A number of wine experts recently
predicted that following a disappointing few years, 2015 will be a
“magnificent” vintage for Bordeaux wine.
Early predictions
According to popular consensus,
2013 was a lackluster year for Bordeaux wine, while 2014 was nothing more than
average. The bottles produced in these periods simply didn’t match the quality
created in standout years such as 2005 and 2010.
Last year, Ideal
Wine Company reported that growers expected 2015 to be a great year for
French wine, especially Bordeaux. The technical director of the Bordeaux-based
Chateau Lestage winery said that France was experiencing its best growing
conditions since 2005. Gavin Quinney, a wine grower and commentator who lives
in Bordeaux, said: “it is a fact to date that all vintages ending in zero and
five have been great since 1985 and most of those have been dry years.”
“Magnificent year”
We reported this story before the
Bordeaux grape harvest, so it was hard to assess how accurate these predictions
were. Lifestyle site Expatica
recently spoke to a number of experts to ascertain the quality of the 2015
Bordeaux vintage. Cheered by last year’s dry growing conditions, they predicted
that the 2015 vintage would be “magnificent.”
Speaking at Bordeaux’s annual
futures tasting, which were held recently, prominent oenologist Michel Rolland
labelled the 2015 vintage “something to get excited about.” Explaining further,
Rolland said: "It's a great vintage with precise wines, better than any
we've ever made… It has the power of the 2005s and... the body and sunny charm
of the 2009s.”
Agreeing, South African wine shop
owner Neil Pendock said: “I've been coming for the primeur tastings for about
four, five years now and this is the best…I think you'll have a big success
here.” Meanwhile Stephan Toutoundji, a wine expert at South-West France’s
Oenoteam tasting laboratory suggested that exceptional quality was present
throughout all the Bordeaux 2015 labels, “on a par with the last great ones --
2005, 2009 and 2010.”
Sample Bordeaux
Therefore, there’s good reason to
believe that the 2015 vintage will be a great year for Bordeaux wine! If you
want to see what to expect from a truly excellent Bordeaux, come to Ideal Wine Company.
We supply a selection
of Bordeauxs of various vintages for you to try.
