Yesterday’s much anticipated annual UGC wine tasting saw thousands of commentators, traders and merchants descend on the Royal Opera House in London to sample some of the best offerings of Bordeaux 2008. The event showcased wines from 110 major chateaux, with the usual absence of the First Growths and a handful of other Cru Classe. Parker’s generous praise of the 2008 vintage was certainly on the minds of tasters as they evaluated the wines. But how do the 08s measure up to his claims?
Though the tasting featured a number of stunners, anecdotally, 2008 does not appear to be uniformly outstanding. The Left Bank boasted the greater number of success stories, including Pontet Canet, Haut Bailly and Leoville Las Cases – all of which were awarded 95 points and above from Parker. Other reported favourites were Pichon Baron, Langoa Barton, Lynch Bages, Leoville Poyferre, Chasse Spleen, Conseillante, Domaine de Chevalier (Rouge and Blanc), Armailhac and Pichon Lalande.
Neal Martin and Jancis Robinson were among the throngs of judges and journalists, so updated tasting notes are, presumably, on their way. Both critics rated 2008 more conservatively than Parker, but it will be interesting to see if their opinions have shifted a year down the line.
If Parker is to be believed, a number of 2008s represent extremely strong value. According to our analysis of 45 top chateaux, 2008 is, on average, 36% cheaper than 2005 and almost half of the price of 2000 and 2009. This is particularly salient given Parker’s claim that the vintage has yielded “a number of superb wines that are close to, if not equal to the prodigious 2005 or 2000 vintages.”
Over the past year, the 08s have risen in value by an average of 30%, with 23 of the 45 wines in the study increasing by 17% or more year-on-year. As the vintage edges closer to physical release, it is the top Asian brands that are seeing the most notable price rises. The First Growths and their second wines, along with Beychevelle and Duhart Milon, have seen extremely generous price appreciation year-on-year, with the latter increasing by 160%. Despite gaining 21% year-on-year, Leoville Poyferre 2008 (RP 92-94) continues to look great value for money at £400 per 12x75cl case (more than £600 cheaper than the 09).
The table below shows some of the top picks from the London tasting.
Scores from erobertparker.com and jancisrobinson.com.
