Hi all.
Just back from a vry brief trip to Bergerac to keep my supplies up to date and talk about 2009s en primeur.
I heard some information there which you might find interesting. First of all, it was from about the most serious wine maker in the region, so it's not some professional soothsayer or an agent whose interesat is always to talk up the wines from a region. Secondly, remember that Bergerac and Bordeaux share a lot in common, cepages, terroir and weather, so what's true in one is very often valid for the other.
Anyway. The gist is that in 2009, the weather was so good that, rather as in 2003, some vines - particularly Merlot, riped before anyone expected, and so, by the time they were harvested, the grapes were over-ripe, almost cooked in some cases.
So, as so often is the case, while the most careful and attentive winemakers will have made wonderful wine, the quality will NOT be uniformly good. You don't need me to tell you to be particularly wary of the wines from Ste Emilion and Pomerol, mostly made from Merlot.
That said, I did buy some wines en primeur, in the hope that I'll still be alive and able to enjoy them in the ten to fifteen years time it'll take them to become drinkable.
So - "Caveat Emptor" and NEVER believe a word the Bordeaux wine trade tell you. (But you all knew that anyway).
All the best Fatty in Forges