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Neal gets high on 2007

Neal Martin's full 2007 Bordeaux scores have been released, with arguably the highest ratings from any major critic of the campaign so far. He gives 54 red wines scores with a bottom range of 90 or above, compared to only 4 from the Wine Spectator's James Suckling. As he says:

'Overall, I do not think that the 2007 vintage is the catastrophe that some have portrayed, particularly by those who had the headlines written before they tasted any of the wines. No, it is not a great vintage by any means and the most of the wines will pale against 2005 or even 2006 but then again, Bordeaux needs these off-vintages to maintain its rolling terrain of good and bad years. Ennui will ensue if year after year, châteaux churn out identical, manipulated, high quality wine and to repeat the phrase I used before: every peak needs a valley, it creates a more dramatic landscape then a high plateau.'

Please see the erobertparker website for his full scores, notes and an excellent (and entertaining) region-by-region commentary (subscription required).

See below for a list of his wines that had a bottom score range of 92 or above. Like the majority of critics he has rated Mouton as the best of the first growths, it is also interesting to note the extremely strong score for Pontet Canet.

Wine Score
Mouton Rothschild  94-96
Pontet Canet  94-96
Ausone  94-96
Lafleur  94-96
Cos Estournel  94-95
Leoville Las Cases  94-95
Pavie  94-95
Margaux  93-95
Mission Haut Brion  93-95
Angelus  93-95
Cheval Blanc  93-95
Eglise Clinet  93-95
Evangile  93-95
Haut Brion  93-94
Troplong Mondot  93-94
Petrus  93-94
Lafite Rothschild  92-94
Ducru Beaucaillou  92-94
Rauzan Segla  92-94
Pavie Decesse  92-94
Certan de May  92-94
Clos Eglise  92-94
Bellevue Mondotte  92-93

Next week Parker pronounces, although his 2007 scores are sure to be overshadowed by his final bottle scores for the 2005 vintage.