2 days in Bordeaux for the Primeurs 2006

Hello,

I just came back from Bordeaux where I spent 2 days tasting wines and looking around. First, there is less people than in 2005. The new vintage was not as talked about as the 2005 and didn't attract as many journalists and trade. Too bad because when the 2006 is good, it is VERY good.

Of course 2006 was a difficult vintage for the winemakers and the vintners and will be for the potential buyer and consumer. We had our usual little surprises and news. It is now official that Chateau Haut-Brion stops producing Chateau La Tour Haut-Brion. The 5 ha vineyard will be used in La Chapelle, the second wine of La Mission Haut-Brion. It means that La Chapelle has already more Cabernet Franc and is a lot more round and structured than before - good quality.

At Chateau Palmer, Alter Ego is already almost drinkable: smooth, round tannins, very fruity and outgoing. For the first time, there is some Petit Verdot in the blend of Alter Ego and none in the blend of Chateau Palmer. It will be a delight. Chateau Palmer is a little more difficult because more complex. It's not as outgoing as Alter Ego but very nice, round and rich.

The top chateaux made a wonderful wine, full bodied and already smooth. There won't be any problems with their wines. And the good news is the prices are going to go down!

In fact to be totally honest, the greatest pleasure for me as a woman involved in communication is meeting people. Visitors in Bordeaux for the Primeurs come from all over the world: China, Japan, USA, Russia, Eastern European countrie, Western European countries. You can talk to people you'll never have the opportunity to meet or talk to - except by traveling all over the world. Some of them come every year and have their favorite estates (no names!), some come for the first time and are a little at a loss in those traditional chateaux, others come from time to time if they think the vintage is worth the trip or that the price is going to be right!

For two days I traveled all over the world meeting wonderful people and enjoying myself tremendously. And I had only to travel 3 hours in the train. Isn't life wonderful?

Enjoy, Eve

[James Roscoe]

Thanks for the report Eve. I am hoping thet '06 will be one of those years to grab a few values from chateau that are often out of the normal wine drinker's price range.

[David M. Bueker]

And the good news is the prices are going to go down!

Thanks for the report, but the prices are not going to come down enough. Even 50% down from 2005 would still be above the great 2000s. Doesn't make sense.

I too thought Alter Ego was way too accessible now, I think it is because there is much more Merlot in the wine this year. Here was my post from eBob...

My trip to Bordeaux was slightly different from Gil’s. I only tasted for 2 days (this past Thursday and Friday) because of the conflict of schedule with Passover at the beginning of the week. Subsequently, I only tasted about 150 wines compared to Gil’s 1200. On Friday, there were no UGC tastings, so I only tasted wines on the left bank where I had appointments (9 Chateaus). Hopefully, much like Spain for me last year, you will understand that one can still get an idea of how the vintage is without tasting each and every wine. In general, 2006 has some great wines, some terrific “values” and a few disappointments. It appears that the Merlot on the left bank had some problems. Many Chateaus used a lot less Merlot on the left bank for their first wines than they are accustomed to. Yields appeared to be healthy as was the visitor count to Bordeaux last week. Most said about 80% of visitors for the 2005 campaign, came back for 2006. Ducru said that they had more visitors this year than last year.

My first day started with a visit to Ch Pavie. Bellevue Mondotte was clearly the best wine of the group and appears to have outshined Pavie in 2006, and is one of the stars of the wines I tasted in St. Emilion. Clos des L’Eglise from Cote du Castillon is a great wine as is Monbousquet Blanc. Monbousquet Rouge was a big disappointment for me. I would not recommend the wine. At Canon La Gaffeliere, La Mondotte was amazing as well. Clos de L’Oratoire was a very good wine as was Ch Faugeres (which I found to be near the quality of the Peby Faugeres). I also got to taste Bessa, from Bulgaria, not something I was impressed with. Ausone was great, but really impressed me there was Chapelle (second wine) and Moulin St. Georges. At La Grappe, which feature the wines of Stephane Deroncourt, I really enjoyed La Gaffeliere and Pavie Macquin. For value, I would recommend Grands Marechaux and Le Thil Blanc. I attended one big tent tasting that day as well. I got to taste many lesser known wines of Cote du Castillon, St Emilion and Pomerol. Bon Pasteur was there and was very disappointing. Joanin Becot, Clos des Jacobins, La Vieille Cure, La Clemence Pomerol, Reignac Blanc, Lafleur Bouard were all standouts. At Fleur Cardinal, I tasted through a vertical of 2003-2006. He has a new 2005 wine being released called Secret d Cardinal, a separate plot of land he recently purchased. The wine was very good. I think it was 100% merlot.

On Friday, I went around by myself to 9 Chateaus starting at 8:30 am. I had not heard much about the wines as most people had left Bordeaux already. I also had not yet read James Suckling’s notes as I did not want to be influenced. Pichon Lalande was my first stop and the wine was good but not memorable. Bernadotte was not good for me and I guess a bit more memorable. My next stop was Mouton. Mouton is a wine that I have been bashing for years. The “Disneyland” of Bordeaux as I call it. The wines have not been up to snuff since 1986 IMO. First I tasted the lesser wines. Clerc Milon is a winner. Then I tasted the Mouton. I had a private appt with the technical director. I was astonished by the quality of the wine, so I had to ask what happened at the Chateau! I should have asked if they read my posts on this board . Sure enough, they decreased production by 40% in 2006 to ensure a top wine! That is a big deal (25,000 cases to 16,000 cases). In general, they are not going to produce more than 20,000 cases in any vintage. I am glad that they have taken this position. I am also glad that the 2006 was so amazingly good! WOW! I have a theory as to why Mouton should release pricing on their wine sooner rather than later. I will start a new thread for that…

At Lafite, the wine was good but the Duhart Milon really impressed me. At Montrose, they cut yields by 25% and it really showed in the quality. Much of their Merlot went into Dame de Montrose, which made for a very soft second wine. Tronquoy Lalande is not a wine I would like to drink again. I had lunch at Palmer with Thomas and Bernard. They too, cut down on the Merlot in their first wine. Their wine is very good, but not a classic Palmer. Nevertheless, I always enjoy my visits there. They are great people. At Latour, Forts des Latour was a true star. It is amazing that that is just a second wine. Awesome! The one spot where I really disagree with Gil and probably most people is Margaux. Ch Margaux is absolutely great wine. The Pavillon Blanc, on the other hand, tips the scales at 15.2% and you could taste it. It is a beast for a Bordeaux Blanc and not something I enjoyed all that much. I assume I will be in the minority on this one. My biggest disappointment was Cos. Much like Scott at Montrose, it is possible I had a bad sample of wine, because what I tried was absolutely terrible juice. This is the third time I have tasted the wine en primeur and it has never been so bad. It was woody and vegetal. Two qualities I do not expect to find in tasting a barrel sample. Hopefully it was just my sample.

Hi,

Thanks for the great reporting, all of you.

One quick reaction: I too was taken with the Duhart Milon, one of the best I have ever tasted. It is often a lacklustre wine.

Best regards,
Alex R.

[David M. Bueker]

Randy - all Bordeaux must be built for a 30 year life span or it is by definition no good.

Alex - have you had the 2003 Duhart? I thought it much improved over their prior track record. Glad to hear the 2006 is potentially another good one. Now let's see about the price.

I too thought Alter Ego was way too accessible now, I think it is because there is much more Merlot in the wine this year.

Indeed there is much more Merlot but also Petit Verdot up to 6% for the first time in Alter Ego. A very interesting vintage for Alter Ego and I can't wait to organize a vertical tasting from 1998 to 2006! It should be fascinating!