Bordeaux 2007 Round-up

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chevalier

Well, what an interesting week. And what have we learnt? Well, 2007 was about as good as it could be given the dreadful growing season up to the end of August. It was never going to be as good as 2005, and for once no one has pretended otherwise. However good the winemaking, vineyard management and technology you simply can’t make truly sublime Claret with a wet, cold summer.

That the best producers did as well as they did was nothing short of miraculous. The very best 2007s are ripe, fruity, seductive and often very elegant wines that will provide gorgeous early drinking and in some cases will age well too.

Nevertheless, 2007 is a very inconsistent vintage. For every good wine in 2007 there are several that make you want to shout Blackadder-style (Series 1) ‘Don’t drink the wiiiiiiiiine!’ The worst 2007s are green, dilute and charmless, or where producers have tried too hard, extremely fruity but with no structure and bitter tannins.

The prize for the best appellations in 2007 goes to Pomerol on the Right Bank and St Julien in the Médoc.

Close behind are a very impressive crop of Pauillacs and the slightly inconsistent but occasionally outstanding St Emilions which provided the top 2 reds in Cheval Blanc and Ausone. Margaux was very up and down, ditto St Estèphe led by the excellent Cos d’Estournel, and Pessac with the very fine Haut Brion and Domaine de Chevalier.

Pessac-Léognan’s dry whites are the best of the lot, while the Sauternes are excellent, just lacking a touch of acidity that would bring them up to the level of the other-worldly 2001s.

There will be wines in 2007 that are stupidly overpriced and should be avoided like a Gironde lamprey in red wine. But you shouldn’t believe the harbingers of doom either – as long as you are looking to drink the wines rather than invest in them, there will definitely be wines worth buying from 2007.

I hope you’ve found the blogs interesting and we’ll all keep our fingers crossed that prices are attractive enough to tempt us all to pick up a few cases from 2007. It would be a shame not to have some of these seductive, fruity, finely balanced wines in your cellarAnd don’t forget to listen to all of our Bordeaux 2007 Podcasks featuring exclusive interviews with some of the best names in the world of wine.

I look forward to seeing you same time, same place for the 2008s, so farewell and thanks for all the fish.