Bordeaux 2007 Vintage Report

 

The Weather

Remember the summer of 2007? If not you have the Bordeaux vintage report and the summer of 2008 to remind you! If you have fruit trees in the garden you may also remember that despite the amount rain between mid May and mid August there was a tasty and abundant harvest.

Vines love the water. In dry areas outside Europe plants are irrigated at rates as high as 4 litres per hour per plant. Development is determined more by temperature. Sunlight is unlikely to be limiting. The difficulty in 2007 was high temperatures and humidity bringing on mildew. This could be and often was well managed by predictive spraying. But rain at fruit set cause uneven berry formation and ripening. This cannot be put right on the vine and so the crucial operation in 2007 was stringent selection even to the berry at some Chateaux.

There were 2 good weeks in September; dry winds reduced the risk of rot and some fair weather gave fruit a final burst of sugar.

There is no direct vintage comparison although 2008 is having a good shot at it! Hints of 1997 may hold water in the more general sense of early drinking style but there is little direct comparison in either weather patterns or style.

 

The Wines

As the quality of 2007 was so heavily determined on the selection table there is nothing to be gained by reporting on each village. We found a little more consistency in Saint Emilion and Pomerol. Some growers accused their Medocain colleagues of too much leaf plucking. The idea is that taking away greenery will allow more sunlight to reach the fruit. But it’s not so clever when the sun stays behind cloud and those fewer remaining leaves grab enough of it to ripen the berries! But the very best wines were still largely concentrated on the more erratic left bank.

Sauternes have been well noted. They are as good as it gets without being exceptional. There is plenty of good botrytis character but slightly lacking in acidity that is so crucial to perfection and so not in the same league as 2001. Dry whites are indeed exceptional.

As management holds the key it is more important than ever to consider each Chateau on its merits. So reap the benefits of Handford Wines sending two Masters of Wine to filter the good and even some great from the disappointments.

 

The Notes

 It is most important to be aware that these samples were prepared from barrels and the wines are not yet finished. Appearances are important though may be deceptive as the wines will be racked (cleared) further and the shade will develop before bottling. The absolute colour however is important and a good indication of quality. In their extreme youth wines are often ‘closed’. This means that the structure encases the aromas. At this stage this is a good thing. On the palate we look for depth concentration complexity (number of flavours) and length. There may be a feeling for fruit rather than an abundance of flavours. These qualities also give an indication of how long each wine needs to be kept. 

 

The Market

With ever more new markets emerging (there are wine merchants in Mumbai driving Bentleys!) demand remains high. Once again production is low; as low a third and commonly half the expected volumes have been produced. Only 2005 has yielded what are considered normal levels this decade.

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