2007 Bordeaux Vintage

Winter was mild and March rather cool, so budbreak at the start of April was not particularly early. Then the last two ten-day spells of April turned exceptionally hot, with temperatures near 30C from 20 to 23 April. At 16.1C, April was the warmest recorded in more than 100 years in the Gironde, about 4C above normal, and shoots grew fast. Some feared another 2003. It did not come. Heavy storms soaked the first half of May, and flowering began around 20 May, 15 to 20 days early, but dragged on for more than two weeks; poor weather at the end of May caused some coulure on all varieties. From May to August the season was cool and damp. There were 51 days of rain between 1 May and 31 July, against 32 and 34 in 2002 and 2000, and that frequency made mildew virulent and hard to control; Merlot suffered most, with very large losses on some plots in the south of the department. July ran 1.4C below normal and August 1.2C below, sunshine was below average from May to August, and the Cadillac weather station logged only 12 days of 30C or more from June to August. Veraison reached its midpoint on 3 August. The last ten days of August brought close to 100mm of rain, with storms on 29 August, leaving August totals of 80 to 130 mm, about double the norm; the rain swelled berries and started some botrytis on the most vigorous vines. Then, on 30 August, fine sunny weather and a dry northerly wind arrived. September and October were very dry, with 38 mm and 30 mm at Villenave d'Ornon against averages of 78 mm and 93 mm, and 40 to 50 hours more sunshine than normal. The harvest was spread out: dry whites from the first days of September, sweet wines from around 10 September and reds from around 20 September. The year had an early start and a late finish, with the harvest concentrated from the end of September through to late October. Yields were lower than in 2006 in most crus, and the final Sauternes yield was well below average.

• April was the warmest in more than 100 years in the Gironde, at 16.1C, about 4C above normal
• Flowering began around 20 May, 15 to 20 days early; 51 days of rain from 1 May to 31 July drove heavy mildew pressure
• July and August ran 1.4C and 1.2C below normal; August rain of 80 to 130 mm was about double the norm
• A dry September and October (38 mm and 30 mm) rescued ripening; reds were picked from around 20 September

Ripening decided the reds. The Merlots were disappointing at the first ripeness checks, with more malic acid and bigger berries than in 2006, and growers had to wait almost to the end of September for them to lose their vegetal character and astringent tannin; they did best on clay. The Cabernets, Franc and Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot gained most from the fine autumn and could be picked in early October with high sugar for the variety and satisfactory acidity, with Cabernet sugar levels close to 2005. Where leaf removal and other green work had been done early and with care, and picking could wait, the grapes were not vegetal at harvest. In Pomerol, the bulk of the Merlot for the grand vin came in the week of 17 September, before a downpour on 22 September, with the Cabernet Franc in the last days of the month. In Fronsac and Canon-Fronsac, on later ripening terroirs, some picking ran to the end of October.

• Dry whites: picking began in the first days of September in the earliest vineyards
• Merlot: needed until almost the end of September to lose its vegetal character
• Cabernets and Petit Verdot: picked in early October with high sugar and satisfactory acidity
• Pomerol: most grand vin Merlot picked the week of 17 September, before the 22 September downpour

Results split by bank and commune. Gavin Quinney, reporting for Wine & Spirit magazine after tasting over 550 wines, called 2007 a fair to good vintage for reds with few really outstanding wines. On the Right Bank he found hundreds of chateaux making supple, early maturing, easy drinking wines from Merlot and a dash of Cabernet Franc, with Pomerol best of all. Lawther called Saint-Emilion an average and variable vintage, where Cabernet Franc was generally successful and estates on the limestone plateau and slopes were better placed. On the Left Bank, Quinney found attractive reds in Pessac-Leognan and less consistency in the Medoc, where some wines showed green, unripe characters. In Pauillac, Saint-Julien and Saint-Estephe Quinney found the later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon did far better than Merlot, and first-wine blends leaned harder on it: Ducru Beaucaillou went from 67% Cabernet Sauvignon in 2005 to 90% in 2007. Decanter's Steven Spurrier found Margaux more homogenous than usual, though Quinney called it a mixed bag, and Spurrier found great variation in Saint-Estephe, where many chateaux did not get enough ripeness.

• Pomerol: best of all for Quinney; a reasonable degree of success in a difficult year for Lawther
• Saint-Emilion: average and variable, with Cabernet Franc generally successful (Lawther)
• Pauillac and Saint-Julien: quality still high in Pauillac and overall good in Saint-Julien, though some wines lacked density (Spurrier)
• Medoc: less consistency, with some wines showing green, unripe characters (Quinney)

The whites were the stars. The ISVV judged the dry whites exceptional: concentrated, bursting with fruit and a notch above the 2006s, with Semillon and Sauvignon among the best since 1996 after a cool summer, cool nights and ideal picking conditions. Quinney rated it a very good vintage for dry whites, especially Sauvignon Blanc from better vineyards. For Sauternes and Barsac, noble rot conditions were ideal from mid-September to the end of October, with a very pure botrytis setting in progressively as light rain alternated with dry spells. Decanter wrote that out of the whole of Bordeaux, only Sauternes made indisputably great wines in 2007. Botrytis was slow to develop, growers harvested grape by grape, and the final yield was well below average. Quinney called it an excellent vintage for sweet whites, with the top estates in Sauternes and Barsac producing their best wines since 2001.

• Decanter: Sauternes and Barsac an outstanding vintage with exceptional freshness
• Cold September nights gave freshness and big day-night temperature swings gave aroma
• Decanter's best producers included Suduiraut, Rieussec, d'Yquem and La Tour Blanche in Sauternes, and Climens and Coutet in Barsac
• Dry whites: among the best since 1996 for the ISVV, with yields lower than 2006 in most crus

Red style varied by commune. Quinney found that chateaux in Pauillac, Saint-Julien and Saint-Estephe all made wines in a lighter style, with lower acidity and less weight, structure and depth, though he cautioned it was a bit early to assume all 2007 reds would be for early drinking. Lawther described Saint-Emilion wines with an attractive red fruit expression where grapes ripened and a vegetal streak where they did not, and in Fronsac noted lower acidity and alcohol and higher pH, with good colour and supple fruit for early drinking. The ISVV judged the reds more heterogeneous than the whites, set apart by vineyard work, terroir, the share of Cabernet and strict selection; the best lack the concentration of the greatest vintages but have the freshness, breed and complexity of great Bordeaux. Quinney summed 2007 up as what the trade calls a good restaurant vintage.

• Reds: fair to good for Quinney, honorable for the ISVV
• Saint-Emilion: red fruit where grapes ripened, a vegetal streak where they did not (Lawther)
• Pomerol: good colour, fruit, charm and early accessibility (Lawther)
• Sauternes: compared with 2001 for richness and purity and 1988 for balance and breed, per Decanter