2006 Bordeaux Futures

“I did not expect the highlights of 2006 to be as promising as they turned out. There was little talk about the vintage following the harvest, and after the wine press and the proprietors exhausted themselves with their praise of the 2005s, there was little need to start additional speculative fires. However, the 2006 vintage has produced many fine wines, and overall, it is superior to 2004. The weather was hot in June and July, but August was cool and rainy. The first two weeks of September were again torridly hot, setting the stage for what many believed would be a vintage to rival, possibly eclipse 2005. However, substantial rain fell across the region before the end of September. Overall, the entire viticultural season, from April’s flowering to autumn’s harvest, was much drier and warmer than normal. In Pomerol, the Merlot harvest began for a handful of estates before the first heavy rains hit. The Cabernet Franc was generally picked during the last ten days of September, and the Cabernet Sauvignon was harvested from the end of September through the first two weeks of October. Consider the following statistics for the critical growing season - the seven months from April through October. During these months, it was hotter than normal every month except August, which was only 1.6 degrees centigrade below normal. June, July, September, and October were all at least 3 degrees centigrade above normal. Precipitation figures are equally revealing. The average rainfall for these seven months is typically 979 mm (about 37.5 inches). In 2006, it was 901 mm (36 inches), a drier than average year. All of this explains why the 2006 crop had lower acids and yields than 2004 and 2005 as well as alcohols that are less than in 2005, but higher than in 2004.

It is an exciting vintage for the dry whites, largely because the grapes were harvested between the end of August and before the first rains began. That no doubt explains their super concentration, wonderful minerality, and zesty freshness.

The sweet wines of Barsac and Sauternes experienced problems with rot in September, and unless estates were willing to do a Draconian-like triage, it was a challenging vintage. My first tasting trip is too early to taste these offerings, but I did taste the 2006 Château d’Yquem, which the estate believes will be one of their greatest efforts. According to Pierre Lurton, it will be the finest they have yet made under the new ownership. It is certainly impressive, and appears to be nearly as promising as the 2001, which I thought was perfect.

As for the red wines, the style of the Médoc is one where the finest terroirs excelled. Why? Only well-financed top terroirs were in a position to do de-leafings as well as crop-thinnings once or twice during the summer months as well as make a severe selection once the wines were fermented. It was not unusual for a Médoc classified growth to eliminate 40-65% of their production. 2006 appears to be a modern-day version of 1996 or 1986, two vintages that produced wines with high percentages of Cabernet Sauvignon in their blends, strong tannins, and, in the best cases, impressive concentration. Once past the top terroirs and the most famous names, the vintage becomes dramatically more mixed and problematic. As one might suspect, the estates that could not afford to do de-leafings, crop-thinnings, or severe selections have produced dry, hard, angular, generally charmless wines. In the Graves and Pessac-Léognan regions, aside from the brilliant whites, there are some top-notch reds. No doubt the reasonably early Merlot harvest explains such brilliant efforts as La Mission-Haut-Brion.

Unlike 1986 and 1996, which did not favor the right bank wines of Pomerol and St.-Emilion, 2006 presents a totally different scenario. The Pomerols are excellent across the board, including the satellite appellation of Lalande-de-Pomerol. These wines taste as though they are from a completely different vintage than those from the Médoc. They possess sweet tannin, low acidity, ripe fruit, and loads of flesh and charm. In many ways, they remind me of the vastly underrated 2001 Pomerols. The 2006 Pomerols will be gorgeous wines to drink young, but the best of them will age well. Moreover, a handful of true blockbusters were produced from vineyards where much of the harvest took place before the heavy rains arrived in mid-September. St.-Emilion appears to be the wild card in this vintage, with quality all over the board. Unlike 2005, which is a monumental vintage for all of St.-Emilion, 2006 includes some truly classic, great wines as well as some disappointments. Overall, it is good to very good, but this vast appellation, with its enormous diversity of terroirs, is more irregular than any other major appellation.

As for longevity, the 2006 Médocs should enjoy 20-35 years of life, but they will be more approachable in their youth than the 1986s or 1996s. The wines of Graves and Pomerol should be drinkable at reasonably young ages (much like the 2001s), but they should keep for two decades or more. Because of the diversity of the St.-Emilions, it is impossible to generalize. Some can be drunk young, whereas others have issues with high tannin levels that may or may not be resolved with both barrel and bottle aging.

There has been considerable demand by many who purchase large quantities of Bordeaux futures for prices to be rolled back to those of three or four years ago. Certainly prices will come down because 2006 is not a great vintage, but there are many fine wines, and some 2006s are even more complete than their 2005 counterparts. Furthermore, and another exacerbating factor, 2006 is not a big crop, at least for the top wines. Yields generally ran between a modest 20 and 45 hectoliters per hectare, which is significantly less than 2004, and little different from 2005. The Bordelais realize that many of their best customers are increasingly frustrated with their pricing policies. Despite the fact that there are enormous quantities of good Bordeaux available at reasonable prices, the image that Bordeaux prices are too high persists, even though one could argue that it is really only the first-growths and a handful of other estates that have actually become priced like rare art.

I do not expect an active futures campaign, but the global marketplace has changed dramatically, and the emergence of new, potentially huge purchasers of fine Bordeaux in Eastern Europe, Central and South America, and the Far East are changing the scenario in ways that would have been impossible to imagine a mere five years ago. The traditional markets of England and the United States are in the process of being by-passed in favor of other buyers. Is this a short term blip on the radar screen, or a profound transfer of power in the marketplace? In my opinion, the Bordelais would be short-sighted not to recognize the importance of their most loyal customers.” Robert Parker