2009 Bordeaux Vintage

Winter was cold, the fifth coldest of the previous twenty. March was dry, sunny and mild by day, with 56 percent less rain than average, and bud break started in the last week of March. April was changeable and wet, with rainfall 23 percent above the norm, and growth was uneven and not especially quick. May felt more like summer than spring, but violent storms brought hail on 9, 11, 13 and 25 May; some 15,000 hectares of vines lost 30 to 100 percent of their potential harvest, while Decanter put the area affected at up to 20,000ha, or one-fifth of overall output. June was warm and sunny, with 30 percent more sunshine than usual, and flowering was quick and even, peaking on 5 June in the ISVV reference vineyards (3 June for Merlot, 8 June for the Cabernets). July brought stormy spells nearly every week until the 22nd; then the rain stopped and water stress set in gradually, first on gravel soils. Downpours on 1 and 8 August triggered new vine growth, except in the Medoc, where August rainfall was under 20mm. August averaged 22.3 degrees C, 1.4 C above average, yet there was no heatwave: only three nights stayed above 20 C, and those cool nights protected the grapes' aromas, acidity and colour. September and October ran about 1 C warmer than average with abundant sunshine, and September rainfall at Merignac was 48mm against a 1998 to 2007 average of 77mm. The only serious rain came in mid-September, 45mm between the 15th and 20th; it was light in the Medoc but quite heavy on the Right Bank, and the 19 and 20 September downpour in Pomerol brought 100mm. After that came what the ISVV called a "dream harvest" in late September and October in unusually dry conditions. Dry whites were picked from early September, the earliest Merlot from 18 September and most Merlot from the 23rd, and the Cabernets mainly in the first two weeks of October. Yields were good but tempered by thick skins and less juice, with very low yields only in vineyards hit by hail in May.

• Fifth coldest winter in 20 years, then a dry, sunny March and bud break from the last week of March
• Hail on 9, 11, 13 and 25 May: some 15,000ha lost 30 to 100 percent of their potential harvest
• Peak flowering on 5 June; August ran 1.4 C above average but with no heatwave and cool nights
• Mid-September rain, then a dry harvest: Merlot from 18 September, Cabernets mainly early October

Picking strategies varied widely, and some estates started their Merlot when their neighbours had almost finished their Cabernet. In Pomerol, some chateaux, such as Lafleur and Trotanoy, picked before the 19 and 20 September downpour, and the majority, including Petrus, after it. Christian Moueix completed the harvest at Petrus on 1 October, and ten days later Hubert de Bouard finished the Merlot and started the Cabernet Franc at Chateau Angelus in Saint-Emilion. In Pauillac, Mouton Rothschild and Lafite picked their Merlot in the week before and began their Cabernet Sauvignon from 1 October. Picking dates in St-Julien were consistent across the appellation, between 22 September and 8 October. Until 10 October no rot was seen on red grapes at the important chateaux, although it turned more humid from 8 to 12 October. In Sauternes the harvest was exceptionally early and short: a clean-up pass from 10 to 17 September, a pause for noble rot after the rain of 18 to 20 September, then the main picking from 28 September to 20 October, with two or three passes at most.

Decanter rated Bordeaux 2009 5/5 across the board: Medoc and Graves, Saint-Emilion and Pomerol, and Sauternes and Barsac. The same guide favored the left bank for those seeking balance over power, while the Merlot-dominated right bank made strong, powerful wines, many with an explosive and generous amount of fruit, and showed perhaps more variability. Decanter saw huge ageing potential for St-Julien, Margaux, Pauillac and St-Estephe, with the best St-Juliens improving over three decades, perhaps more. Decanter's top performers with a fair amount of Merlot in the blend included Issan, Leoville-Poyferre, Palmer, Pichon-Longueville and Rauzan-Segla. In Saint-Emilion, the 12 May hailstorm did considerable damage to vineyards just north-east of the town, where yields were considerably down, and vines in some sandier zones suffered from the dry conditions in July and August. Pomerol had a great year, though quality was uneven further down the scale, and Fronsac and Canon-Fronsac escaped the May hail. The northern Graves, Pessac-Leognan, produced wines with vigour and freshness. It was also a great year for many of the smaller appellations, such as Fronsac, Castillon and the St-Emilion satellites.

Sugar levels were very high, often greater than in 2003, 2005 and 2006 in many vineyards, the ISVV found, and because the grapes could stay on the vine until late September the skins and seeds reached phenolic maturity. Merlot at the major estates came in around 14 to 14.8 degrees, some over 15, and Left Bank Cabernet Sauvignon at 12.4 to 13.8 degrees. The ISVV found deep colour, impressive fruit and smooth tannins in the young reds, "indicative of a very good, or even an exceptional year." Decanter's guide described big, hedonistic Medoc and Graves wines, "like 1982 but more consistent," with fairly low acidity raising concerns about ageability, and luscious, high-alcohol Saint-Emilion and Pomerol. An August hotter than the previous three years was generally less propitious for Sauvignon Blanc aromas, though cool nights kept the dry whites very satisfactory and Semillon on limestone soils developed remarkable power and richness; acidity was fairly low in the Bordeaux and Bordeaux Superieur appellation whites due to the heat. In Sauternes and Barsac, botrytis set in with astonishing rapidity, and Decanter reported juices far above 20 degrees of potential alcohol, an absolute record, on a record yield of 25hl/ha or more. All Sauternes growers greeted 2009 as one of the most perfect, or even the most perfect, vintage they remember.

The ISVV judged that 2009 met, almost perfectly, the five conditions required for a great red Bordeaux vintage: early flowering and fruit set, early colour change, complete ripening and a dry harvest. It cautioned that 2009 would be a textbook year like 2005 in many vineyards, but probably not all. At harvest time Christian Moueix called the vintage "truly exceptional" and said "The word this year is fruit," and Hubert de Bouard told Gavin Quinney, "as a winemaker for 25 years, it's really exceptional." Comparisons ranged from a mythical blend of 1982, 1989 and 1990 to Moueix's choice of 1947, Quinney reported, while Decanter likened the Sauternes to 1990 with more body and definition, or, for older growers, 1949 and 1921.

• ISVV: 2009 met almost perfectly the five conditions for a great red Bordeaux vintage
• Christian Moueix at Petrus: "truly exceptional"
• Comparisons: a blend of 1982, 1989 and 1990; 1947 for Moueix; 1982 for Decanter's Medoc and Graves
• Sauternes: likened by Decanter to 1990 with more body and definition, or to 1949 and 1921