A guide to Bordeaux vintages

Bordeaux remains the motor of the fine wine world, stimulating debate, investment and collectors worldwide. It is the wine industry’s loudest voice, receiving more than its fair share of global attention.

This explains why the subject of Bordeaux vintages continues to light up social media. The term vintage, however, refers to something very prosaic: the year of the grape harvest. Yet it is an essential part of Bordeaux’s allure; individual bottles have a unique story to tell, relaying the nuances of a particular growing season. This gives wine an intellectual appeal, as well as a gastronomic one.

The entire Bordeaux futures market, known as En Primeur, also hinges on an assessment of the most recent vintage. Every spring, critics and merchants visit Bordeaux’s key regions to judge the quality of wines made from the previous harvest. After the last barrel sample has been tasted, chateaux will start to release their wines En Primeur, with prices reflecting the overall estimation of quality. The 2015 vintage in Bordeaux, for example, was generally regarded as being vastly superior to 2013. Therefore, the 2015 En Primeur campaign saw prices rise, although investors still obtained a relative bargain.

A great vintage in Bordeaux, buoyed by media excitement, can electrify global markets and inspire a rash of investment from collectors and aficionados. The criteria for judging the ‘worth’ of a Bordeaux vintage merges objectivity with just the right amount of subjective opinion.

An objective assessment

Like any great wine producer, Bordeaux is defined by its soils and climate. Yet it is weather (the day-to-day variations of climatic averages) that can make or break a vintage. Bordeaux’s maritime climate is highly capricious; some years are characterised by perfect summer weather, others by frost, hail and torrential September downpours. The latter causes no end of headaches in the vineyard, leading to grape rot and dilution. Conversely, very dry vintages like 2003 cause hydric stress (the vine ceases photosynthesis due to a lack of water), while inclement weather increases the risk of fungal diseases. So, a perfect season requires an alignment of ideal weather present at each of the key stages in the vine’s annual growth cycle:

Bud burst

The beginning of the vine’s annual cycle usually takes place in March, or early April if spring is particularly cold. The buds will start to open up, producing vine shoots and leaves. Ideally, there will be a marked and consistent change between winter and spring temperatures, so that the buds open in unison. If spring temperatures are unseasonably warm, then buds can open in early March. Unfortunately, spring weather can vacillate widely in Bordeaux, running the risk of frost attacks. Frost can kill the nascent buds, severely curtailing the potential yield of a vine.

Flowering

At the start of summer, usually in mid-June, small white flowers will emerge on the vine. There is a school of thought that regards early flowering in late May as beneficial, as it can mean an early harvest, which in turn decreases the risk of encountering the October rains. Conversely, if a period of cold weather returns after the flowering period, this can kill the infant flowers.

Fruit set

This is where Bordeaux vintages can really take a turn. The appearance of tiny berries tends to occur in late June, after the flowers have been pollinated. The 2005 vintage was a textbook case of perfect conditions—early summer was warm and dry, allowing the berries to grow and develop without the risk of rot. Inclement weather can be disastrous during this time, as it causes maladies like powdery and downy mildew. These fungal diseases attack the leaves and small berries. If left untreated, mildew will cause vine leaves to drop off, limiting the plant’s ability to undergo photosynthesis and ripen the grapes.

Veraison

Veraison is the process whereby grapes change colour as the vine switches from energy creation (through photosynthesis) to transference. The vine’s excess energy is transferred into the grapes and converted into carbohydrate, in addition to colouring and flavouring substances. If all goes to plan, veraison in Bordeaux will usually occur in early August, during warm and dry weather. The optimum temperature for veraison ripening is between 25-28 degrees; conditions that occurred in 2005. At these temperatures the vine will produce enough energy surplus to ripen grape varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon. If the daytime heat is moderated by cool night, then acidity will be preserved. If the weather is too cool or wet, then veraison will be delayed and the grapes may struggle to ripen at all. Rot and fungal diseases are omnipresent during wet summers. But some rainfall is essential, to keep the vine healthy. Too much, though, leads to bunch swelling and dilute wines. Too little causes hydric stress, unwieldy levels of alcohol, and unbalanced wines.

Harvest

If fine summer weather continues into early autumn, then Bordeaux has the makings of a great vintage. All the grape varieties should have reached optimum levels of ripeness, and a dry harvest precludes the risk of rot. In 2020, winegrowers harvested the grapes during a very dry September, picking small berries of immensely concentrated fruit. Unfortunately, not every harvest turns out this way; growers have not forgotten the disastrous 1992 vintage. Rain fell in late August and the day before the harvest was due to begin on September 20, continuing through to October. As a result, the quality of the wines was mediocre, with dilution and unripe tannins being a hallmark. Only the very best chateaux made good wines.

Vintages in different appellations

Although it is customary (and reasonable) to make an overall assessment of any Bordeaux vintage, there are appellations that will triumph in difficult years, while chateaux can falter in great vintages. This is largely due to how different grape varieties ripen and respond to the weather conditions. Merlot, for example, ripens about two-to-three weeks earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon, which is an enormous advantage in wet autumns. In 1998, Merlot was picked in the Right Bank (where it dominates) during the last week of a dry September. The grapes were ripe, with vibrant acidity and wonderful freshness. It was a superlative vintage for Saint-Émilion and Pomerol. Similarly, the dry white wines of Pessac-Leognan were considered to be uniformly excellent.

Yet chateaux in the Left Bank were less fortunate. The dominant grape variety in the region is the late-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon, which struggled to accumulate sugars in the cool and damp October 1998 weather. Moreover, growers were tempted to pick early before rot set in. The wines were very mixed: some fresh and medium-bodied, others tough, green and dilute. Making a general assessment of the 1998 vintage in Bordeaux was simply impossible.

Similarly, the sweet wines of Sauternes will often confound expectations of a vintage in Bordeaux. The cool weather in September 1997 made it difficult for some red grapes to ripen in the Left Bank, while problems at flowering led to uneven ripening. The final assessment was that 1997 was a mediocre year for reds. Meanwhile, Sauternes was celebrating an exceptional vintage in the winter of 1997. The appellation had produced a crop of fresh, concentrated, and aromatic sweet wines. Damp autumn weather is vital in Sauternes as it leads to the onset of botrytis, the mould responsible for making Bordeaux’s sweet wines styles. The fates of Sauternes and the Left Bank are not always intertwined.

A matter of opinion

Every Bordeaux vintage has the potential to divide opinion. This is even the case when both the Left and Right Bank declare victory; 2009 and 2010 were considered excellent years across the board. However, when grapes ripen in the Bordeaux region, they often ripen in different ways. This leads to fascinating vintage variations, even in the great years.

Many critics adore the silky tannins and voluptuous textures that define the 2009 vintage in Bordeaux. Other writers prefer the structure and concentration of wines made in 2010. More recently, while the 2014 growing season was characterised by a damp July and an unusually chilly August, it produced some fresh and charming wines, with racy acidity and impeccable balance. But if you seek concentration and ripeness, then the 2015 vintage offers greater rewards.