So for my wrap up of the vintage I refer back to the Bill Blatch vintage notes that I referenced in my first blog.
This Bordeaux veteran negociant summarized the vintage with these two quotes:
The 2010's "have all the power of the 09s, they have nothing of the opulence and thickness of the 09s. They are much more rugged, have an incredibly strong tannic surge and there is more acidity in those tannins." Bill Blatch
"In terms of individual vintages, if , by its velvety texture,'09 has a lot in common with '82, '47 or '29, then '10, with its strong tannins, is more in the vein of '05, '00, '86, '49 and'45, but with more sheer alcohol than all of these." Bill Blatch
I tend to agree. While I tasted a handful of fantastic wines, much of the vintage doesn't stack up to 2009. There will be a small group of 20-30 wines that I would be interested in if the prices come out right, though it doesn't seem probable considering the fact that the Euro/dollar ratio is off 20% from where it was when the 2009s were released, in addition to the fact that the prices will be higher.
Price aside, at the top levels, the 2010 vintage has a level of purity and freshness that is so rare to find in wines. For instance, when eating with Jean-Guillaume Prats, the Managing director of Cos Destournel, he mentioned that they made the wine the exact same way in 2009 as they did in 2010 with dramatically different results. It could be that the 2010 is even better than the 98-100 point 2009 vintage of Cos d'Estournel. Again this is a rare case where purity, elegance and finesse trump the richness of the 2009.
While there will be a handful of 2010 Bordeaux that will have huge scores and words of praise, we're all going to have to reassess the dollars that make sense in these back-to-back good vintages. My guess is that 2009 Bordeaux will disappear completely once the general public realizes that 2010 is going to cost them more for a vintage that is less desirable than 2009 for the most part. That's not to say 2010 isn't a terrific vintage, but it's unfortunately placed next to one of history;s best years ever to come along that will seem cheap by comparison.
There you go. Stay tuned as the campaign begins over the next weeks and months.