Bordeaux 2007: The Early Line

Posted 04/05/2008 at 12:53 PM by Ben

The initial reports from this week's 2007 vintage en primeur tastings in Bordeaux are kind of scary. Several commentators have described the vintage as inconsistent. If only that were true...

Reading between the lines, it seems to me that the problem is more one of consistency - consistent mediocrity, that is. Words like weedy, dilute, and short are popping up with alarming regularity in the reports I have been reading on various wine publication blogs. That's a sign that there were lots of unripe, unhealthy grapes due to poor weather.

It's actually a tribute to Bordeaux that they were able to put out drinkable wines at all in 2007. Ten or 15 years ago a vintage like this would have been totally lost. The chateaux that were able to bottle relatively drinkable wines probably did so by declassifying a lot of their production into second label's or selling it off to the bulk market.

At best, it looks like 2007 will be a vintage to drink early, before the somewhat feeble fruit fades. Unfortunately, despite the mediocre at best quality, 2007 is not likely to be a cheap vintage. Because so much production was sacrificed, there won't be a lot of wine to sell. That will tend to hold up prices despite the uninspiring flavors and aromas. When you combine the high prices with the weakness of the dollar, this looks like a vintage that Americans won't have much interest in.

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