James Suckling, the top Bordeaux critic on the influential Wine Spectator magazine, has released his full notes and scores. Overall he is slightly more enthusiastic about the Right Bank (84-87 points, 'Pomerol was good') than the Left (84-87 points, 'a bit of a minefield') – although he reserves his best scores for the whites and stickies, which were 'fabulous'. We may even have two 100-point wines from 2007, with Yquem scoring a 97-100 ('should be a perfect wine') and Haut Brion Blanc the same ('incredible intensity on the palate'). Mouton Rothschild's recent renaissance also appears to have continued with a strong 90-93 point showing.
The top 15 red wines:
Ausone, St Emilion, 90-93
Lafleur, Pomerol, 90-93
Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac, 90-93
Pin, Pomerol, 90-93
Certan de May, Pomerol, 89-92
Cheval Blanc, St Emilion, 89-92
Ducru Beaucaillou, St Julien, 89-92
Eglise Clinet, Pomerol 89-92
Haut Brion, Pessac Leognan, 89-92
Lafite Rothschild, Pauillac, 89-92
Latour, Pauillac, 89-92
Leoville Las Cases, St Julien, 89-92
Margaux, Pauillac, 89-92
Pavie, St Emilion, 89-92
Petrus, St Emilion, 89-92
Selected Others:
Angelus, St Emilion, 88-91
Cos d'Estournel, St Estephe, 88-91
Langoa Barton, St Julien, 88-91
Leoville Barton, St Julien, 88-91
Mission Haut Brion, Pessac Leognan, 88-91
Palmer, Margaux, 88-91
Pichon Baron, Pauillac, 88-91
Pichon Lalande, Pauillac, 88-91
Smith Haut Lafitte, Pessac Leognan, 88-91
Giscours, Margaux, 85-88
Lynch Bages, Pauillac, 85-88
Sociando Mallet, Haut Medoc, 85-88
Valandraud, St Emilion, 85-88
Beychevelle, St Julien, 84-87
Lagune, Haut Medoc, 84-87
As for the en primeur campaign and assessing potential consumer demand, we rather like the comments of John Kolasa, the manager of Rauzan Segla (88-91 points) and Canon (87-90 points), who told Suckling:
'I think that 2007 is a friendly vintage, and it should be sold at friendly prices. This is our chance to reach out to the consumer and welcome them back to Bordeaux with good wine for good prices.'
Perhaps the campaign, much like the vintage itself, will be saved by some late rays of (price-related) sunshine…
