Bordeaux 2008 By James Suckling

It was a déjà vu vintage in Bordeaux in 2008, as the region had a replay of 2007. Challenging weather and the threat of disease during most of the growing season produced wines with the potential to be good to outstanding, but only in the best vineyards and only where producers spent long hours working. The same was true in 2007, though this year July was much warmer and sunnier and grape yields were smaller, meaning better quality was possible.

Some châteaus already believe their 2008s could be better than their 2007s. "The reds at both Pichon and Petit Village are significantly better than the 2007s, though yields are very low in both cases," said Christian Seeley, who heads châteaus Pichon-Longueville-Baron in Pauillac and Petit Village in Pomerol, among other properties, for the French insurance group AXA.

Yields were very low due to bad flowering during cold, wet weather in May and June. The bad climate continued for most of the summer, with the exception of warm and sunny July. In Bordeaux the weather was gray and wet in early September. Many of the grapes suffered from mildew and ripening was incredibly uneven. Honest grape growers admitted they were ready for a disaster.

"The quality of the harvest is already compromised," said one grower in Pomerol, as he held a bunch of Merlot that still had a few green grapes in the cluster. "We could never make anything near 2005 in quality."

Yet, the weather changed the second week of September and stayed mostly sunny and warm the rest of the month. Châteaus could end up with ripe grapes in their tanks as long as they removed unripe or damaged grapes in the vineyards or on the sorting tables before crush and fermentation. Only wineries with the resources to work extremely hard in their vineyards and select the best grapes at the harvest will make good wine in 2008.

"The grapes were harvested very late this year, with extremely low yields and very high alcohol and a balance of good acidity," said Jean-Guillaume Prats, head of Cos-d'Estournel in St.-Estephe. "At Cos, it is the smallest yield per hectare ever (apart from 1991, a frost vintage). This vintage could be a blend of 2002 and 1988."

White wine producers were optimistic about quality in 2008, particularly sweet wine makers. The harvest was one of the latest in memory for Sauternes, with some estates finishing picking in mid-November. But the grapes that were picked at the right time carried plenty of noble rot, assuring rich and spicy young sweet wines. Whether the small production will be better than, or at least match, the excellent 2007s remains to be seen.

Besides the quality of the 2008s in the cellars, the economic meltdown was on everyone's minds. The wine trade and critics will review Bordeaux's fledgling vintage next spring during annual barrel tastings in the region. "We were rather pessimistic about the vintage until the middle of August," said Anthony Barton, owner of Leoville Barton and Langoa Barton. "After that, the end of the season was excellent and we are surprised by the quality of the wine we have in the cellar. We just hope there are still people out there with money to buy it!"