France, Bordeaux: 2015 - Nature Gives a High Five

April 29, 2016 NEAL MARTIN

The estate manager paces the parquet flooring of his re-refurbished office. The 2015 vintage was perfect. It was perfect except for that Saharan-like water-shortage between May and August. In late July around midnight, he had received a text from his boss instructing his entire staff to perform a Native American rain dance that his wife had just seen on PBS. At sunrise, in the middle of his parched Merlot, they formed a whooping, hollering circle that included his acutely nonplussed 73-year-old chef de culture and half the accounting department. It made biodynamics look rational. Within one hour, their official Facebook page was festooned with photographs snapped by a guerilla blogger, not to mention a post from mother asking if everything was all right.

But by God (literally)...it worked!

The heavens opened in August and slaked the thirst of every vine. Now every morning he must resist scrawling "greatest vintage ever" over social media and he knows this to be true because: a) the vintage ends in the number five, b) his marketing department informed him during last year's bud-break, and c) it's Bordeaux.

He ambles over to the antique telescope aimed at his hifalutin neighbor who has an annoying habit of releasing his grand vin barely an hour after his with a 5% mark-up. "I'm not going to blink first this year," he says sotto voce, jerking upright upon spotting a telescope aimed back in his direction.

His Blackberry beeps.

Incoming message headlined "UK Merchants Dire Warning to..." Presses delete.

Part of his anguish stems from "Bordeaux Bashing." Home truths and reality checks have absolutely no place in his business strategy. He's bored of hearing how collectors are liquidating a dozen cases of Grand Cru Classé to buy a poxy bottle of Chambertin (wherever that might be). Marketing has recommended that he should channel his "inner Baudelaire" and compose a vintage poem to quell this animosity, but what rhymes with "Maria Thun barrel-compost spray preparation"?

That's not all on his plate. In recent days, several critics have demanded that they can only taste the wine at his château under strict blind conditions. He's not quite sure how that will work. Then there is China. He spent months learning to use chopsticks and now that the wine bubble has burst, who is going to step in and pay silly prices? For the first time since the 2008s were released, he looks into his crystal ball and cannot foresee the future. Should he go for broke and max out the prix de sorti? Should he leave en primeur and join Latour in the spectator stands? Should he release a percentage of the production and like his wife's libido, drip feed the rest over many years? He wistfully recalls an era when en primeur was a simple affair. It's no longer that. All he knows is that he has a pretty decent wine over there in his barrel cellar...

Since the release of the 2010 vintage, Bordeaux has been aching for a vintage to get excited about, itching to dust off superlatives and maybe even unroll the "Vintage of the Century" banner. Two thousand and five! The magic number! 1945! 1955! 196...err... forget that...1975(ish)...1985...1995...2005!

Now we know why we learned sequences at school.

One can speculate just how many château proprietors knelt at their bedside and prayed for benevolent weather in 2015: a splash of rain during those bone-dry summer months or a ray of sunshine when the heavens opened in August or September. This is a vintage when some of those prayers were answered and others were not. While it is not a Bordeaux vintage of uninterrupted uniformity - after all, Mother Nature has no qualms about spreading fortune unevenly and terroir is a geological mosaic - there are glistening snow-capped peaks of quality. These might reignite enthusiasm towards buying unfinished wine en primeur - the kind of zeal seen in 2000, 2005 or 2009, likewise in 2010 had pricing been more astute. If you harbor interest in Bordeaux, then 2015 could relight your interest, because no other region touches Bordeaux when it fires on all cylinders.

However, unless via some tectonic miracle Bordeaux detaches itself from France and relocates south in the Mediterranean, it will remain at the mercy of a capricious maritime climate. There will always be an element of unpredictability and that was certainly the case in 2015. Nothing was guaranteed until the pickers had hung up their secateurs. The 2015 Bordeaux vintage sprung flashes of brilliance and potentially profound wines, entire appellations that upped their game, while others had victory snatched from their hands. The general level of quality is high, however, this is not a vintage of averages. It is an undulating landscape of highs and yes, the occasional low.

Tasting through Bernard Magrez's 2015s in the medieval interior at Château La Tour Carnet.

This report is your map to guide you around the barrel samples, a map carefully drawn over three weeks of tasting during which time I knocked on the door of over 70 châteaux, re-evaluated samples time and again, noting how and when they were assembled. This is sine qua non. In fact, I rejected a batch of samples because they were six days old and clearly slightly oxidized. It didn't seem to stop others from using them as a basis for their report. Go figure.

I travelled to Bordeaux on four occasions in 2015, so I witnessed the weather myself, but it is best to approach the barrel samples without preconceptions. Examine the quality of wine in the glass and not the version predetermined by the 1855 classification or the version praised in accompanying glossy brochures. Primeur tasting for this writer is about conjecture, signposted by the quality in the glass vis-à-vis its peers and informed by 19 years of regularly visiting the region, muddying boots in its vineyards and importantly, consuming its wines regularly on both a professional and personal basis. Only by doing this can you refer back to the barrel sample and gauge your accuracy, understand how each wine evolves through élevage, subsequently in bottle and on throughout its life. It is like assessing a child. You have to spend time with them, speak to them and monitor their journey into adulthood.

Of course, primeur nowadays is not just about the quality of the barrel samples. It is a fulcrum of gossip and debate that fuels interest in the region: the role of critics, anti-journalist tirades, the race to release scores, score inflation, condition of samples, the validity of blind tasting, the impact of currency fluctuations, the role of négoçiants, live Twitter feeds, Brexit, Chinese billionaires, complaining UK merchants, the return of the US dollar, the magical properties of the number five, "Bordeaux Bashing" and a host of other issues, some of which are unprintable. To really understand Bordeaux or indeed, any wine region, you have to get under its skin. Behind every score there is a backstory, and a writer can choose whether they want to write about that or not, depending upon time at their disposal and usefulness to readers.

Just how great is the Bordeaux vintage? What is the style of wine? Why is that so? How does it compare with your experience of 2000, 2005, 2009 or 2010 out of barrel? How and why do samples differ? What's happening out in the vineyard or in the winery? Who is the talent behind the château name? Who is treading water and who is up-and-coming? What should I avoid and where should I load up?

Equipment: One iPad2 with Logitech keyboard, one iPhone to connect to the Internet so I can type my tasting note directly onto the system, ten speedy typing fingers and one palate.

A primeur report is fated to be distilled down to reams of numbers, since they can be rapidly and conveniently disseminated via the Internet. But it must aspire to more. You will find a plethora of background information that should give readers a snapshot of what is happening in Bordeaux, and provide a sense of reasoning and explanation to the attendant reviews/scores.

How did the difference of red clay and blue clay affect the vines in 2015?

Who used drones to survey the vines in Saint Estèphe?

Who is considering sélection parcellaire on the Right Bank?

Who made their 2015s with minimal SO2?

Is the fruit of every single vine really in the Cheval Blanc?

Which Margaux estate introduced a white wine in 2015?

Which winemaker spent New Year in Leigh-on-Sea?

The answers to all these questions can be found in this report.

So let us get down to the nitty-gritty and first, examine the 2015 weather conditions.

The Growing Season

The headline might read that the 2015 Bordeaux vintage was a "perfect" growing season, the vernacular uttered by several winemakers. In reality, the growing season was not quite the shoo-in. It was far more complicated and the minutiae need examining to understand the potential of the vintage and inform buying decisions. There are two major incisive vintage reports, one authored by Bill Blatch and the other Denis Dubourdieu. I have analyzed both, as well as augmented testaments direct from dozens of winemakers, plus my own observations when I visited the region throughout that year.

When investigating 2015, it is important to look back to the 2013/2014 season, since there is an accumulative affect that must be factored in. Vintages are interconnected. Having bestowed their fruit by October 2014, the vines' throats had been parched by the hot and dry season. According to Bill Blatch, while a rainy November partially replenished reserves, December was worryingly dry with less than half the amount of average precipitation, and subsequently the following two months' rainfall was average. However, this was not born out by the data presented at numerous châteaux. Specifically, while December was dry compared to the average figure, nearly all château experienced more precipitation than average in the months of January and February.

Cold temperatures killed off pests and allowed pruning to take place, something that was more of a problem in 2015/2016 after a warm and rainy start to the year. March was the warmest on record since 1880, though budding was tempered by two mild spells of frost and low nighttime temperatures. All this time, the vines were building pent-up energy and the starting gun sounded on April 6. I was in Bordeaux at the time and I remember how the landscape switched from brown to green, vines racing out of the blocks with buds and nascent leaves. Blatch reports that the shoots grew between four and five centimeters in some of the Merlots and though I did not have a ruler at hand, I can well believe it. With plenty of rain at the end of the month, the 2015 vintage had begun with the pedal pushed to the floor.

Then somebody turned off the tap.

April had seen 70% less rain and May was not much different at 60% less than average. The rainfall figures quoted in Prof. Denis Dubourdieu's annual report make stark reading. Below you will find three figures. The first is the total amount of rainfall for that month in 2015 in millimeters, the second is the average rainfall between 1981 and 2000, and the third a percentage ratio:

• March: 40.2 millimeters - 65 millimeters - 61% • April: 26.9 millimeters - 78 millimeters - 34% • May: 33.3 millimeters - 80 millimeters - 42% • June: 43.8 millimeters - 63 millimeters - 70%

The low rainfall coupled with high temperatures meant that leaves were abundant and with the thermometer reaching 23° to 24° Celsius, there followed a textbook rapid and even flowering. Even a heat spike at the end of flowering was sufficiently late to avoid

any aborted grape-set. Winemakers were not heading for a record early vintage, but one earlier than others in recent years.

I took this photograph when I was touring the vineyard at Château Dauzac in Margaux on June 5th as flowering was underway.

However, there was a nagging concern about lack of rainfall. These conditions were now accompanied by strong heat, some 3.2° above average and a record number of sunlight hours (although at 818 hours accumulated between March and June, this is below 2005s figure of 858 sunlight hours). This heat prompted some to stop or limit leaf thinning (effeuillage), perhaps with memories of 2003 still in their minds. After the record temperature on June 29, there followed a period of constant heat up until July 22, when on 11 days the mercury rose over 30° Celsius. Blatch comments that this tipped the vines over the edge and the foliage began to lose its vigor and greenness, though rather than shutting down completely, the vines went on hiatus - like a person pausing after an exhausting run to catch their breath. At this point, 2015 could have turned into 2003 (Part Two), however, it was sufficiently short so as not to suck the juice out of the berries that became small in size and with thick skins.

Then the season took a different direction when the prevailing wind swung around and brought welcome respite courtesy of rain, including two violent storms on July 22 and 24. The Right Bank was doused with 30 millimeters during fronts that passed across the region though August. The thermometer remained high with 13 days over 30° Celsius, however, there was much-needed rainfall that varied across the region: 90 millimeters at the Mérignac weather station, but 140 millimeters in parts of the Right Bank and 100 millimeters in the Pessac-Léognan. This figure is slightly misleading because it came in three or four bursts, rather than one biblical deluge. Practically every winemaker told me that the crucial rain evened out véraison (the berries changing color), so that around 90% completed by August 10. Crucially, because of the drought, the vines had diverted energy from foliage to the grape bunches, which meant that come harvest they were in healthy conditions. There was barely any grey rot and since there had hardly been any oïdium or mildew, there was a sense of "serenity" as harvest approached, an adjective used by one winemaker I spoke to. For once, there was no compulsion to expedite picking.

The August rain had precipitated early onset of botrytis and so the earliest pickers were out in Sauternes and the Graves on August 24. It was ideal conditions. The weather remained clement and in addition, diurnal fluctuations of up to 15° Celsius were sufficient to lock in acidity. This appears to have benefited the Sauvignon Blanc

more than the Sémillons, since the August rains occasionally diluted the latter. The Sauvignon Blanc was picked between August 28 and September 6, Sémillon between September 5 and 11. With regard to Sauternes, the rainfall kick-started botrytis formation and they were blessed with perfect conditions to pick the grapes, usually over four tries through the vines, from the first week in September until around the middle of October.

However, not everything would go smoothly. It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings' and she sings when the bunches are safely in the vat.

On September 12, the weekend of the Bordeaux marathon, there was a two-day deluge from the aftermath of tropical storm "Henry," followed by several days of rain. Panic on the streets of Pauillac? Not really. The crucial feature of this storm, one fundamental to the vintage, is that rather than barging in from the Atlantic and wrecking havoc eastward across the entire region, it skirted the coastline and headed in a northerly direction. Why was this?

Well, perhaps the unheralded critical feature of 2015 was what is called a föhn or foehn wind. My photographic colleague Johan Berglund informed that it is Swedish for hairdryer - a useful image to picture in your head. It is a warm southerly wind that here descends from the leeward side of the Alps and it essentially kept this storm at bay. A couple of winemakers actually told me that standing in the vineyard, the conditions were exactly like that of a hairdryer. Of course, it quickly dried out any moisture and explains why there was negligible rot. There was only a maximum of 40 millimeters of rain in Margaux, Pessac-Léognan and Sauternes, and between zero and 40 millimeters on the Right Bank.

I took this picture on September 10, driving through Saint Emilion. The color of the sky says more than words.

Not everyone escaped. The föhn wind could not protect the northern reaches of Médoc and Saint Estèphe suffered over 100 millimeters of rainfall that forced their hand in terms of picking, though free draining gravel-based terroirs, cover crops and further de-leafing to improve ventilation played their role in mitigating against any outbreak of rot. A majority of

affected châteaux postponed picking dates rather than bringing them forward as they did in 1999. Berries seemed to shrug off the rain and importantly, there was little swelling, although one or two winemakers admitted that the Merlot was more susceptible than the thicker skinned Cabernet Sauvignon.

Alexandre Thienpont hard at work during the harvest under the wind and rain and snow - not.

Most of the Merlot was picked between September 20 and October 1 during a spell of sunny days and cold nights, a majority picked the final four days of the month. The Cabernet Franc on the Right Bank and the Cabernet Sauvignon was picked almost simultaneously from October 8 under blue skies and a cooling northerly breeze. Most of the 2015 vintage had

been picked by October 22, long before rainclouds returned five days later. With a few exceptions, the harvests took place at an almost leisurely pace, for example, one month at Pichon Lalande, directing pickers in and out of the vines to enable intra-plot picking at optimal ripeness.

Vinification

With so little rot in the vineyard, most winemakers told me that they did not have to conduct excessively rigorous sorting. The fact that Cheval Blanc elected to make no second wine in 2015 evinces the uniformity of fruit. That said, I have noticed that despite claims that the dust-covers only come off in poor vintages, quite a few properties used their optical sorting machines even in conditions whereby sorting was not as paramount - utilizing them as an efficient means of deselecting unwanted berries, particularly in the rain-affected Northern Médoc. The Bordelais are both for and against their use and it seems to boil down to a philosophical dilemma, the extent you feel comfortable for technology to govern what goes into your wine. It is a discussion for another time.

Alcoholic fermentation appeared to pass normally. During several conversations, I noticed how there was a trend to slightly lower temperatures and to treat the must as gently as possible, with lessdéléstage, and a preference for remontage (pumping over) than pigeage (punching down). Even the frequency of remontage seems to be lower and one or two new vat-rooms have the facilities to eschew both pigeage and remontage, using inflatable bladders to push down the cap and infuse the must, much like an infusion tea. One or two winemakers on the Right Bank, for example at La Cabanne, Château Angelus and Barde-Haut, are pursuing minimal - all, practically - no SO2 during vinification. Could this be the start of a natural wine movement in Bordeaux? Some are doing away with vats and using "vinification intégrale," although its benefits seem to divide opinion. The malolactic fermentation was generally a little quicker than usual, which allowed the blending to be done efficiently and the wine transferred into barrel by January. Levels of new oak continue their downward trend compared to a decade ago, although I would not describe it as a revolution but more a reassessment of what percentage is commensurate to the level of fruit concentration.

The Market

Surveying the landscape both domestically and internationally, these 2015s are born into an unprecedented landscape. The Chinese were burned by recent vintages and will not make the same mistake twice, particularly given a decelerating economy and anti-corruption stance. Speaking to Giles Cooper at U merchants at BI, he suggests that their love of wine remains, but are shifting their buying pattern towards mature vintages instead of en primeur. European markets have expressed an interest, particularly Switzerland and Germany, while UK merchants deliver the annual rhetoric: release at sensible prices and we will play the game, play the fool and we're out because customers will happily spend their disposable income on Burgundy, Italy or Champagne.

That is a salient point. Tastes have widened and the caché of blue chip wines likewise, no longer restricted to elite Bordeaux. That buying ritual and its attendant momentum behind en primeur began running out of steam after 2010, ironically the vintage that many winemakers view as their modern-day apogee. Brexit has rendered the market jittery, as it impacts upon an unfavorable sterling exchange rate that can easily erase the small margins that en primeur works on. The United States is where several Bordeaux proprietors confided that they are hedging their bets. They traditionally spend their dollars on lauded vintages, less inclined to pick up the phone when quality goes south. Given the prospect of a great vintage, there is the potential for the U.S. market to provide the ignition fuel for the 2015, though speaking to those Stateside, they will be as price-sensitive as their European counterparts and have little interest in taking positions as they once did.

Without wishing to play the same old record, it will come down to price. "Why do you journalists always just talk about price?" one disgruntled proprietor asked. "Well, tell me what en primeur iswithout the price," I retorted.

Château proprietors might bemoan that all journalists drone on about is the cost of the wine and not the quality, but distill the en primeur system down to its fundamentals, then it is about: a) price, and b) doing business - whether you are a château, a courtier, négoçiant, merchant or even consumer, who expects a good deal and lest we forget, represent the only part of the distribution that consumes the wine.

I do not envisage the en primeur system disappearing in the near future, because Bordeaux is a conservative place. Just look at the 1855 classification. To repeat my assertion last year: primeur works when the price is right. The problem is that the Bordelais view a high price as a pecuniary vindication of their investment, their haut couture approach to detail and the quality of their wine. It is far more acute here than in other French regions, including Burgundy. A phrase I often heard was, "In 2015 we must reposition the brand." Reposition according to what? The price of your nearest competitor or the price end-consumers are willing to pay? It is a dangerous game to play and the structure of the distribution system currently allows châteaux to do that, because they are buffered from the cutthroat task of selling to consumers that have no hesitation is saying "yes" or "no."

Those denouncing primeur and predicting its demise tend to be more outspoken than individuals quietly buying cases from merchants or distributors that cut deals for large quantities of Grand Cru Classé. At the same time, how long are French banks going to extend their credit if they see unsold cases gathering dust in warehouses? It would

only take one decision by a bank committee to land the most leveraged négoçiants in the proverbial merde. The system will be forced to change if arteries of distribution seize up, and the ramifications will reverberate throughout the system both financially and in terms of confidence. Every en primeur gives the Bordelais an opportunity to entice consumers to buy their wines from barrel - it is their decision that will govern how successful that is.

Blind Tasting

One cause célèbre doing the rounds during en primeur was whether or not tasters should be given the opportunity to taste samples blind. This followed the Union de Grand Cru's decision to withdraw the opportunity at the journalists' tasting relocated to the Stade de Bordeaux. An outcry of "it's not fair" and audible stomping of feet thus ensued from a small number of notable scribes.

My own view was made clear in last year's WA report. The blind tasting of unfinished wines is a fool's game. I will reiterate two fundamental reasons.

Firstly, en primeur is not about analyzing the present. It is about conjecturing the quality of wine in the future, all too often forgotten by some journalists. To know where a wine might go, a priori, you must know from where it is starting. What is the quality of terroir? What is the blend? What is the caliber and experience of the winemaker? Based on personal experience, how well does the wine show in barrel vis-a-vis bottle and what is its propensity to age? What is the élevage?

Let me give you an example of the last. During en primeur week, I tasted two consecutive samples at different château on the Left Bank. I was informed that both will be matured in the same percentage of new oak - 50%. I enquired how the sample had been prepared. The first was a wine from a new barrel and the second from a used barrel. Both are acceptable means of showing unfinished wine, but to make a qualitative assessment and conjecture, then I must have this information to hand. How would a blind taster do that? Was the first wine over oaked and the second under oaked?

Secondly, I insist upon an even playing field. One person. One palate. One way of presenting the wine - non-blind. It is unfair and according to one proprietor, insulting, that some châteaux are forced to submit samples and undergo the rigors of blind assessment, while others are free to roll out the red carpet, usually those with the deepest pockets and most impressive facades and a femme fatale to hold your hand into the tasting room. Nobody has ever come close to tasting Bordeaux primeur completely blind in its entirety and nobody ever will, therefore everyone should play on the same pitch and under the same rules. Once the wines are in bottle? No problem, go fetch the blindfold.

Let me be clear. Blind tasting is a vainglorious exercise. Be humble about your ability and recognize the limitations and practicalities of tasting from barrel. Gather all the information you can about the sample from the winemaker and then make a considered judgment with facts at hand. And if you feel that you are going to be influenced by the label and not the wine inside your glass, may I suggest that perhaps wine criticism is not for you.

The Lowdown

The headlines for the Bordeaux vintage are as follows:

1) Generally, 2015 is an excellent vintage. Across the region, the wines do not possess the consistency demonstrated by 2009 or 2010 at this stage, though you could argue that it might pip the quality of 2005 due to subsequent advances in technology and know-how. Certainly, I cannot remember the 2005s displaying such fine tannin, although they did show more density and structure out of barrel.

2) As mentioned in this introduction, quality is not geographically uniform. The best wines tend to be in the southern Médoc, specifically Margaux and Pessac-Léognan, across the Right Bank in Saint Emilion and Pomerol, then into several satellite appellations. Limestone soils and vineyards with a healthy proportion of Cabernet Franc produced many of the vintage's peaks. Elsewhere, it is a little patchier for sure, but with many gems to be found.

3) The heady peaks of 2015 stand shoulder to shoulder with 2009 and 2010. I am not certain everyone will agree with that, however, there is a small cluster of wines that will be benchmarks for their respective estates. This is where there is a conjunction of favorable climatic conditions, propitious terroir and clever winemaking practiced by a clever winemaker.

4) In terms of barrel samples, the red 2015s demonstrated bright and lucid colors; vivid and highly perfumed, often quite floral aromatic profiles allied with fine and unobtrusive tanninsthat often lend them velvety textures. Samples were relatively easy to taste compared to 2000, 2005 and 2010. Acidity levels tend towards low pH levels thanks to the cool September nights, thereby imparting a great deal of freshness that is often crucial in counterbalancing their opulence. The 2015s' silky textures might tempt some wine-lovers into drinking them early, however...

5) ...The best 2015s have the substance, balance and complexity to merit long-term aging. My fear, one shared with winemakers, is that many of these 2015s will not be given the opportunity to reach their plateau of maturity after 20, 30 or 40 years. That would be a crying shame. There are plenty of wines that are born to drink earlier and will give just as much pleasure.

6) It is clear that the northern reaches Médoc were affected by the September rain. That does not imply that they are poor or not worth consideration (depending on prices). On the contrary, many are very good. It is simply that when juxtaposed with their counterparts further south, in areas unaffected by rain, you can discern that potential quality in the final blend was compromised, despite Herculean efforts by some winemaking teams.

7) Most Saint Emilion 2015s possess alcohol levels between 14.3%-14.8%, though it should be remembered that this is a result of Nature - the arid summer, optimal amount of showers and then a dry, warm September - rather than premeditated manipulation of alcohol levels through excessively late picking or warm fermentation temperatures. Consequently, I found that many, though not all of these wines, retain their balance and terroir expression - particularly on limestone soils.

8) The dry white Bordeaux are generally high in quality due to benign conditions during the summer and harvest. Some of the Sémillons were occasionally affected by the August rain, but less so the Sauvignon Blanc. Acidity levels were locked in by the cool nights in early September and though many are drunk young, they will repay cellaring.

9) Do not overlook Sauternes! You will...I know that...but there is no harm in repeating it. The region produced a host of outstanding sweet wines with good botrytis levels, rich in sugar between 130-150 grams per liter, but more crucially, marked acidity and tension. One mark of the 2015 vintage is a consistency across the board thanks to the almost leisurely manner in which botrytis spread across the vineyards. For once, the pickers in Sauternes had "options" and the results can be seen in the glass.

Most Memorable Names in 2015

I loathe the idea of rushing out scores as soon as the wine is tasted. I prefer to taste two or three times and then, away from the glamor of Bordeaux, in humdrum circumstances, for example, in your local supermarket buying the dog food on a drizzly Monday morning, I ask myself the simple question... What are the names that still send tingles down my spine?

The following wines made a huge impact among the hundreds that I tasted over three weeks of constant touring châteaux and visiting négoçiants. I have listed them alphabetically. The list is in no way meant as a slur against countless estates that produced potentially outstanding 2015s, such as Pichon-Lalande, Rauza-Segla, Giscours, Clinet, Pavie or Doisy-Daëne to name but a few off the top of my head. And who knows, any or all of these could dazzle in bottle. But for now, these are the dozen names that continue to ricochet around my mind and leave me salivating at the prospect of tasting them at the peak of maturity.

Château Belair-Monange - The first vintage since J-P Moueix acquired the estate in 2011, where the wine reminded me why this vineyard was ranked among the greatest in Saint Emilion.

Château Canon - Last September I tasted a number of vintages of Canon back to 1929 and guess what... The 2015 Canon trounces them all. Winemaker Nicolas Audebert has overseen a benchmark wine that should serve as a wake-up call to his Saint Emilion neighbors. Canon is back and it is gunning for the top rank.

Château Cheval Blanc - How arrogant. No second wine in 2015. Was every lot worthy of the grand vin? I sharpened my pencil in preparation to pick out faults, tasted the barrel sample and hastily put pencil back into pocket.

Château Figeac - Winemaker Frédéric Faye, together with the Manoncourt family and Michel Rolland, has reinvigorated Figeac. He has produced an astonishing 2015 that revels in a growing season that favored both Figeac's terroir and vineyard composition. It is a wine that looks forward without forgetting the past.

Château Haut-Brion - Pessac-Léognan produced a bevy of outstanding wines in 2015 and it is no surprise that the "king" produced a wine that marries intensity with finesse and personality. Granted, there are plenty of "princes" in 2015, but in 20-30

years' time, this will be counted among the canon of magnificent wines from this timeless estate.

Château Margaux - do not read my glowing review of Château Margaux presuming that it is a sop to late and already much-missed winemaker Paul Pontallier. Reviews will glow because the 2015 is the First Growth's most accomplished wine since 2010, sitting comfortably among classics such as 1983 and 2005.

Petrus - Cliché? Predictable? Unobtainable? Unaffordable? Yes. However, this might turn out to be the best Petrus that Olivier Berrouet has ever made, and I include the 2009 and 2010 among those. Since tasting from barrel here in 2002, I cannot remember a more riveting, life-affirming and profound Petrus.

Château Mouton-Rothschild - Philippe Dhalluin has taken this First Growth to a higher level over the last decade, and his 2015 is the standout of the appellation that is perhaps a little piqued that its not the star attraction this year.

Château Rauzan-Segla ? John Kolasa was instrumental in reviving this Margaux, estate and Nicolas Audebert and his team continue where he left off - creating a benchmark wine that future vintages will be judged against.

Château Le Tertre-Rôteboeuf - All four of François Mitjavile's wines left you grinning from ear to ear, but his 2015 Le Tertre-Rôteboeuf, dressed in cashmere tannin and dare I say, almost Romanée-Saint-Vivant like purity, is a wine destined to seduce wine-lovers for two or three decades.

Vieux Château Certan - Guillaume Thienpont is being handed more and more responsibility at this great Pomerol estate. Together with his father, Alexandre, they conjured both a sensual and intellectual masterpiece that could rank among the likes of 1947, 1948 and 1964.

Château Yquem - Falling into the Petrus category of predictability, admittedly there is a subconscious desire to select an alternative Sauternes or Barsac. Yet there was such electricity running through this astonishing Yquem that at the end of the day, you have no choice.

A Word on "Perfection"

"Now you are in charge of Bordeaux, are you going to give 100-points?" "Sure. All you have to do is make a wine as good as the Mouton '45." (Exchange between a famous winemaker and myself - March 2016.)

I have discussed the idea of a 100-point wine and everything that score entails many times. To attach such a score is to bestow, some might say burden the wine with expectations some deem to be unrealistic. Is my concept of perfection the same as yours? Predilections notwithstanding, what level does a wine have to achieve? For me, it goes beyond the confines of common sensory attributes: aromatic complexity, purity, delineation, intensity, balance, freshness, length, typicité and so forth. It must enter a quasi-religious and spiritual realm that you will never forget. It must tap into the

soul. One prerequisite is that there can be not a scintilla of doubt. It must be obvious and stare you in the face.

How many 100-point wines are in this en primeur report? None. There are six wines that I suggest might achieve that score in bottle: Château Margaux, Canon, Haut-Brion, Vieux-Château-Certan, Petrus and Yquem. Nothing is guaranteed, which is why, like most sensible publications, I use a banded score including (98-100). What I convey is the tantalizing prospect that this barrel sample might turn into what I consider a perfect wine among all those thousands I have reviewed over the years. I only scored one solitary 2009 or 2010 Bordeaux 100 points, so it is not something I do frequently, because I must be totally convinced of its pedigree.

Some might speculate that I have been overly generous in giving six wines a potentially perfect score, probably more than 2000, 2005, 2009 or 2010 at this stage. However, I have already stated that I regard 2009 and 2010 as superior vintages because they are more consistent across all levels of the hierarchy. What marks out 2015 is that there were half-a-dozen properties where there was a conjunction of a nigh perfect growing season, specific terroirs and grape varieties, exceptional winemaking skills and a clean and well-run winery, incidentally one that does not necessarily have to be state-of-the-art. Think of 2015 as a narrow pyramid, whereas 2009 and 2010 would be flatter so that its average height higher.

Will all six of these wines be awarded a perfect score in the future? Possibly or maybe none at all. I have no reservations about either. Time will tell. All I can say is that it was these wines that left me feeling ecstatic, humbled to be in their presence at birth. It has nothing to do with history, label or the winemaker, simply the contents of the glass. That is all that counts at the end of the day.

Bordeaux: The Most Affordable Region

While the top names in Bordeaux can be prone to an internecine game of trying to price their wine higher than their competitors to "protect the brand," it remains true that there are hundreds of châteaux that offer outstanding value for money. Here are twelve wines that could represent some of the best values in 2015.

Château Badette (Saint Emilion) - Not a Saint Emilion that I am overly familiar with, but their 2015 was absolutely superb. Located in the commune of Saint Christophe des Bardes, it was subject to a legal dispute regarding ownership, but this wine shows the potential quality.

Château Brondelle (Pessac-Léognan) - This wine is made from gravel soils in the southern Graves. It was one example of a clutch of well-crafted wines from the region.

Les Cruzelles (Lalande-de-Pomerol) - Denis Durantou produced a fabulous l'Eglise-Clinet, but he also produces a raft of outstanding value wines from his holdings in Lalande-de-Pomerol and elsewhere. Les Cruzelles consistently produces wines full of complexity and charm, and the 2015 is no different.

Château Feytit-Clinet (Pomerol) - I am forever wondering when Jeremy Chasseuil will get due recognition for the work he has done at this Pomerol estate. A constant over-achiever, his 2015 deserves a wide audience and is usually keenly priced.

Les Hauts de Smith (Pessac-Léognan) - From the Smith Haut Lafitte stable, the Cathiards, together with winemaker Fabien Teitgen, are currently furnishing white Bordeaux lovers with wines that in my opinion punch well above their weight and almost challenge their Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc!

Château d'Issan (Margaux) - Having recently conducted a vertical of this medieval Margaux estate back to 1945, one thing was clear...the best vintages are the most recent. Emmanuel Cruse has made one of the great Château d'Issan wines.

Joanin Becot (Côtes de Castillon) - This Côtes de Castillon from the Bécot family has always delivered, and their 2015 is just a delicious and powerful, but balanced wine that will give pleasure both young and with bottle age.

Château Moulin Basileus (Pomerol) - Given that I wrote a 600-page doorstop on Pomerol, I must confess that I had never heard of this recent addition to the appellation. Chancing upon it at theSyndicat de Pomerol tasting, I appreciated its freshness, fruit intensity and typicity.

Château de Myrat (Sauternes) - De Myrat is a Sauternes that came back from the dead after the vineyard was uprooted in the mid-seventies. It is not the most famous Sauternes, but there has been a serious upswing in quality in recent years, going unnoticed by many.

Château Pindefleurs (Saint Emilion) ? This is another Saint Emilion property that reveled in such a great vintage for the appellation. Refined, elegant and "flowing," this is a just a lovely wine in the making.

Segla (Margaux) - Nicolas Audebert made what must be the best Rauzan-Segla in years, but the second wine could turn out to be an absolute steal, given the quality.

Château Les Trois Croix (Fronsac) - Fronsac made some outstanding wines in 2015 and there were two or three I could have chosen. But this, courtesy of ex-Mouton-Rothschild winemaker Patrick Leon, exemplifies why Fronsac could be the appellation to watch out for in the next few years.

(My thanks to Johan Berglund for his stunning photography throughout this entire report, and for driving me around.)