Bordeaux vintages

In a wineregion such as Bordeaux the quality of the vintage will have a deciding effect on the quality of the base material and therefore limits the potential of the wines made from it. I say limits because excellent fruit by itself does not guarantee a great wine per se. It is quite possible to waste precious base material with poor vinification. On the other hand it is almost impossible to create a great wine in a poor vintage, although several little tweaks exist to mask the defects of the fruit or to manipulate the must. Read more about these in the pieces of the puzzle page.But what is a great vintage then?In a nutshell, it pretty much depends on the wineregion. It is better to ask, what is a great vintage for Rioja, what is a great vintage for Tuscany? As far as Bordeaux is concerned, a great year is one with a long growing season, without extremes of temperatures and one with a dry, sunny autumn. Late autumn showers are hazardous to quality as they can dilute the berries in the last moment, before the harvest.

Keeping in mind that Bordeaux - the Medoc to be precise - is made up of a number of communes, it is just plausible to assume that they have unique macroclimates and soil conditions. Pauillac's deep gravel soil is very different from St Estephe's mixed limestone - clay soil and as a result what is a bad year for Pauillac might be a good one for St Estephe.Let me explain.The very well drained gravels in Pauillac will not retain the water, and a dry year will cause hydric stress for the vines. In an extreme case the vines will shut down and discontinue photosynthesis. But lets look at the clay - limestone mix soil of St Estephe. Clay retains water. Therefore in a hot scorching year this might prove advantageous. Such was the case in 2003. Most communes produced heavy, alcoholic and rather short lived wines while St Estephe sported some exceptionally good wines with better balance.The distribution of heat throughout the growing season is therefore very important, but it is only one of the several factors that influence fruit quality. Flowering, veraison, yields, vine density, leaf plucking, green harvest, canopy management, pruning, training of vines, terroir, age of vines all have their parts to play. All of these things together make the difference.

You can read about all these little factors in the pieces of the puzzle page, for now let me just briefly address the last couple of years.

1961. A year when Cabernet Sauvignon dominates the blends and with that said excellent quality fruit. Most Merlot fruit has been devastated by a late May frost. Warm - hot weather throughout the growing season. Little quantity produced but some of these wines are still alive and kicking today! For those of us who are lucky enough to taste them...

1962. A good, hot year with some late September rain. Plentiful of good wines some of them still drinking today.

1963. Very poor year with thin and highly acidic wines as a result of a rainy growing season.

1964. Although the summer was hot and dry, heavy rain in October much diluted quality. Although this varies from estate to estate. The ones who started picking before the rain managed to produce good wines.