After all the eager anticipation of the last few months, it seems rather surreal to now be standing in (a somewhat overcast) Bordeaux – left. The flight was remarkably uneventful, given all the threats of a strike but the plane, full of the UK wine trade, was buzzing with all the talk of the week ahead, and of the hundreds of potentially legendary wines that await us. 

We have a packed schedule: Right Bank tomorrow with the morning spent at Figeac and Angelus among others; then to Margaux on Tuesday, finishing at Palmer; moving on to some powerful Pauillacs on Wednesday, Lynch-Bages and Latour a few of the heavyweights. Lafite, Mouton and Léoville-Las Cases make an appearance on Thursday and we finish, as ever, with some fabulous Péssac-Leognans on Friday: Haut-Brion, Domaine de Chevalier and the lovely wines of Haut-Bailly – the final curtain call.

 So, ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts, make sure your seat back is upright and your tray table stowed away, and welcome to the supersonic experience that will be Bordeaux 2009.