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2013 Bordeaux Preview: Outliers and Exceptions

The Viticultural Year

Faced with these conditions, there was a committed effort afoot at almost all of the properties to still craft the very best wines possible given the raw materials available. Every method and technique in the vigneron’s handbook was being debated and trialled and it was clear that this was going to be a harvest in which modern technology would have to play a significant role. All the newest models of optical sorting equipment were running full bore, with each machine exactingly calibrated to separate the fully ripe from the inferior fruit. At Château Pichon-Longueville Baron we watched as literally, one-by-one, the ripe berries were salvaged from each stem and jack, while everything else was simultaneously segregated and discarded. To further combat the situation, we also witnessed estates like Château Palmer instigating fail safes in the vineyard and stop gaps in the chain to salvage and utilise every single good bunch of grapes. The natural result of such zealous sorting is that the quantities produced and eventually released will be very low. So low that, in some instances, estates have opted to offer no wine at all during the En Primeur tastings. Château Le Pin is the most well-known of these and the famous Pomerol property has said that if they do end up offering a 2013, there will be less than 900 bottles made. The silver lining here is that perhaps this may mean another release of Trilogie - their sublime, multi-vintage, unclassified wine – sometime in the near future.

We also expect a very low yield from estates like Château Pontet-Canet, a property that exclusively uses viticultural practices which are constrained by the rules of biodynamics. It will be quite interesting to taste the resulting wine as their capabilities must have been fully stretched in these trying conditions.

Criticism While the châteaux attempted to get ahead of the game with their strict selection procedures, the media had already set about circulating unkind predictions regarding the vintage. Sensationalised headlines foretold epic levels of doom and gloom for Bordeaux and even exaggerated such absurdities as “2013 being the death of En Primeur”. In reaction, during what was already a stressful period, the Bordelaise were forced to attempt damage control before they had even finished the harvest. Although Bordeaux has a vested interest in generating positive spin on one or another aspect, irrespective of vintage, this was an unusual instance in which the estates had to try and mitigate the unfavourable coverage in such a public and proactive manner. Several properties even joined forces online, creating push-back via a coordinated ‘#StopBordeauxBashing’ social media campaign. The Result

What does this mean for the wines of the châteaux that did persevere? The bottom line is that the leading châteaux will certainly not compromise their commitment to quality for the sake of one vintage. As we’ve previously reported on both of the 2011 and 2012 vintages, rigour and selection in the vineyard, coupled with technology in the winery, enables enjoyable wines to still be produced in difficult years. While in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s similar conditions would have made 2013 a complete write-off, this is not the case in today’s modern world. Unfortunately however, it is unlikely that 2013 can be put forth as a ‘classical’ vintage. Truly classical years, those which harken back to what has always been considered a more historic or traditional style of top-end claret (higher acid levels, more streamlined structures, moderate to high tannin levels requiring 10+ years of cellaring) of the past two decades, such as 1998, 2002, 2004 and 2006, are now showing their mettle. However, these vintages all experienced more stable growing conditions for extended periods. 2013 is not one of these years. We have no doubt that certain estates will have overcome the aforementioned hurdles and succeeded in producing very enjoyable wines, although the key will be identifying them. 2013 will be a vintage of outliers and exceptions.

Analytical Programme From Monday, April 1st our team of wine experts will be in Bordeaux to assess the wines. We will visit properties on both the Left and Right Banks and record detailed notes on our En Primeur findings. As ever, the goal is to understand both the vintage as a whole, and the individual wines within each estate’s portfolio.

Historically, the whole purpose of merchants travelling to Bordeaux during En Primeur week has been to enable a forum of discussion between producers and the businesses who will subsequently market the vintage to their customers. The producer obtains important feedback on the likely market for the wines, and the merchants get a first-hand understanding of the facts about the vintage. Earlier in February, Château Mouton Rothschild’s estate director Philippe Dhalluin came to London and boldly presented to The Institute of Masters of Wine samples of each of the variety-specific component wines that will make up the 2013 blend. This allowed those of us in attendance to better understand how the vintage had impacted each variety on an individual basis. Later that same evening, Philippe visited our Wine Academy and mentioned that given the success of the day’s exercise he planned on doing the same thing during En Primeur. Will other estates utilise this same concept next week?

Pricing As to the eternally sticky issue of release pricing, all we can say is that we know that some estates will ‘get the message’ and others will not. In this scenario, less acclaimed vintages are actually necessary, good and healthy for the market because they provide value diversity. What has now become clear though is that no matter how vociferous the public or trade opinions become, they will always fall on deaf ears with certain producers. Château Latour is the prime example. Having recently pulled themselves from the En Primeur system and claiming that they will only now release wines when they feel that they are, in the opinion of the château, quote, “ready to drink”, the feedback on their pricing continues to be ignored. Just last week they released the 2006 Les Forts de Latour and the 2004 Château Latour at prices as much 23% above what existing cases can already be found for on the open market, a frankly unhelpful stance and one reported as receiving a “deathly silence” from the consumers. As the ‘vintage that nearly wasn’t’, in theory, the prices in 2013 should be much lower than those of 2012. What we do know already is that châteaux will be basing their pricing, to a greater or lesser degree, on 2013’s significantly reduced crop size. Whether they try to utilise the argument that the low volumes will mean increased demand for what little is available and that a higher than expected price is therefore warranted, or that the low quantities reflect the effort needed to produce the very best wine possible given the conditions and that the pricing must follow on from that, is anyone’s guess. Already there are certain estates that have hinted at their production numbers and Château Lafite-Rothschild has been forthright in stating that ≤30% of their crop actually made it into the 2013 Grand Vin.

Critical ratings, or rather, the lack thereof, will also come into play. For more than two decades now the producers of Cru Classé wines have traditionally held back their pricing until after Robert Parker released his annual ratings. This year will be different though, as Parker has said upfront that he will not release his scores until June. 2002 is the only other vintage in recent memory in which the ‘Sage of Monkton’ did not provide his opinions in April and, while we can only hope that the First Growths release their wines at £60 a bottle as they did a dozen vintages ago, certainly this pattern change will have an impact on their pricing strategies. Ratings should still be available from the rest of the usual suspects, such as Neal Martin, James Suckling, Antonio Galloni, James Molesworth and Jancis Robinson, and we will include them wherever appropriate in our release communications. Whether the campaign will move forward at a fast or slow place though is unknown. The biggest concern of course is that the château still engage in a, “you first…no you first” game of wait and see, which can then result in a massive, panicked rush of hundreds of release prices all at once, as occurred on ‘Super Tuesday’ during the 2011 campaign.

Conclusion Considering that 2013 will be a vintage of outliers and exceptions, AWC’s plan is to find the best individual wines and stand behind them. While there is no way of accurately predicting which exact estates these will be from beforehand – other than the generalisation that châteaux with greater financial means will certainly have had a leg up during harvest – we estimate that we will be impressed by wines originating from 8 to 12 properties. That said, during the course of the en primeur campaign we will still send out prices as they are released, for all appropriate selections. This is necessary for clients who maintain a perennial interest in particular wines. However, special notice will also be drawn to the distinctive, pre-identified wines that we feel have managed to stand out amongst their vintage peers and are particularly deserving of your attention. As ever, if you have specific requests, we would ask that you inform us of the wines you are looking for as far in advance as possible. You can easily do so by registering on our 2013 Bordeaux En Primeur page. So here’s to hoping for more surprises than disappointments. We will report back on our findings and impressions in the weeks following the tastings.

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