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Wines in the Press- April 9-11

Published:  12 April, 2010

The Times

How good are the Bordeaux 2009s? Brilliant in parts, according to Tim Atkin MW, fresh from his trip at the most "frenetic" en primeur week in years. He favours the Left Bank appellations where "late-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon dominates the blends" over the Right.

The Times

How good are the Bordeaux 2009s? Brilliant in parts, according to Tim Atkin MW, fresh from his trip at the most "frenetic" en primeur week in years. He favours the Left Bank appellations where "late-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon dominates the blends" over the Right.

He comments on the lack of consistency in 2009 but those which do make the grade are "spectacular: ripe, perfumed and concentrated, yet with lovely balancing acidity."

There's good news for our bank balances as well this year, "the great thing about the vintage is that you don't have to buy at the very top end to drink well. The tasting of the more lowly Crus Bourgeois was one of the most enjoyable of the week."

The Telegraph

Charles Metcalfe thinks that despite its inconsistency, Bordeaux 2009 has peaks, which are excellent. The reasonably priced wines are also praised, "many second wines from great estates are also astonishingly successful. Those who picked while the grapes were already ripe yet still fresh have made wines that show the Bordeaux balancing act at its best: refreshing yet complex reds, and delicious dry and sweet whites.

"There will be real value among the mid-range and lesser wines, but follow the advice of merchants or writers you trust, as excellence is not ubiquitous."

The Financial Times

Jancis Robinson MW, returned from Bordeaux having discovered that "this vintage can offer more sheer please than any I can remember and may well provide delicious drinking throughout its life while we wait for the 2005s to emerge from their tannic corsets."

She has been reminded of the "lush hedonism offered by the 1990s" and praised some "truly great 2009s" in the Medoc and Graves. Lower rank wines also caught her attentions that are "delicious and likely to be real bargains."

The quality of the top producers second and third wines are also surprisingly good with Carruades de Lafite putting an "enormous amount of effort into maximising the quality" of their second wine to which 55% of the total crop had been relegated.

The Telegraph

Jonathan Ray celebrates his birthday by taking a retrospective look at his half-century in wine. Although lamenting that his birth year, 1960, was lousy for red Bordeaux, he remembers compromising on his 21st with a 1959 Château Lafite, year of his conception.

Highlights of his last 50 years include a bottle of Veuve Clicquot on leaving school, a 1985 Château Batailley at his pre-wedding lunch and a 1990 Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque at the birth of his sons.

However, he's keen to emphasise that at the right time and place the simplest, roughest wines become special, the gap year raffia-covered chianti at a Venetian pensione a particular favourite.

And hopes for the future? A continuation of the great range of wine in the UK, "Just look at what is available nowadays! Increasingly fine southern French reds; great value dark berry-fruited Cabernets from Chile; robust Malbecs from Argentina, gooseberry-rich Sauvignon Blancs from New Zealand; and buckets of moreish rose from everywhere."

The Independent

Appetising dry whites from Le Marche are taking Anthony Rose's fancy, with Verdicchio holding his interest in particular. A high quality and versatile grape it's best-known as an everyday thirst-quencher like Moncaro's 2008 Verdicchio or Monte Schiavo's 2008 Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi.

Yet there is more, "it's capable of producing more stylish dry whites at classico and riserva levels that go wonderfully well with seafood, and then again fuller-bodied and more intensely flavoured wines. This is Italy, so there's even a luscious sweet Verdicchio made from dried grapes."

"Why drink Pinot Grigio when you get so much more from Verdicchio?"