Bordeaux 2017

Charlie @bordeauxuncorkd Matthews tweeted 3 days ago that "#BDX10 may be renamed Operation Escargot at this rate". Very true. The wines are spectacular this year, but the campaign isn't. It's boring. We're almost in June and only a handful of key wines have been released so far.

The reason? Probably because the Bordelais think they can afford it: demand has never been so strong - all those new buyers from the Far East who simply want to get their hands on the big names, no matter at what cost... So the châteaux aren't so much in a hurry, they have their great vintage, the lurking demand, and they sit back, smile and wait.

OK, we saw many petits châteaux release their prices, but who really cares? They join the campaign for their yearly 15 minutes of fame, but hardly anyone would have noticed if this one Fronsac or Graves property would have forgotten to release itself. Everyone is waiting for the châteaux-that-count.

Château Petit Bocq was, like last year, the f…

Dwayne Perreault - It’s a fascinating dream, and who hasn’t thought of it at least once: wouldn’t it be nice to buy a vineyard in France and begin a life as a winemaker? Some people actually do, and just sometimes, it turns out to be a major success.


Such is the case with Lidewij van Wilgen, the Dutch owner and winemaker of Mas des Dames, classed by Jancis Robinson amongst her favourite Languedoc wines. The accolades keep rolling in: her cuvée La Dame received 91 points from Wine Spectator, the highest score in the Languedoc. Tom Stevenson rated it #1 for quality and price in the Languedoc. La Diva won a silver medal at the Decanter World Wine Awards 2010.

But it wasn’t always easy. It meant switching over to biological agriculture and two years of oneological studies in Béziers, which also involved learning how to drive a tractor. Lidewij’s story has just been published (in Dutch) and Het Domein (The Domain) is now in the bookshops.

I was in the Languedoc recently, and after having m…

In my previous posting I wrote about my general impression of the Bordeaux 2010 vintage, and I finished with the promise to share with you my personal favorites. In the meantime many wine critics have published their tasting notes, some of which you can find on Bordoverview, and around Wednesday Robert Parker's verdict is expected.

I was "Totally blown away by the quality of Pontet-Canet 2010." Here you see the château's new concrete vats perfectly lined up.

But for those of you who are interested in my favorite Bordeaux 2010s, here they are. For some wines I reprint the tweets that I posted right after having tasted the wines. Of course I can rewrite these, polish 'em, but raw like this they're straight from the heart, grabbing the essence.

Beautiful wistaria (and sky) chez Château Lafite-Rothschild

List A. MY WINES OF THE VINTAGE
I allowed only one 1er cru to end up in this list

1. Pontet-Canet 2010 "Totally blown away by the quality of Pontet-Canet 2010. Sp…