On arrival, after a swift stroll to re-familiarise myself with the beautifully (& relatively recently) restored Bdx town centre I swung over to L'Orleans for dinner with a few negociants & merchants that I do know. This is well worth a visit if you are ever in town & I find the typically French atmosphere there perfectly sets up the week ahead. Of course the Montrose 83 & Angludet 03 & 79 also helped! 
Unsurprisingly much discussion of high tannins, high acidity & high prices ensued…
As I intend to cover the wines themselves in more detail later, I'll just provide a brief summary of the TBC tasting programme & some general thoughts on the vintage at this stage.
I spent Day 1 working my way down from the Northern Medoc in St Estephe, back through Pauillac, St Julien to Margaux in the South. The journey afforded TBC a look at the very cream of Bordeaux Chateau, including Montrose, Cos, Lynch Bages, Lafite, Mouton, Las Cases, Margaux, Palmer etc. It was immediately apparent that the wines were again spectacular in 2010, though with a marked difference to 2009. 
The 2010's on both sides of the Gironde are far more acidic, with the tannins also high in intensity & quality. (The 09's were high in tannin but with less acidity) With high(er) alcohol levels to also contend with, balancing these factors correctly has been more important than ever this year. The wine makers preferences and wisdom are on show big time! I personally applauded nearly all of the decisions taken on the left bank, bar one or two. All the top level wines will last for decades and probably shouldn't be broached for at least one either. 
They are majestic, blockbuster wines that the Bordelaise are right to be proud of. As it was a very hot year, with much needed rain arriving just in time at the end, the later ripening Cabernet Sauvignon has perhaps been easier to manage than the Merlot. However, the top Medocain Merlot plots also seem to have come out well, with any problems (like milleandange) having been ironed out in the winery.
On Day 2 I returned to the Medoc to have a look at more of the top end estates as well as the mid and lower mid tier wines. These are generally shown in the Union de Grand Cru tastings hosted by a different chateau every year. This year Pauillac, St Estephe & St Julien were shown at Ch Branaire Ducru, Margaux at Ch Lascombes and Haut Medoc, Medoc, Moulis, Listrac at Ch Citran and Sauternes & Barsac at Ch Desmirail. These can get unpleasantly busy and this was especially true at Branaire. 3 Major AC's in an undersized room with all participants also requiring lunch, is quite clearly a recipe for a bun fight! Still my excitement easily overcame logistics of getting to the tables & I did manage to taste all I wanted without spitting wine on anyone or treading on too many toes.
I am glad that I'll be having a more relaxed look at them 2 or 3 times over the next few months but my first impressions were once more positive. Nearly all the top estates are on song and there will be relative bargains to be had lower down the scale. There was a plethora of fresh, pure wines but also more than one moment where drying, rasping tannin couldn't be expelled from my mouth quick enough! A queue for the spittoon could well become extremely uncomfortable! This happened mostly with the poorer Medoc's and I was nearly always awarding ridiculously grand accolades in other AC's. Margaux, Pauillac & St Julien seemed to be neck & neck & neck in front with St Estephe just behind, followed my Haut Medoc & Medoc. I can't wait to tell you about my favourites, including a few that I pray will remain under the radar and be released cheap. As always, great vintages trickle down the scale and TBC will be ready and waiting to snap up the very best of those! As far as Sauternes was concerned I judged that it was slightly below the level of 09 and certainly not in the league of 07. I don't really sell many of these fantastic wines but I was really pleased to see so many Chinese furiously scribbling notes in this tasting. Great Sauternes really are a thing of beauty that could do with a helping hand!
Day 3 involved an extensive look at the right bank. As well as the top brass in St Emilion & Pomerol (Cheval Blanc, Conseillante etc) I made a real effort to taste more in Fronsac, Lalande de Pomerol, Lussac St Emilion etc. Many of these lesser AC's were handily (for me) shown in Le Cercle de Rive Droite tasting and I had a thoroughly useful hour or two in there. Perhaps the most disappointing tasting for me was the St Emilion Grand Cru Classe UGC at Ch Couspaude where burly, heady, brutish qualities to often reared their unwanted heads. This was a considerable problem last year in St Emilion, but in 2010 even less Chateau have managed (attempted?) to deal with the aggressive tannin & huge alcohol levels. 
They've extracted too much IMO. St Emilion never used to be like this in my early days of Claret quaffing! Having said that, there were 'beauts' as well as 'brutes' proving that that sunburnt Merlot could indeed be managed well. Perhaps I'll be able form a more positive opinion of these once they are settled down in bottle? I should also mention that properties using a higher propertion of Cabernet Franc (Cheval Blanc) did excellently and that Pomerol was far more successful with Merlot than St Emilion. Same as last year IMO, but it's important to point out that there are many soils variations across all regions & individual Chateau make use of their own unique factors. I really don't want to fabricate a generalisation that 'all St Emilion 2010' is bad! That is never the case in any AC and these wines are seriously immature right now. The keyword is BALANCE which can and does change with wine. Sadly some always remain unbalanced once they've been set sail with a heavy cargo. We'll just have to wait & see how far they get.
My final Day 4, after an early dash down to Ch Smith Haut Lafite to have a curious peak at the swanky Les Sources hotel I made a headlong plunge into the Graves & Pessac Leognan at Ch Malartic Lagraviere. Quite a mixed bag here too. Myself & my (by this time sole) travelling partner had been tipped off that the Graves whites were exceptional this year but sadly we both felt a touch disappointed with our samples. They were just a bit light and ironically missing some of the zing & concentration the reds had. Even one of my usual bankers in terms of quality didn't deliver. 
Thankfully there was again one or two exceptions at the top & bottom of the pile and I was cheered up further by the Pessac reds, which offered far brighter prospect. About 50% being great & 2 or 3 being awesome! As I said, more details on which individual wines excelled later.
With that I dashed back to the airport and flew back to Luton, sitting almost next to Bill Beaumont the England Rugby legend. Perhaps he was there for the tastings too but I was too shy to ask!? Now I'm back at TBC working my way through my wine stained TN's and a mound of Chateau 'bumf' concerning blends & growing conditions. I'm also 'palling up' to my negociant contacts letting them know that I wish to be a player once more… "business on the rise", "star of the future", "here's my wishlist"… blag blag blag! At times it feels like I'm back in the music business promoting a new band to Reading Festival! In real terms of course, TBC is a drop in the ocean in the Bdx market. 2009 did help to grow the business a considerable amount last year but some of the major players are selling through £50-60 million and expect to do that again this year with another good vintage. However, it really isn't as straightforward as that. 2009 was great but my collector/consumer head is asking…do I need to buy again with a great vintage already in my cellar? I know a lot of TBC customers are a bit like me in that way. 
Customers of all merchants will be weighing it up from the many assessments about to emerge, including that of Monsieur e-Bob Parker.
So what am I going to buy and how much do I think it will set me/us back?? Well, prices and scores are obviously key and (as I write) unknown but there are still certain brands that I wish to stick with, and 99% will stick with as long as they don't go into madness territory with their pricing. I'm talking about wines like Angludet, Batailley, Kirwan, Clos Oratoire, Vieille Cure that I'm a massive fan of & still think are real value for money, even at the 09 pricing level. These are key brands for TBC that I really have enjoyed running with and introducing to people. I have had some success with them, like the way they are made and of course really enjoy them at home. I am expecting the prices to be very similar to 09 and as the vintage is similarly excellent, (though different in style) we can't really expect the Bordelaise to reduce the price. That would send the wrong message that they were in some way inferior. The left bank wines are as good if not better than 09. However, if someone like Batailley decide to follow a new strategy, like Ch Grand Puy Lacoste did in 09, and overprice, I'll sadly have to withdraw my support, hard though that may be for me to do! I loved the 09 GPL, but I'll buy it later, perhaps at auction when it's drinking if I want it that much. Or just pass…there's always rising stars waiting to stand in. As I always say, there 'has to be a reason to buy early!' That can be price related or just wine related. Some of the perceived bargains may or may not rise in price later on but if you just fancy them for drinking, and you think they are reasonable, why not get some in and eliminate the risk of paying more later? As long as you think you've paid a fair price.
Then we come to the lofty First growths, Super Seconds, Thirds (Palmer), Fifths (Lynch Bages, Pontet Canet) Like it or not these are sold more as investment bonds these days than as wine. In volatile world money markets, more & more people are wishing to put their savings into PHYSICAL goods that generally hold & increase in value. Property isn't (currently) as solid an investment as it once was and certain Bdx brands are being treated as mini gold ingots. Though there is always talk of the bubble bursting, I only see the interest growing from around the world. I'm certainly not a city boy and I don't feel comfortable advising anyone about a diverse investment portfolio. I'm a wine drinker first. However, I have seen wine hold up well since my involvement, so when I'm (hopefully!) asked if I want to take up my allocation of Super Seconds & top Pomerols I'm very unlikely to say 'non' this year unless something very strange happens in the next 2 months. Having said that, I recommend an air of caution investing in some Second Growths unless they are properly for the long term. Eg; Someone buying Pichon Lalande 2009 or 10 for their child's college education in 18 years is almost definitely going to be OK with that in my view. They'll probably do well before then actually. 2009 & 2010 are very likely to hold great vintage reputation. However, someone buying (say) Ducru Beaucaillou 2009 to flip when it's bottled in a 2/3 years is probably tying up their money unnecessarily. It's fantastic wine but IMO they just over egged the price too much last year and are unlikely to release cheaper this year for reasons mentioned above. 
The 2nd tier Chateau have stopped the quick gains happening with last year prices and It's only really the first growths that have increased in price since release. Perhaps though, the massive world interest in another top vintage will tip the scale for 2nd's to rise quicker? The USA were certainly back tasting in force (having missed 09 due to the recession & high prices) as well as a huge amount of Asian nations. Prices obviously rise with demand and scarcity. They are plenty of top Medocs (approx 5-30K cases depending on estate) made every year but hey don't spread that far in world terms. Top Right Bank's are much rarer. My advice is to enjoy(!) weighing up as much information as possible before making the jump to investment. Feel free to ask me for my opinion on any particular wines but see what other folk are saying too.
Investment aside, there are many exquisite drinking wines in 2010 & I can't wait to get some of these in my cellar. More on that subject to follow…
A demain!