Bordeaux 08 – "Buy it or don't buy it, that's the dilemma" – Is the Vintage 2008 Wine to collect?
After the renommee vintage 2005, the Bordeaux prices were extremely high and very demanded all over the world. With the vintage 2007 and 2008, where the wines were still in the cellar of the producers, the Bordeaux Market experienced a breakdown, caused by the global crises. Nevertheless the quality of the Vintage 2008 is very promising.
The facts, given to us from Robert Parker, an authority in wine reviews and commentary [ www.eRobertParker.com ], are as following:
- 2008 provided a historically long hang-time for the grapes. That long hang-time leaded to a steady, long maturation, giving more nuances and flavour intensity than anyone could ever expect.
- The weather was cooler and sunnier than usual, a light imitation of a the typical Indian Summer weather (warm but not too hot daytimes and cool at nights) giving the remaining grapes, the opportunity to mature evenly. Furthermore, the harvest was sunnier than usual.
- It was also drier than normal, particulary in July, was appearing in some vineyards drought conditions that began to show as consequence, hydric stress at the beginning of August. The first 12 days of September were considered as poor weather, but the actual amount of precipitation has been less than one inch, to be considered as a relatively insignificant amount.
All these factors – the long historic hang-time, the cooler as well as drier than usual growing conditions during the critical months of June, July, August, and September, the perfect dry, warm July, the late September and October, as well as very small yields, resulted in a vintage of (at least) excellent quality. In some cases, there are wines as profound as 2005. In short, the vintage is vastly superior to 2007, 2006, 2004, 2003 (with some exceptions in that unusual vintage), 2002, 2001, and 1999.
What about the price?
The Premiers wines like Mouton, Latour, Margaux are 40% cheaper at the pre–sold, as in the Vintage 2005, also the other most known wines like, Pichon la Lande Comtesse for example, are 50% cheaper as 2005 and have a very good evaluation (94-96 Parker of 100).
So, my opinion is: buy know 2008 for collecting!
These are very good wines to faire prices and you will see, in a half a year time, how the prices for the Bordeaux Market will rise, and particulary for that vintage.
Christian Zehetbauer
Sales Manager by
WEIN & CO |
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