Present were:

• Jean-Christophe Mau, owner of Château Brown in Pessac-Léognan.
• Bruno Eynard, general manager of third growth Chateau Lagrange in Saint-Julien.
• Eric Perrin, owner of Chateau Carbonnieux in Pessac-Léognan, classified for red and white.
• Francois Despagne, owner of Chateau Grand-Corbin-Despagne in Saint Emilion, promoted to St. Emilion Grand Cru Classé in 2006.

Red wine

(Whites here.) The discussion naturally and immediately gravitated to reds, which account for 90% of Bordeaux production. The ability to grow and create a unique balance is one of claret’s enduring qualities, but how and when will a warming climate begin to degrade that balance?  Eynard said “it’s the balance between alcohol and acidity that’s unique in the world, with 3.2 to 3.4 [g/l total acid expressed as sulphuric; (5 to 5.2 g/l expressed as tartaric)] acid, and rich in tannins. It’s impossible to find this elsewhere in the world.  But I feel this balance is threatened by climate change, and the 2003 vintage is the evidence.”

Château Lagrange

Part of the arguably changing style of Bordeaux red wine seems to conflict with a warming climate, where picking times would generally become earlier in order to retain freshness. In Bordeaux, which is essentially a cooler, marginal climate for the grape varieties grown there, greater knowledge, especially understanding the difference between physiological and phenolic ripeness, which develop along different curves, has lead to later picking. Eynard said “today we pick one week later than before because we’re able to check the ripeness of polyphenols. Twenty years ago, we would have picked the 2009 earlier than we did. And because we wait for a good ripeness of the seed tannins, the alcohol also goes up, but it’s better for the overall balance of the wine.”  

Over on the right bank, the warming climate issues are slightly modified by the soils.  Despagne said “Pomerol and northern St. Emilion have more gravel and sand. Here the harvest is earlier that where the soil is clay-limestone. There are more problems on clay-limestone due to the concentration, with some alcohols reaching 14%, 14.5%, even 15%.”

Vintage 2003 was a seminal moment also for Despagne. He said: there is a problem when physiological and phenolic ripeness do not occur at the same moment.  In 2003 physiological ripeness came, and we waited for phenolic ripeness. Then we got the concentration, with small berries and lower acidity.”

In the great 2005, as well as 2009, predicted for greatness, Despagne said these different aspects of ripeness proceeded at a similar pace, resulting in high concentration, yet with a good level of acidity. Synchronised ripening of sugars and phenols is the ideal scenario.

Vintage 2003 was more of a new world vintage, and, said Despagne, “it was a good vintage to change.”  It’s surprising to imagine the Bordelais as inexperienced, but, said Eynard “hot vintages are the most difficult to manage. We don’t know them very well. No-one find the right dates for picking, one neighbour picks two weeks ahead of the other neighbour. It’s the same for vinification: we are less experienced.”

This was the vintage that stopped these guys dealing systematically with their vineyard management.  Where once they would have routinely de-leafed in June and July, Despagne de-leafed just one side in 2003, and only once, and “in 2005, with the water stress of that year, we limited de-leafing” leaving more bunches in the lower evapo-transpiration zone of shade. “Now” he said “we don’t work systematically. We adapt our canopy management according to the weather.”

Part of Despagne’s adaptation is to increase his cabernet franc plantings. He said “I am increasing cabernet franc because of the balance [in the wine].  It has tannins and acidity and doesn’t have big alcohol. Cabernet franc to help deal with climate change is very interesting.”

Data on average alcohol levels from the CIVB show remarkably little increase in figures. In the 17 years from 1990 to 2007, St Estephe has moved from an average 12.9% to 12.6%, peaking at 13.2% in 2002. Pomerol has moved from 12.8% to 13.1% in the same period. St. Emilion is 13.1% in both 1990 and 2007, though got up to 14% for the 2005 vintage.  However this is all rather spurious as it is muddied by the chaptalisation waters.

Jean-Christophe Mau, of Ch. Brown

At the four Châteaux, between these dates, yields have not fluctuated markedly, nor have total acidity figures, or pH, which runs between 3.6 and 3.8.  Alcohol extremes are 12.5% (Château Brown, 2000) and 13.9%, also Château Brown, 2009).

Despagne reverted to the balance of Bordeaux wines, saying “we must understand what happens, and do what is necessary.  In 2005, and 2009, the alcohol is important [high], and the tannins are rich, with balance.  Also the pH is more interesting, 3.6, 3.7” which keeps that fresh balance alongside the richness and concentration.  Mau added: “in 2005 the sugar level of cabernet sauvignon at Château Brown was 12.5%.  In 2009, it was 14%, but my acidity is good” reflecting the more synchronised ripening of sugar and phenols in that vintage.

The longer cycle

Looking beyond the last 20 years, a short series of hotter or colder years can be identified in most decades: the 1940s, the 2000s on the hotter side; the 1960s, the 1990s on the cooler side.  The vintage of easy choice to pluck out of the pantheon on such occasions is the remarkable 1947 vintage, with Cheval Blanc being cited with alcohol of 14.4%.

But Eynard has noted a changing theme to the decade rule of thumb.  He said: “in a decade we used to get one exceptional, three good, three medium and three modest [for which read not great]. Now we get 3 exceptional, six very good and one medium.” Despagne emphasised the point “we have no more bad vintages in Bordeaux.” Which for the immediate moment, is enviable.

However, no-one is in any doubt that the climate is warming.  For the moment, the Bordelais have some time to adapt each year.  Being originally ‘cooler climate’, in fact a warming climate in the short term enable grapes to ripen more regularly and consistently, as Eynard noted, saying “it’s not too late for us. The new weather is still comfortable for us. We have enough technical capabilities to manage the vineyard, for example de-leafing, the date of the harvest, even a higher crop could be possible.” But he warned, “the most difficult choices are for the next 20, 30, 40 years. For example, when we plant, should we drain, because in 20 years we will need the water.”

Whether the choice of grape varieties planted might change is also an issue to address now. Despagne is already planting more cabernet franc.  

Anecdotal tasting

We tasted 2007s, 2003s and 1989s from the châteaux, being one cool and two hot vintages. Whilst trying to eliminate the variation of age … and hopefully not pre-empting what one might be expecting to taste … the 2007s were unexpectedly fine and approachable, obviously youthful with tight, sweet fruit in the ‘cooler’ blackcurrant spectrum.   

On the 2003s, by comparison, I felt the tannins, rather than alcohol gave away the heat of the 2003 vintage.  Indeed the alcohol was supremely well integrated across the board: ‘warmth of alcohol’ didn’t feature in any of my notes.  The 2003 tannins though, relatively, I felt to be a little coarser, a little chunkier, a little grittier, a little more granular, and hessian-textured, with a little more friction in the mouth, by comparison to the smooth, almost slippery and fine-grained tannins in 2007.  I supposed the heat of 2003 was challenging for the phenolic development.  

On this purely anecdotal tasting, bottle evolution may also become an issue in a warming climate. I felt the 1989s to be approaching full maturity, indeed one of wines I felt to be drying out just a little. Perhaps the – relatively speaking – coarser-textured tannins of the 2003 are also more evolved than in a cooler vintage and may be less able to provide traditional levels of bottle ageing capacity.

All were still medium-bodied, so classically Bordeaux, with no overtly noticeable alcoholic perception, so no risk yet of Bordeaux becoming a chunky, clunky, full-bodied, alcoholic, spicy and jammy wine, which one might be forgiven for associating Bordeaux grape varieties in a hot climate.

Cabernet sauvignon is the most renowned grape variety in the world, the veritable king of grapes. It’s homeland and the apogee of its expression, invariably blended with a little merlot, has always, undeniably, indisputably been held to be on the left bank of the Bordeaux region, in France. Bordeaux’s right bank, in the notable appellations of Saint Emilion and Saint Emilion Grand Cru, focuses more on a blend of merlot and cabernet franc.

It was in 1855, when left bank châteaux were classified as part of the Paris Exposition of the same year.  Merchants took as their framework the price lists for the previous years and drew up a list of some 60-plus châteaux which were consistently getting the highest prices on the Bordeaux Place, the trading hub for Bordeaux wines.  Bordeaux has never looked back.

Château Margaux

At least, Bordeaux’s upper echelons.  Looking at the trading prices for the 2005s (in 2008) – Château Lafite-Rothschild was £9,200 a case (AUD$19,080).

But Bordeaux is not a singular place, and when a Bordeaux château-owner tells you Bordeaux is like a whole country, it pricks up your attention to reality check the statement.  With 123,000 hectares of vineyard in the Bordeaux appellation, that’s more than Chile, it’s more than South Africa, it’s more than Germany. Up until a few years ago, it was more than Australia. And this also reveals the fundamental dichotomy that is Bordeaux. The top end is aspirational and sublime.  The bottom end often struggles to be sold.

One of cabernet sauvignon’s assets is that it maintains good varietal definition and flavour under reasonably different production and climatic regimes. It’s a vigorous vine, it grows easily in a variety of different soils. Though ‘hot’ climate cabernet sauvignon does become distinctly different, taking on baked, jammy, hot attributes which overwhelm the normal varietal character, such as cassis, blackcurrant, cedar notes with French oak. 

cabernet sauvignon is now planted the world over

Because of its adaptability, and because any and all wine-producing regions have wanted to emulate the top, top wine producing region in the world, cabernet sauvignon is now planted the world over.  France has 59,000 ha, half of which is in Bordeaux; Australia has as much cabernet sauvignon as Bordeaux; California has 30,000 ha, Chile has 40,000ha.

In the face of all this ‘extra’ cabernet sauvignon out there, is the bottom end suffering from new world competition? If top end Bordeaux is about 3% of Bordeaux’s production, the bottom end is about 50% of the region’s production – about 3 million hectolitres, or one-quarter the total production of Australia.

Michael Cox, the UK director of Wines of Chile, the promotional agency for Chilean wines, said “cabernet sauvignon was taken to Chile in the 1850s and has thrived. One of reasons for Chile’s success in the 80s and 90s was because the style of cabernet sauvignon was a pure expression of ripe, vibrant fruit and soft tannins.”  It’s a rare (increasingly less so), warm vintage in Bordeaux that the fruit can make that particular claim. He added “the difference between top, top quality Chilean cabernet sauvignon and average quality Chilean cabernet sauvignon is relatively narrow. But in Bordeaux the difference is huge.”  The difference in Bordeaux is split by a chasm.

Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande

A general measure of ‘success’ for everyday Bordeaux is the price of a tonneau.  This is the traditional measurement of 900 litres (or 4 barriques of 225 litres each) by which quotidian wine is traded. When the price is up around the €1,000 mark (AUD$1,638), as it was in 2008, Bordeaux tends to be reasonably happy.  Back at the end of 2005, the tonneau price was about €750 (AUD1.36/litre), barely enough to live on. As a comparison, Australia’s 2008 statistics showed the average export value is AUD$3.85/litre. 2005 marked a low point for everyday Bordeaux wines, the stunning quality of the vintage notwithstanding. 

But Bordeaux’s, as France’s, main historic problem is a dramatically declining domestic consumption, which has halved over the course of a generation.  This, plus of course, declining exports in the face of new world competition and a consumer preference for ripe, soft-fruited, soft-tannin wines. 

One small trend that reflects this is a snail-like increase in plantings of merlot, by two percentage points over the last half a dozen or so years, at the expense of both cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc. This is likely to be because merlot is (a) slightly earlier ripening than cabernet sauvignon, therefore ‘easier’ to grow in a cool, maritime climate and (b) reflecting the trend to ‘easier’ wines – merlot has lighter tannins, sweet alcoholic fruit, and the resulting wine needs less time in bottle. But the degree of change in plantings is so slight as to have no real discernible influence on the final wine style.

The latest figures from Bordeaux showed it was in recovery in 2008, before the recession really set in. Exports were starting to grow again. They were up 7% volume and 9% value to €1.38 bn (AUD2.27bn).  Just as Australia looks to China, Russia and other Asian markets for more export success, so does Bordeaux.  Exports to China were up 158% in 2007.

Château Mouton Rothschild

Top end Bordeaux is largely immune to the competitive market. It’s traded as a commodity these days; it might as well be lead, or copper, or concrete (or gold). If posh UK wine merchant Berry Bros. & Rudd can sell £60 million of the 2005 vintage, things are not too bad for top Bordeaux.

Changes are afoot though, in both the lower and middle sectors of the market.  Mark Walford, of Bordeaux negociant Richards Walford, said: “There was a period in Bordeaux’s history, when people were making wine to please Mr. [Robert] Parker. They are finding their vineyards are more suited to an accent on finesse than attack. There are many young châteaux owners making wine in this style rather than the Californian style.”

And at the bottom, Walford continued, appellations such as “Bordeaux Supérieur are having to stand on their own feet. They need to pick grapes properly ripe, not overproduce, and raise the wine with care. I think they’re still Bordeaux in style. They don’t get the sugar levels [of the new world] especially with cabernet sauvignon.  Certainly, wines have to be made better to appeal to the market” suggesting in part Australians, and other new world producers, may have passed technical lessons to Europe in how to make wine.  Walford cited Domaine de Chevalier, in the Graves, where the style of winemaking is getting finer, more refined and stylish as the team there gets into their stride, implying that this is the opposite of a new world style.

If new world competitivity has done anything, it’s make Bordeaux (and arguably the rest of the old world) realise that however typical wines are of their region, they must still appeal to consumers.

Bordeaux wine region

Bordeaux is the most prestigious and the finest wine producing area in the world. The eponymous region in south west France is the home of some of the most sought-after “collectors’ items” in the world, as well much good value everyday wine. It produces 14% of all French wines, 65-70 million cases, which is more than Romania.

HISTORY

The region is one of the oldest wine growing regions, and there is a long trading history with England. A 12^th century royal marriage gave to England much territory in south west France, and favourable trading terms.  

During the 17^th and 18^th centuries, long after the land reverted to French ownership, entrepreneurs from several countries such as Ireland, Britain, the Netherlands and Germany moved to Bordeaux to trade and export wine to their home countries.   

It was the Dutch, with their excellent land-drainage skills who, by draining the marshy land of the Médoc in the mid 17^th century, exposed their beautifully draining gravels, laying the foundation for the modern Bordeaux wine region – the left bank -  and its top quality wines. 

Bordeaux reds are often called claret in the UK as a linguistic artefact of our centuries-long historical trading association. 

GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE

The Bordeaux region covers over 120,000 hectares (300,000 acres). The climate is similar, but a bit warmer to southern England: temperate, with mild winters, damp springs and rainy autumns.    

The region is sliced into three big chunks by the Gironde estuary, which is fed by the rivers Dordogne and Garonne.  The Entre-deux-mers is akin to the bread-basket of Bordeaux producing much everyday red and white wine.  But it is the left bank of the Médoc that lays claim to the finest red wines of Margaux, St. Estephe, St Julien and Pauillac, and the right bank to the highly-prized reds of Pomerol and St. Emilion. 

The best dry whites come from the Graves, immediately south of the city of Bordeaux, and the most famous sweet whites just south of that, in Sauternes and Barsac.                                            

Bordeaux has a total of 57 appellations — a specific, delimited area of land, the name of which appears on the label.   These appellations generally avoid land that is of too poor quality to grow grapes such as low-lying badly drained land, or soils that are too sandy. 

To qualify for an appellation all the grapes must be grown within the borders of the appellation. So, for a wine labelled ‘Bordeaux Appellation Contrôlée’ the grapes can come from anywhere within the 120,000 hectares.  But there are fewer than 800 ha of vines in Pomerol, which makes average production per grower a tiny 2,500 to 3,000 cases.  As a point of comparison, in the UK, we buy over 2.5 million cases of Aussie wine Jacob’s Creek to drink at home.

Another criterion for appellation is the use of specific grape varieties.  For Bordeaux, all red wines are made from cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc (sometimes with sprinklings of petit verdot and malbec).  All white wines, both sweet and dry, are made from differing proportions of sauvignon blanc and semillon, sometimes with a little muscadelle.  Bordeaux wines cannot be made from any other grape varieties. As a comparison, the appellations of Burgundy must be just pinot noir for reds and chardonnay for whites.

GRAPES AND BLENDS – RED

Pauillac vineyards

It is the red wines of Bordeaux that have claimed their place in wine immortality. They account for the lion’s share of production, about 90%. Over the centuries the Bordelais have found that blending their grape varieties can add additional layers of complexity and palate profile to a wine, with the best aspects of one grape variety complementing the best aspects of another.  For the classic cabernet sauvignon/merlot blend the deeply coloured, tannic and richly blackcurrant-fruited cabernet sauvignon can be softened and rounded a little by the more supple tannins of merlot and its additional flavours added of earth, plum and warm bread.  

Within this classic blend there is a useful distinction to be found between the left bank and right bank.  The Médoc tends to have a higher proportion of cabernet sauvignon in the blend, maybe 60-70%, which lends a stronger, more structured profile, with more tannic grip.  The remainder will be 20-35% merlot, up to 15% cabernet franc, plus a little “seasoning” from those other two grape varieties.

Right bank wines tend to have a higher proportion of merlot (~60%) and cabernet franc (~30%) which offer a softer, rounder, more approachable and supple profile, supported by the strength of about 10% cabernet sauvignon. Right bank wines are often considered an easier introduction to people unfamiliar with the wines of Bordeaux.  And in terms of value, some of the best reds are to be found in the lesser known right bank appellations such as Bourg, Blaye, Fronsac and Côtes de Castillon.

GRAPES AND BLENDS – WHITE

White Bordeaux wines are made from semillon and sauvignon blanc, and the sweet styles may have a little muscadelle also.  For dry whites at the lower end of the market – likely from the Entre-deux-Mers – the best may be varietal sauvignon blanc, unoaked, aiming at primary fruit expression, an aperitif style.  At the top end dry whites are generally blends and are serious, overtly oaked, creamily-textured wines needing appropriate food pairing to show their best colours.  The emphasis for this style is on structure and potential longevity rather than immediate fruity appeal and the price reflects this, often £20 and more. 

The sweet white wines of Sauternes and other appellations such as Barsac, Saint-Croix-du-Mont and Cadillac are made in a very different way.  Some grapes are left on the vine after the ‘dry wine’ harvest.  As autumn approaches and with it the risk of rain, the mornings in places close to the river may be misty which brings a beneficial mould, botrytis. Botrytis wraps itself around each intact berry, drawing water from it, thereby concentrating all the other grape constituents.  So long as the afternoons are dry all is well, but if the autumn is damp and rainy the mould can turn nasty and cause the remaining crop to rot, by splitting the berry skin and exposing the pulp. Semillon has thin skins which are susceptible to this magical, risk-laden botrytis.  Blending with sauvignon blanc, which has naturally high acidity, balances the final wine.

CLASSIFICATION

Almost unique to the wine-producing world, a few Bordeaux properties are classified.  About 200 properties are classified, among the ten thousand growers, and it is these ‘top’ châteaux that provide the global benchmark.

The 1855 Médoc classification is the most widely known (see it here).  It was drawn up for the Universal Exposition in Paris of the same year.  Market prices of the day formed the basis of a list of producers whose wines consistently attained the highest prices.  This group of 60-odd châteaux were ranked into 5 groups – first growth through to fifth growth – what are now known as the ‘classed growths’. 

Other properties, such as those in the Graves, Sauternes and St. Emilion, have also been classified, bringing the total up to 200.

REPUTATION AND QUALITY

At their best and classic expression, the prestigious appellations (containing those classified properties) of St. Estèphe, Pauillac, St. Julien, Margaux, Graves, Pomerol, St. Emilion show subtly different flavour profiles, which reflect the particular site where the grapes have grown.  This is the essence of ‘terroir’ or the ’sense of place’ that good quality wines display.

The vast majority of wine is produced in the less prestigious appellations – the Entre-Deux-Mers and areas lying outside the key names.  Some of these wines are bottled at the property and sold as “petit châteaux” wine under its specific appellation and Château name.  Much is sold in bulk to merchant firms which blend various wines into brands e.g. Mouton Cadet, Numéro 1, Sirius, Calvet Classic, sold under the most generic appellation of Bordeaux Appellation Contrôlée.  The advantage here  is that the merchants are able buy fruit and wine from all the Bordeaux vineyards with the aim of finding the best quality they can to fit into the price of their brands.  This is a vital part of the Bordeaux market, and a way of potentially offering consistent and reliable wine styles for consumers to try the region’s wines.