of the freshly-harvested 2007s.

Years in the trade have taught me that it is unwise to be dogmatic about the quality of a vintage when the fermentations are still to be completed, but it was revealing to see the confidence expressed in the quality of the 2007 harvest by growers not normally renowned for over-statement.  Jean-Pierre Perin, of Château de Beaucastel, spoke about a possible equivalent of the legendary 1947, while Daniel Brunier, of Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe, marvelled at the perfect quality of fruit harvest at his estates.

The key, after a cold and damp summer, has been a fabulous September, with unbroken sunshine raising sugar levels, while over 10 consecutive days of the Mistral wind concentrated the grapes and ensured the complete absence of any rot or mildew.

Growers in the northern part of the Rhône are also highly enthusiastic, if a little more circumspect at this stage.  We shall know more in a few weeks, but in the meantime the quality of the 2006 vintage should not be overlooked.  On the contrary, it is a vintage of superb purity and finesse, and one which BBR will be delighted to offer for the first time in early 2008.

Champagne sales have soared by a massive 71% in the past two weeks - a trend i’m attributing to the fortunes of Jonny Wilkinson and his courageous England team-mates.

Our customers have remained magnanimous since England’s trouncing by South Africa earlier in the tournament as sales of South African wines have remained steady. However they are predicting a sharp decline in sales if the result doesn’t go the right way in the Final this weekend.

If the Boks win, I reckon we’ll be prepared to put our stock of South African wine right to the back of the warehouse -  it’ll probably be a while before any of those wines come back into favour if the result doesn’t go our way and orders for large champagne bottles such as Magnums and Jeroboams have also soared - indicating widespread confidence in the run-up to the Final.

As French wines continue to sell well, showing that us Brits continue to be magnanimous in victory, what will you be choosing to celebrate?

At a Decanter Magazine Panel Tasting of the 2004 Médoc Crus Classés which I recently attended, Master of Wine James Lawther noted “For lovers of classic Bordeaux, this is the best-value vintage on the market today.”

It is almost always the case that the years which immediately precede and follow a great vintage suffer from living a little in the shade of that vintage. So it was very comforting to find amongst this range of 2004s some wines of great purity, classical expression of terroir and by no means least, relatively modest prices.

In view of the high prices asked for 2005, and to a lesser extent 2006, 2004 represents extraordinary good value, especially for the wines which showed particularly well at this tasting.

I was unable to taste St. Julien and St. Estephe but Pauillac enjoyed a particular high strike rate, with magnificent wines coming from Ch. Pontet Canet, Ch. Lynch Bages, Ch. Clerc Milon and Ch. Pichon Longueville Baron.

A big hit amongst the Margaux appellations was Ch. Kirwan, which exhibited stunning fruit quality and excellent concentration. 

Also among the stars, unsurprisingly, were Ch. Palmer and Ch. Margaux which boasted striking purity of fruit and minerality.

Oliver East (Bordeaux Buyer),Alun Griffiths MW (Wine Director) and I have just spent a fascinating week in the vineyards of Bordeaux. We were there mainly to re-taste the 2006s and the now bottled 2005s. The former have added a little weight now and are definitely softer than when we tasted them in April; with a few magnificent new finds for us, namely: Pavie Maquin and Larcis Ducasse, two glorious St Emilions made by Nicolas Theinpont. The latter, further highlighting how totally extraordinary 2005 is as a vintage - it really is perfect. The majority of the wines we re-tasted were rich, generous, complex, pure, beautiful, precise, exciting, sexy and totally rewarding.

I believe the 2005 vintage really will up there with 1982, 1961 and 1945 as one of the greatest ever. The other reason for our visit was to observe the harvest of the much talked about 2007. With real problems early on in the year of rot, and then as poor an August as we had here in the UK (I had the fire on twice!), the Bordelais were facing a dreadful outcome. Then, fortunately, the fabled “Indian Summer” kicked in with three glorious weeks of sunshine. Was it enough to save 2007?

Of course it is far to early to call, but the growers who have harvested the faster maturing Merlot (the majority of Pomerol, St Emilion and a good proportion of Pessac) seemed more than happy, several were very excited. Was this simply relief or genuine excellent quality? I’m seriously looking forward to finding out. The looks of the face of our friends in the Medoc, with its much slower ripening Cabernet Sauvignon, did not look quite so cheerful, sadly. They now have to sit, wait and hope that the next two weeks will bring warmth and sunshine. Fingers crossed for them all.

With world demand for this region (particularly the top 50 chateaux) growing every month I can’t see 2007 being a bargain vintage whatever the outcome. I really hope I’m wrong. For the future, my greatest concern for the new Bordeaux pricing structure is for those chateaux that are priced between the ever improving superstars of the region, who are currently selling for between £180 to £500 and are offering sublime and affordable wines, and the aspirational First Growths.

The wines in this “doldrum” area, with their very odd see-saw pricing structure, are our slowest selling by far,with a very few notable exceptions (i.e Leoville-Las Cases and occasionally Palmer and Angelus) and therefore I presume consumers struggle with bottles of wine on the table for more than £50 a bottle (inc taxes) unless its a £300 bottle of First Growth. This, of course, leads on to the 1855 classification table as many of these wines are “Super Second” Growths. I used to know all the classifications but now I hardly ever think “Is this Chateaux a 3rd or 4th Growth ” only how good is it for the price.

I wonder if anyone still considers at what rank their preferred chateaux are before they buy.

That the best wines have proved to be sound investments over the past few years is undeniable: one only need to look at the numbers to see that the fine wine market has been exceptionally buoyant since 2005 (the year, not the vintage) and customers who own top end 1996 & 2000 clarets will have done very well indeed. Prices for the best 2005s have also moved upward and we look forward to their physical arrival in the UK in the Spring, which should coincide with Robert Parker’s report of the wines in bottle.

The recent turmoil in the financial markets has had relatively little effect on the fine wine market. The lack of any significant crossover or correlation between the financial and fine wine markets has been well documented, and to me it’s quite simple: fine wine is a tangible asset, it is a luxury product that we aspire to own, consume and know more about. It’s much more useful than gold, and easier to enjoy than art.

Moreover, the supply of any particular vintage of, say, Margaux, is constantly diminishing and, in the case of younger vintages, is constantly improving. Is a case of 2005 Chateau Margaux worth it?

Yes, every penny and more.

Interest and demand for fine wine is growing. The price rises that we have seen for the very best, driven largely by the super-wealthy and the “new” markets of the Far East, etc, are the ones that have grabbed the headlines but it is important to note that these are not the only wines that are selling. I see no sign of this demand falling and the number of potential new wine lovers, drinkers, buyers and connoisseurs in this increasingly wealthy and sophisticated world is unbounded.

We will shortly be launching our own measure of the fine wine market - The BBR 100. This of course will be no measure of the quality, the class, the sheer beauty of the wines that will be included, but it will make for an unbiased and unemotional gauge of the market’s ups and downs.

Will the price rises that we have seen over the past two years continue?