Yesterday, a few of our lucky staff members attended the UGC tasting (Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux) held in New York City, a tasting of 2009 Bordeaux, which have finished aging in barrels and are now bottled. The UGC is an association of over 130 Grand Cru Bordeaux estates who strive for top quality in their wines.
As many of you may recall, 2009 was praised as one of the greatest vintages in history by world renowned wine critics and the winemakers too.
There was so much hype and frenzy around this vintage, so we were excited to finally taste these wines in bottle. Robert Parker said, "...for some Medocs and Graves, 2009 may turn out to be the finest vintage I have tasted in 32 years of covering Bordeaux." That's a big statement from one of the world's most prominent wine critics. With the 2009 vintage, Parker had also done something he hadn't before - he assigned asterisks (*) to a select group of wines that the thought was the finest of all offerings he had ever tasted from that estate. Thus, 2009 became known to many as the vintage of the asterisk.
James Suckling just this week finished tasting over 400 2009 Bordeaux wines from bottle. He says "yes, the vintage, the best of my career..." Another big statement from another powerful and important wine critic.
After tasting through numerous 2009s yesterday, we can say that it's true - these wines are sensational! This is one of the greatest vintages many of us will ever experience. It has superb freshness, power and elegance that provide for an early drinking window, yet at the same time, it will age gracefully for decades for those who can resist drinking them. The approachability of the 2009s is one of the hallmarks of this vintage.
Some of our favorites we tasted included 2009 Leoville Poyferre, which was super fresh with a beautiful nose and an amazingly long finish. Leoville Barton, Gruaud Larose, Larcis Ducasse, Troplong Mondot and Grand Puy Lacoste are some of the others we thought really stood out. We also took notice of 2009 Rauzan Segla, which celebrated its 350th anniversary with the 2009 vintage. Rauzan Segla created a special label to mark its anniversary and this legendary vintage.
With high release prices on the 2010 futures and little to no good news about the upcoming 2011 vintage, serious wine buyers who missed out or passed on these at release, will really start to chase the 2009s. Don't forget to reach out to your professional wine consultant at Sokolin and let us be your guide to this great vintage. 2009 Bordeaux is sure to become legendary and should be part of every wine collector's cellar.