Bordeaux Lost

4/11/11

Has the overall urgency in Bordeaux been lost?

Not just the chase for en-premier but the urgency in almost every respect.

As I’ve written in the past, with a “vintage of the century” every few years, ultra-competitive/better winemaking and 6-8 worthy vintages backed up in the pipeline, the Bordelaise need to learn how to make bad wine again. With the overwhelming majority of estates producing the finest wine in their history, it’s become too much of a good thing. In the 1970s and 1980s (even the 1990s), a host of properties skated by on their laurels and on the reputation of Bordeaux in the world market. While that still exists today, the sheer number and amount of top-tier wine is almost staggering – from mom and pop “estates” to the grandest properties, Bordeaux is in the midst of a qualitative renaissance...

...but that is not necessarily a good thing for the local economy.

There is simply too much good Bordeaux on the market and the result is over-supply with demand that has reached a plateau or nudged to the downside. While this may not be a permanent circumstance once (if?) the world’s economy comes back, the current over-supply and plethora of top choices available from many vintages (not just the current campaign) should result in eventual price-cutting and a broader “wait and see” approach by the consumer (who has no need to get caught up in the soon to commence 1st tranche chase).

Unless the slack can be taken up by emerging and thirsty new regions, there is nothing in the water to suggest quality and availability are headed down any time soon. Both should continue to increase along with better winemaking and new high-level names added to the card. In the past, 40-50 properties made what I would call excellent wine in any given vintage (let’s say 90-91 points or higher) - now that number may be as high as 200 properties? Maybe it’s even 300 properties?

With so much good wine being made in what seems like every other year (or 3 out of 5 years), a 90 or 91 point score just doesn't have the same urgency it once did in Bordeaux (even a 92 or 93 point score now gets a shrug from many buyers). This has presented a circumstance called the “wine-trade sweet-spot” where a property may have produced an excellent result but will actually have trouble selling their wine (with a 91 or 92 point rating)...that’s where bargains will eventually materialize and the “wait and see” crowd should be rewarded for patience.

While a huge amount of top-quality wine would appear to be a nice problem to have, it has also had several undercurrent/residual affects on the trade – the most interesting (from my point of view) is that for the first time in over 20 years, a broad base of the Bordelaise are ready to move on.

What do I mean?

They are ready to distance themselves, ever so politely, from the stranglehold of what can now be called “The Old Guard”.

Which is why you should make a special note to remember vintage 2010: the year that made Parker and the Wine Spectator quasi-irrelevant.

Yes, I just said that.

Before everyone chokes on their grilled panini lunch, let me explain why exemplary wine wasn’t the only thing being tested and tasted during last week’s 2010 futures sampling chase in Bordeaux. What I found to be most interesting was the gentle discussion taking place around the region, the serving of notice that “our wine has already been scored by James Suckling, Jean-Marc Quarin, Jancis Robinson and a host of well-known critics and bloggers that gave it a range of 92-94 points – we’re ready to set our pricing now. Also, Neal Martin comes in tomorrow so we’re excited to have him try the wines”.

Excuse me, but I failed to hear the words Parker, Tanzer or Spectator in that utterance?

I will distil the quote above into something like this: “While we thank you for years of service to our cause, we don’t need you anymore – we have plenty of ammunition without you”.

How can that be?

It’s simple.

Technology and a new generation that has grabbed the bull by the horns.

While it’s true that Parker’s score will continue to follow a young Bordeaux through adolescence to adulthood (and to the grave) and no one is arguing or denying Bob’s ability to get the masses into a frenzy of anticipation, his monopoly has finally been diluted. There are so many other sources of information, all conveniently printed/blogged a month or more ahead of Parker, that a bad score from Bob doesn’t necessarily mean what it used to. It still matters but it’s not the slow walk to the guillotine that an 89 used to signify.

As another example, in the ultimate knee-to-the-groin at his former employer, James Suckling’s HBO-style reviews have provided the eye-popping scores and uncensored language that gets a market (and chateau owner’s point-of-sale printer) moving – the Wine Spectator, it seems, has gone a touch more conservative with its new coverage...which doesn’t appear to have the same level of excitement (or interest from consumers or the chateau owners).

For every 87 point Parker stiletto to the heart of a wine, it’s possible that a crafty auction house, chateau (or retailer?) can find a number of other 90+ point scores to over-ride what used to be all that mattered. Add in Neal Martin’s impending take over of the Wine Advocate’s Bordeaux coverage, and it’s easy to see why owners were excited to have Neal arrive last week – Martin is their future and his palate better be figured out in a hurry so necessary changes can be made to their “formula” – just as they did for Parker 15-20 years ago. While they may still fancy a casual lunch with Bob over a few old bottles, it is Neal’s pen that will ultimately squire their fate and this realization has already been firmly planted.

While no one is tossing Bob under a bus any time soon, it is clear that Bordeaux’s way forward has been paved through a UK palate, a more classic palate, for the first time in a long time. Neal doesn't like what Bob likes (this isn’t a Mini-Me circumstance like some of the other WA coverage) - Neal is his own man with a top palate and he has no problem standing up for his beliefs or to the person who signs his paycheck...which is exactly why Parker hired him in the first place. Bob is no dummy and he had to have a legitimate plan for the future of his brand - not necessarily for the singular nature of his own name. The young Neal Martin gives him that future in Bordeaux...no matter how long Parker wishes to remain active in the new-vintage tasting/scoring community (which I predict is a lot shorter than most of us know).

What is certain with last week’s en-premier 2010 event is that something has changed. The Bordelaise have begun to pay more attention to a bigger world out there and to the reviews and ideas of others. As caretakers of a business, they must look ahead - in 20 years, it will more than likely be Neal Martin and his generation still reviewing new-vintage Bordeaux, not Parker, Tanzer or the current crop of the Old Guard.

Circa en-premier 2010, it is the youth of today that has finally made its presence known in Bordeaux and, if I'm not mistaken, the hamster wheel of change, left spinning in one direction since the 1982 vintage, has finally broken free of its mooring and rolled off the Cliffs of Dover.

 - Jon Rimmerman