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Bordeaux, in 2006, experienced one of the coldest winters of the last 25 years, which resulted in a late healthy budding; then a warm, dry, almost frost–free spring quickly caught up all the lateness and accounted for a regular, efficient, on–time flowering. An almost brutally hot, dry 1995–like June and July gave the naturally spaced–out bunches the initial concentration.
Unfortunately, a cool, damp August swelled and weakened the grapes, so that when the searing heat–wave returned for the first 10 days of September, whilst the dry whites and some earlier reds could be picked in an ideal phase of re–concentration, for the rest, this combination of extreme heat after the dampness gave rise to an acute rot–risk.
When the rains arrive in mid–September, picking decisions had to be made quickly, especially for the main body of the Merlots and Cabernet Francs, and many missed the final touches to the ripening process that we had so enjoyed the previous year during the leisurely halcyon September days of 2005. Those Cabernet Sauvignons that safely got through this rainy period could take advantage of the very fine final week of September that re–concentrated them for the second time – as in 1986 and 1996 – so that they could mostly be harvested at full ripeness early October.
Bottom Line
The outstanding and exceptional wines came from the classified growths and other big names—the chateaux with the great vineyards and the resources to do intensive work in both their vineyards and their cellars: green harvests and leaf thinning during the summer, strict selection of grapes during harvest and a severe selection of the wines. Those efforts paid off: The best 2006s show racy tannins with excellent length and solid cores of fruit, but very few wines are at this level.
The wines
2006 Dry Whites are possibly the best and most regularly good part of this erratic vintage. Growers were especially pleased with their sturdy, aromatic yet powerful Sauvignons Blancs.
2006 Red Wines are very variable, from region to region, estate to estate and within each estate. For the Merlots, it was primarily a question of the degree of ripeness when the grapes started to go fragile. The earlier regions like Pomerol and Pessac–Léognan clearly had an advantage here, while the Southern Médoc would seem to have done better than the North because it received less mid–September rain. The Cabernet Sauvignons generally fared better than the Merlots.
2006 Sweet Wines suffered like everyone else from the damp August followed by the early September blast of heat. Tremendous amount of work was needed to be done, carrying up to 4 harvest for some estates. The wines is certainly a candidate to secure its place in the 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004 league of “very good vintages” rather than the “great vintages”
Prices
The success of the En Primeur campaign will depend largely on how the estates price their wines. Nothing is heard yet, but we do expect a significant difference from the aftermath of the brilliant 2005 vintage. On the other hand, many top estates had significantly reduced production - M. Paul Pontallier of Chateaux Margaux highlighted the very strict selections made by the top properties in both vineyard and winery - only 36% of Margaux's production has made it into the grand vin., hinting small allocations and perhaps sustained prices for the top properties.
What does Robert Parker has to say?
Though official scores from the Wine Guru won’t be published till end of April or June 2007, he did made some intriguing comments on his website:
- "The vintage is significantly better than I thought"
- "There are at least 10 well known wines that made 2006s that blow away their 2005s"
- "There are so many high quality wines being made in Bordeaux that it is still easy to find terrific and affordable stuff if you think beyond the most famous names"
- "For the top 150 Estates most of the chateaux selections are as severe as I have ever seen"
- "Many Medoc chateaux declassified 50-75% of their production...that is an astonishing declaration but does explain why the better properties succeeded"
- "Lots of interesting and fine wine from the leaders"
- "Much less wine per top chateau than 2004 for example...Latour even produced less than they did in 2003...about 10,000 cases."
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