2007 Bordeaux in Chicago

Finally got a chance to put down some impressions from the big Bordeaux tasting in Monday.

UNION OF GRANDS CRU TASTING OF THE 2007 VINTAGE – Chicago; January 25, 2010
Overall Impressions:
1. This was the most enjoyable tasting of young red wines I have ever seen. They are very attractive now – almost delicious in some cases. While not ‘great’ wines – not a blockbuster to be found – they are elegant and charming. James Sichel estimated that the average alcohol for reds was 12.5%. (I had no preconception of what I would find; except that in Bordeaux in May, the only 2007 red I tasted was Ch. Brane Cantenac – and that, it turns out, was completely typical of what I found at the larger tasting).
2. The dry whites from Graves and Pessac were particularly wonderful – lovely acid and rich flavors.
3. Red Graves also were very successful.
4. Sauterne were more varied than I had expected.
5. The number of wineries that made the trip were many fewer than previous years. The number of attendees was quite high.
(Not all chateau present and not all present could be tasted. Being left off the following lists may be due to either situation. No right bank wines tasted. In some cases, the following should read “for its class or price category”.)
Great Successes Dry White: Domaine De Chavalier , Olivier, Pape Clement.
Successes Dry White: Latour Martillac, Bouscaut .
Great Successes Red: Haut-Bailly, Olivier, Camensac, Dauzac, Du Tertre, Labegorce, Branaire-Ducru, Leoville Poyferre, Batailley, Pichon Comtesse Lalande.
Successes Red: Haut Bergey, Dom. De Chevalier, Pape Clement, Forcas Hosten, Chasse-Spleen, Cantenac-Brown, D’Angludet, Rauzan-Segla, Beychevelle, Saint-Pierre, Clerc Milon, D’Armailhac, Ormes de Pez, de Pez.

also: 1. The producers seem to have dealt with the grapes they were given very successfully. I found very few wines where the winemaker had tried to overextend or extract the grapes and also few cases where oak was even obvious – much less overdone. Only a couple of times did I find a kind of stemminess and a couple of times an odd ‘cognac’ quality. I’m told that the major qualitative change in Bordeaux in the last decade is the addition of two sorting stages – one in the vineyard where bunches are rejected, and another in the winery where grapes are rejected on a sorting table. This has clearly paid off in this vintage.

[David M. Bueker]

Thanks David. While I am unlikely to actually buy any 2007s (unless heavily discounted - just no ceallr space) it is still interesting to get peoples' takes on the vintage (both yours and Covert's). The overall level of selectivity and increase in winemaking skill certainly has been felt in years like 2007 and even 2006. An objectively bad wine is increasingly rare, which is always a good thing.

While not ‘great’ wines – not a blockbuster to be found

My impression was Average at best, as it looks like your impression was too. I understand the difficulties with the year they had, and when I am purchasing wine for the Restaurant I am looking for a couple to stand out in a positive way. Unfortunately this vintage had a very negative appearance, and showed why some times you are better off not to bottle the wine as a grand cru and use a second label, similar to what the Italians will do with Barbaresco, Brunellos and so on.

What did you think of the Chlorinated Iced Water they offered to drink? I even noticed people rinsing there wine glasses with it.

David, that's an interesting take on the vintage; far more positive than most critics. I've tasted very few but most of those were on the thin side and not in the must-buy category. One aspect which you don't mention is QPR; many of the wines were too expensive on release to be good candidates for charming young drinking. Are prices in the USA coming down enough to make them attractive propositions?

chef - as my response to your post said, i had a very different impression of the vintage from yours. "great' vintages and 'blockbuster' wines are all right in their place; but that place is in the cellar for a long wait - minimum 15 years IMO. most of the '07 bordeaux i tasted in chicago were extremely attractive, charming and elegant. these are also good wines; and in many ways more useful - certainly more fun, even if they don't 'stimulate the little grey cells'. not all meals or occassions call for wines from 'great' vintages. restaurants in particular that cannot afford to age wines for at least 10 years(not to mention finding customers willing to pay the price of that storage) should be grateful for vintages like this - charming in their youth.

the QPR question: well, many of my favorites were not that expensive. Batailley i expect to be $30 or less. hope i can find labegorce somewhere - that should be a bargain as well. in the sweet whites, bastor-lamontagne was just lovely and is selling for $22. Even at $41 branaire is worth it - exceeds the vintage while havings its essential character. brane-cantenac tasted at the chateau and selling in the mid $30's is good value as well.

it all boils down to whether a cellar should contain elegant and charming wines in addition to great or near great ones. mine must; and i'm willing to pay to have that choice available every day.