Modern Legend Bordeaux Back Vintage: 2009 Haut-Médoc Downwind from Lafite
Posted on: 08/13/18 12:00 PM
2009 remains, at least according to Robert Parker, the single highest rated Bordeaux vintage of all time. He gave a mind boggling nineteen wines the perfect one hundred points. As a comparison, the vintage that many still see as the ‘big dog’ in 1982, has four.
The wonderful thing about these vintages is the enormous extent to which the standard of the ‘everyday’ wines is raised. The phrase always used is ‘a high tide raises all boats’, and it’s true. A $25 wine bought in 2011 as a future was almost bound to be an insane steal, even if you were making your buying choices by throwing darts at a board.
What’s considerably more difficult is this. Brilliant Haut-Médoc from a site fifteen minutes north of Château Lafite, from this staggeringly good vintage, nine years on, totally mature, absolutely delicious, and yet still, $25. You need to buy this now and you need to load up, as this might be the last chance you get for anything like it.
2009 Château Soudars, Haut-Médoc
This is absolutely classic, with a savory and old school profile. Earthy, with graphite and gravel alongside the elevated cassis that was a calling card of 2009. Initially dominant, that intensity of fruit has now perfectly integrated with the ample structure here. As far as I’m concerned, that is exactly how Bordeaux should be.
Back to Blog