2006 Bordeaux Vintage

2006 was a year of contrasts: a spring and summer that were warm and dry overall, broken by a cool August and a stormy spell in mid-September. Winter was wet. Rain from October to March totalled 652mm, against a 1976-2005 average of 534mm, and March 2006 was the wettest in 30 years, rebuilding soil water after the 2005 drought, though the Sauternais and eastern Entre-Deux-Mers got noticeably less. The end of winter was cool, with frequent frosts in late February and early March, and the slow warm-up gave a slightly late budbreak, around 6 April for Merlot and 14 April for Cabernet Sauvignon. Frosts on 8 and 11 April caused some damage on certain plots in Pessac-Leognan. Spring was dry: the Grande Ferrade station at Villenave d'Ornon recorded 23mm in April, about 40% of the average, and outside the northern Medoc and the Sauternais, May rainfall ran about 30% short. June was very dry and fairly warm, and flowering was quick and free of coulure on both banks, starting at the end of May for Merlot and early June for Cabernet, with mid-flowering around 4 June. July was exceptionally hot, with mean temperatures more than four degrees C above the long-term average, and so hot and dry that the vines began to shut down; the first colored Merlot berries appeared from 23 July. August then turned cool, the coolest since 1986, with 225 hours of sunshine against an average of 242 and rainfall 22% above the August average, and veraison was spun out over a much longer period than usual. The first ten days of September were dry and hot, and sugar levels caught up by 11 September. Then storms in the second ten days of September brought 100 to 150mm of rain, locally very variable, with Pessac-Leognan the most spared; rain fell virtually every day from September 11 to 18 and on both 21 and 24. The threat of dilution and grey rot pushed growers to pick faster than planned. The earliest Merlots came in from 12 September, the last ten days of the month were fairly warm with no significant rain from the 22nd, letting growers pick most of the Cabernets, and near-daily showers in the first week of October raised botrytis pressure and hurried the latest grapes in. Robinson judged that the April frost damage was not serious enough to bring a dramatically reduced crop, and that any low production levels were more likely the result of fastidious selection.

• Wet winter: 652mm of rain from October to March against a 534mm average; budbreak around 6 April for Merlot and 14 April for Cabernet Sauvignon
• Dry spring and a quick flowering free of coulure, with mid-flowering around 4 June
• An exceptionally hot July, then the coolest August since 1986
• Storms in mid-September brought 100 to 150mm of rain; the earliest Merlots were picked from 12 September

Decanter's vintage guide found results varied by commune. Many Saint-Julien wines were the equal of 2005 and in some cases superior, while Pauillac as an appellation was very varied, even though the three First Growths were absolutely superb. Margaux showed overall good quality but very few outstanding wines. On the Right Bank, Decanter called Saint-Emilion a difficult vintage, with up to 150mm of rain over two weeks in September bringing the rapid onset of rot, and suggested Pomerol could well be the success story of 2006, with harvest conditions in this earlier ripening zone as near to optimum as anywhere in Bordeaux. In Pomerol, grapes for the grand vin were harvested mainly the week of 18 September, between bouts of heavy rain, while the Cabernet Franc had more difficulty reaching full maturity. Castillon had more rain than anywhere else in the Libournais, and Thierry Valette of Clos Puy Arnaud reckoned he put 40% of the crop on the ground. Robinson suggested northern Medoc Cabernet Sauvignon, generally not picked until the end of September, was the other winning combination, and heard no one speaking up for Cabernet Franc.

• Saint-Julien: many wines the equal of 2005, some superior
• Pauillac: very varied as an appellation, though the three First Growths were absolutely superb
• Pomerol: possibly the success story of 2006, with grapes for the grand vin picked mainly the week of 18 September
• Saint-Emilion: a difficult vintage, with up to 150mm of rain over two weeks in September

The dry whites came through best, and Robinson called them the single most successful category of 2006 Bordeaux. The dry, hot start to September let early zones pick their white grapes before the mid-month rain, and those Sauvignons and Semillons paired fairly high sugar with good acidity and intense fruit thanks to the cool August. The ISVV found the finished wines very aromatic, mineral and fruity, perhaps better than the 2005s and comparable to 1996. Decanter found beautiful fresh acidity in Pessac-Leognan and Graves, where the earlier-ripening districts generally suffered less than the Medoc, and wrote that the whites may exceed the 2005s. For Sauternes and Barsac the reports differ. The ISVV described alternating wet and fairly long hot, dry spells from late August to early October that set up extremely effective noble rot, with lower yields than 2005 and particular success on the clay soils of Sauternes and the limestone of Barsac. Decanter's report noted both very ripe fruit and sour-rot grapes, with 100mm of rain in Sauternes from 14 to 18 September, and Robinson judged it not generally an exceptional year for Sauternes, except at the very top level.

• Dry whites: picked in early zones before the mid-September rain
• Pessac-Leognan and Graves: fresh acidity in reds and whites
• Sauternes and Barsac: extremely effective noble rot and lower yields than 2005
• Robinson: not generally an exceptional Sauternes year, except at the very top level

In April 2007, Robinson found 2006 to have notable acidity, lightweight fruit and rasping tannins, with exceptions particularly in Pomerol, and advised that, with a handful of exceptions, it was a vintage to buy only if you had an empty cellar to fill. The ISVV was more upbeat about the top reds: very deeply colored, with intense fresh fruit, Cabernets that proved very successful despite worries at harvest, and the best Merlots on clay or limestone showing fine tannic structure without astringency. It expected the reds to be long-lived, but found them more uneven early in their elevage than the 2005s, depending on terroir, viticulture, winemaking and the rigor of selection.

• Robinson, April 2007: notable acidity, lightweight fruit and rasping tannins, with exceptions
• ISVV: very deeply colored reds with intense fresh fruit, built for long ageing
• ISVV: reds more uneven early on than the 2005s
• Decanter: growers in Pomerol and Fronsac compared 2006 with 2001