First Impression of 2007

I just finished my first day in Bordeaux and I am happy. Sure, 2007 is not a great vintage. It could never be exceptional, considering the wet and gray weather in Bordeaux for most of the summer growing season. Thank God for a relatively sunny September and October last year.

But the Bordelais managed to produce some very good, even excellent reds. I tasted a number of the top names from the Médoc including Latour, Lafite, Mouton, Cos, Léoville-Las-Cases, Léoville Barton, Ducru-Beaucaillou, Montrose, and others, and the wines were pleasantly fruity, with pretty perfumes, fine tannins and clean finishes. There was nothing aggressive or herbaceous in the wines, which is surprising, considering the bad weather in 2007. I remember tasting, at this stage, numerous other difficult vintages, from 1984 to 1992 to 2002, in which the young reds were much more aggressive and disappointing than the '07s.

I think that the top wine producers in Bordeaux are some of the most gifted growers and winemakers in the world now to pull off such attractive young reds in 2007.

"There is a level of precision in our work now at the first growths that is incredible," said Federic Engerer, the president of Château Latour, as I tasted his 2007 today. "And in the 2007 we can see this."

His 2007 was excellent, as were the other first growths I tasted today.

But the two dozen or so other wines I tasted today from the vintage were of very good to outstanding quality. The 2007s will be reds that we are going to enjoy drinking for the next 10 or 15 years, without any problem. Every wine I tasted today was already delicious, meaning they are made for early drinking, but they will last for a while as well. They don't have the structure of great Bordeaux years such as 2000, 2003 and 2005. Even 2006 appears better overall. The 2007 is more along the lines of 2001.

Nobody wanted to really talk about prices, but the fact is that the 2007s are going to be cheap compared to anything else for a long time. They have to be. The global economy is in very bad shape and, from my view, it's only going to get worse. Moreover, the world market for Bordeaux has already put so much money into 2005 and 2006. And a lot of that has been on speculation.

The 2007 will never be a year for speculators. It's a drinkers' vintage.

That's good news for all of us ... or am I just being "old fashioned"? Do most people buy young Bordeaux for investment?