It’s been the most hectic, frantic and let’s face facts, bonkers three weeks of my 22 years in the wine business. Seventeen hours-a-day of what seemed like stratospheric prices that we shouldn’t buy at one minute, that then sell out in an hour…….I’ve never seen anything like it.
 
So is this insanity that’s all going to go belly up or is this a new world order for top wines and are these prices really here to stay? 
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Every year the time between when we taste the wines and when we get the prices to sell them to you seems to get longer and longer. I just wanted to express how I understand your frustrations with the ludicrous and seemingly pointless nature of this delay. I have to say this is the most ridiculous way for any product to get to “market”. We tasted these great wines at the end of March, we told you about their various merits the 2nd week of April. Ok, so then we have to wait for good old Parker to release his edict, marvel at the stunned awe etc. etc., but that was the end of April…….it’s June 14th!

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The mighty Parker has released his scores for Bordeaux’s 2009s – possibly the most important document in wine history since the 1855 classification – and guess what? He actually seems to agree with us! Many have been the years where we have read through Parker’s proclamations with a sense of bewildered wonderment – 2003/2005/2008 for example.
 
Well, this year he seems to have seen the light and hasn’t, like many, declared 2009 the best vintage in living history, but has sensibly informed the wine world that, although many chateaux have made the best wines in memory, it is not a blanket vintage and many wines are too alcoholic and lack definition.

However, as we have always maintained, Parker, although a great critic and undoubtedly one of the most influential men of our times, is simply one man.  One man who’s opinion affects an entire industry, so when he gives the brilliant 09 Ch. Latour 98-100 points but, in the next breath, awards the same status to certain Right Bank wines which were, in our (team’s!) opinion, over-extracted, over-alcoholic and stand-your-spoon-up-in-them thick, we can’t help but wonder whether being all things to all men is simply not a sensible tactic (the wines we are talking about shall remain nameless). The sad fact is that most people don’t read Parker’s notes, they just care about the score, so if they enjoy the classy, subtle elegance of Ch. Latour and then decide to try another of his more “exotic” 100-pointers, they are bound to be disappointed, and vice versa of course. To me it would seem very helpful to the reader that he identifies the “pea soupers” (PS?) as Modern Style (MS) perhaps. Anyway, enough rambling on, the report will only add fuel to the 2009 fire. Message to Chateaux….Come on ….let’s get on with it!

I caught up with world famous wine writer Jancis Robinson MW for our, now traditional, chat about the release of the new Bordeaux vintage.

Find out about Jancis’ top three value tips for Bordeaux 2009, which was the best wine I have ever tasted en primeur and what wines I plan to buy. Also hear more on what effect social media is having on this year’s campaign.

For  more information about Bordeaux 2009, including a full list of tasting notes and how to sign up to receive email alerts, visit bbr.com

After a glorious weekend recovering from what I have to say was a completely exhausting week in Bordeaux (and several bottles of reviving Burgundy to aid the process), I can sit down now and actually format in my mind what we experienced and after assimilating that, what’s going to happen next.

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Having just returned from a break-neck few days in Bordeaux with our buyer, Max Lalondrelle, our early thoughts on the vintage are… .that we really can’t say for sure! Dull, I know, but we only tried a handful of finished wines and only twice that amount in barrel samples – and that’s just not broad enough to hang a “Greatest ” tag on…just yet!

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I was invited to the brilliant gastro-pub, The Wellington Arms,  in deepest darkest Basingstoke a couple of nights ago by a bon viveur of a client. Sadly, as I’m not the most well organised person, I’d left it too late in the day to plunder my own cellar (housed here rather than home, as the temptation is too great!) so I had to make a hasty stop in the shop to pick out a bottle of something modest and appropriate.

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Just back from a glorious two weeks away and I thought I’d share a true find.

We drove, taking the great overnight Brittany Ferry crossing from Portsmouth to St Malo (a marvelous meal, a movie in one of four cinemas and a great and spacious Commadore Cabin), five hours to Bordeaux and then a very gentle three hour drive to San Sebastian for a bite of lunch then 10 days reading and relaxing by a pool in Spain and back the same way. Marvellous!!

As much as Bordeaux City as been reinvigorated over the last decade, and it’s really beautiful again now, driving in and out is a nightmare and really should never be attempted during rush hour (a bit of an unquantifiable time frame anywhere in France, let alone this cosmopolitan metropolis….but let’s just say 07.30 to 10.00 and 15.30 to 18.30).

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I was brought up on Rioja, holidaying on the Costa Blanca every year.  My father would spend hours in the local bodegas truffling through their seemingly inexhaustible range of old Reservas and Gran Reservas.  Bringing back wines from the ’40s to ’60s for what seemed only a few hundred pesetas and trying to educate me on their merits and nuances.  Oh and not forgetting how well they went with fresh crunchy bread, manchego cheese, roasted red peppers and garlic and wafer thin slices of Serrano ham. Now, don’t get me wrong, he was right and I really enjoyed that style of Rioja; light, elegant, creamy, oaky but it did (and still does in many Bodegas) lack fruit and I have tended to shy away from them for many years. UNTIL…

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And so the En Primeur Season draws to a close and what a strange and bizarre campaign it all was. Who would have thought Latour would open proceedings?
 
Who’d have thought we’d sell the luckiest number in China’s worth of Ch. d’Angludet….888 cases! Still a damned fine case at £150 if you haven’t bought yours yet!
 
Who’d have thought the Chateaux would keep a lid on prices (well, until that lid was whipped off and the rabid badgers were unleashed onto the World with the release of Mr Parker’s scores that is).
 
Even I got swept up in it and ended up buying 21 cases when I promised myself, and far more importantly, Mrs Staples, that I was only going to buy seven! Uh oh.
 
So I’m delighted it’s nearing its end and encouraged with what I’m hearing from our chums down there that, at the moment, things are shaping up rather nicely for 2009. I’m driving down through Bordeaux, en route to Spain, on Friday and will report back with any findings.

Hope you’re having a lovely Summer!

I was utterly bewildered when I sat down to see Robert Parker’s scores the other night!  If you’ve been following our progress in Bordeaux then you will know that we were genuinely surprised by the ’08s – some of the wines we tasted were excellent and many surpassed our expectations.  But the blunt fact of the matter is that, on the whole, this vintage was not legendary, exceptional or outstanding – it is simply surprising.  Yes, there were some gems, but it was patchy; the now infamous weather during the vintage has still left its mark, and only those with nerves of steel, who risked everything on cutting back their crops and waiting for those last days of Autumn sunshine were rewarded with remarkable wines, and few would deny that.  The success of the campaign relied on the chateaux getting the prices right and it’s been encouraging to see that those who have released their prices, for the most part, have been sensible.

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Bordeaux 2008 is, quite frankly, a vintage that has taken most of us by surprise.  Who would have thought that after months of continuous bad weather and set-backs in the vineyards, and weeks of speculation about the quality of the wines, that we would actually come away with anything better than mediocre praise for these specimens?  But there’s no denying that many of the wines surpassed our expectations (though it must be said that many didn’t).  Either way, it is certainly a unique vintage, and I caught up with Jancis Robinson MW for our annual En Primeur review (this time on video!) to discuss the highs and the lows.  Jancis tells me that she was surprised and delighted from the outset and talks about how many of these refreshing wines will be ‘an agreeable shock’ to those who had doubted the vintage.

Watch the video here to see our views on what Jancis describes as ‘a vintage like no other’.

If you would like to receive up-to-the-minute reports of the 2008 releases then follow Simon Staples on . Sign up now, it only takes a few seconds and it’s free.

A week on from tasting almost 400 wines and having many heated discussions with négociants and châteaux owners I feel fairly upbeat about Bordeaux 2008 as the prices start to come out.

From a qualitative level 2008 is a mixed bag. It’s not a Right Bank or a Left Bank year, nor a Cabernet or Merlot vintage. It all has come down to which châteaux had the nerve and skill to let their grapes sit on the vine longer and absorb all that wonderful Indian summer sun. This, combined with huge attention to detail and their rigorous selection at all stages.

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When you have been doing this for as long as I have, to find a brand new wine that blows your socks off is a rare event but to find an entire region that does that not only in red but white, it’s almost like finding another limb you didn’t know you had. It’s brilliant! Now I’m not professing I’ve discovered a new winemaking country or a spectacular new grape variety that rivals Pinot or Cabernet or anything, I’ve just had my eyes de-blinkered to the oldest wine making area France has… its only taken 20 years!!

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I’m not sure how many of you saw the BBC Documentary on us last night but for many of us at BBR it was the first time we had ever seen it!

Over the course of almost 18 months we must have been filmed for approximately 40/50 hours each, all of which had to be condensed into an hour, which was very unsettling as we just didn’t know what to expect. 

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Just a few weeks before Christmas and rather romantically after reviewing a collage of our wedding photos from July last year, I came to a somewhat surprising conclusion.

Although my bride looked stunning and I looked “resplendent” in my cream “Havana” suit I was just a tad….er…..chunky! “Dear God Noooooo!!!!” I hear you cry “…..not you….manly is what you are!!”….Sadly if only!

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We love Christmas at Berrys and the opportunity it presents to spend time with friends and family indulging in some of our favourite wines. So to help you celebrate in style with the best party in town, look no further than our fantastic three day offer. Simply spend £250 on bbr.com before midnight on Friday 12th December and we’ll give you £50 off your order– and what’s more we’ll guarantee all goods to be delivered before Christmas!

This includes everything we sell including already discounted products and our much-loved Tastings & Dinners, excluding only En Primeur wines. To take advantage, just enter DS1QDP into the voucher code field when you are ready to complete your order. So be that bottle of Ch. Latour you have always had your eye on, two cases of Berrys’ Extra Ordinary Claret for Christmas parties or a case of Alfred Gratien, Brut Champagne to celebrate New Years’ Eve, now is the time to spend on bbr.com.

For my guests this Christmas… I’ll be stocking up with a case of our delicious Rosé Champagne which is great for sharing with friends. Originally £316.20 per case, with your discount you could stock up with a case for £266.20 or just £22.00 per bottle.

For my wife on Christmas Eve… and because I have a great passion for all things beautiful, I’d plump for a bottle of Krug Grand Cuvée which is just exquisite at the moment.

For me, in the shed, on Christmas Day!…I’d have to go for a bottle of 1996 Ch. Haut Brion (and a wedge of Parmesan and a ‘do not disturb’ sign!) Wonderful finesse and great concentration, it would be sublime having been allowed to rest in a decanter for 2 hours, and served at 18 degrees. From its original price of £318.00 per bottle, it would be £268.00 with the discount.

Now, that has to be something worth celebrating!

If we ever came up with a family statement to describe how we view wine at Berry Bros. I doubt it would be more poignant than Michel Chasseuil ’s recent quote in The Times that “life’s not worth living without pleasure, and pleasure is a glass of wine with each meal”

Mr Chasseuil is the owner of what has been described as the greatest private collection in the world, including bottles of every 20th-century vintage of Château d’Yquem – even empty ones from years when the wine was not made.

Sadly, as a mere wine merchant I haven’t got the funds to procure the gems he owns in all their mature glory, but 12 years ago I started laying down wines for myself and now have around 800 cases (but if I live to be 75 I will still need another 200 cases in order to have a bottle to share with my wife every day!!). Some of the these wines will become legends over the next 10-20 years, and there is something unbelievably rewarding when you pull a cork of a wine you (or Berry Bros.) have cellared for 10 years. Not only does it taste even better (almost like home grown veg!) but you get so much more for the money you paid – on Saturday evening I opened a bottle of 1996 Lafite Rothschild (my first of 12), which I bought for £85 in 1997 but now retails for £975! After two hours in a decanter it was divine, pure nectar.

Mr Chasseuil’s collection has inspired me to dream…here is my “To Die for cellar”, which we did for a client last week from the perfect 2005 Vintage; to drink from 2015 to 2050:

• 10 cases 2005 Ausone
• 10 Cases 2005 Cheval Blanc List
• 10 cases 2005 Haut Brion List
• 10 cases 2005 Lafite 2005
• 10 cases 2005 Latour
• 10 cases 2005 Margaux
• 10 cases 2005 Petrus
• 10 cases 2005 Le Pin
• 10 cases 2005 Mission Haut Brion
• 20 cases 2005 Cos Estournel
• 20 cases 2005 Angelus
• 20 cases 2005 Calon Segur
• 20 cases 2005 Lynch Bages
• 20 cases 2005 Montrose
• 20 cases 2005 Mouton
• 20 cases 2005 Palmer
• 20 cases 2005 Pichon Baron
• 20 cases 2005 Forts de Latour
• 20 cases 2005 Pontet Canet
• 20 cases 2005 Ducru Beaucaillou

A snip at £1,726,000.

The 2008 harvest has now been safely gathered and is looking fairly similar to the 2007 vintage – although without having tasted any wines it’s hard to tell!

So, what do the 2008 wines have to be to get you excited about them? To as many of you who know me or have read my tasting notes over the years you’ll know that I love Bordeaux, but it does occur to me that perhaps in today’s current economic climate Bordeaux is in danger of pricing itself out of the market?

One of the numerous upsides of working in this great industry is that every now and again you get invited to places that are impossible to get into. A case in point was a few weeks ago being asked to the fabled French Laundry in Napa, California. Always in the top three restaurants of the world in any survey, I have to say I was very excited about our Sunday lunch there. There were four of us, my new wife Sarah (from BBR Accounts…sadly she couldn’t swing it on my expenses…I did ask!), Mark Ross our Commercial Manager and Adam “Bilbo” Bilbey, one of the Fine Wine Team.

We dutifully arrived at 12.00 pm on the dot and joined several bewildered, hungry diners trying to find a way in to the very understated establishment. That was before any alcohol was even consumed. When we did find access we were led to a corner table in a fairly dark and somewhat oppressive dining room. Actually so small that the waiters and waitresses had to perform like synchronised swimmers just to go about their job. The table was beautifully laid out with a traditional wooden peg embossed with the FL logo clasping our napkins. The wine list is amazing (the dollar rate still in our favour) as you can imagine and our choices are below. Sadly, as with a lot of these kind of restaurants the sommelier was patronising, arrogant and far less welcoming than the rest of the staff who were charming.

I wont go into too much detail (for more info view the menu we enjoyed) but we did have three different salts to try with the foie gras! We left, 4 and a half hours later, feeling quite staggered by the amazing fare we had eaten. It was the greatest “proper” menu I had ever eaten. (El Bulli still taking the crown for me for overall dining experience) If you are ever in that neck of the woods and you have had the forethought to book four months ahead, it is worth every cent of the $240 per head and even the pompous wine waiter.

Vino Quaffed;

• Schramsberg Vineyards, “J. Schram,” Napa Valley 2001 (16/20)
• J.J. Prüm, “Graacher Himmelreich,” Mosel 2002 (17/20)
• Peter Michael, “La Carrière” 2005 (13/20)
• Clos de Vougeot Domaine Engel 2003 (15/20)
• Sea Smoke, “Ten,” Santa Rita Hills pinot noir 2005 (13/20)
• J.J. Prüm, “Zeltinger Sonnenuhr,” Gold-Kap, Mosel 2006 (14/20)