Date£º
2014-04-11 10:35 Source£º
winesearcher Author:
AFP with Wine-Searcher staff Translator:
The challenging conditions during the 2013 growing season in Bordeaux provided pessimists with plenty of reason to write off the vintage before a drop had been tasted, but international wine consultant Michel Rolland claims there are ¡°some very good wines¡± thanks to improved know-how.
Rolland believes that the technological advances in the vineyard over the past 20 years has created some well-priced wines.
¡°The last vintage that was as complicated as 2013 was 1992. But, at this time, we didn¡¯t remove the leaves from the vines, we didn¡¯t know much about green harvesting, we didn¡¯t know how to sort, we didn¡¯t know how to separate parcels within a vineyard and to vinify them separately,¡± he explained. ¡°We just didn¡¯t have the answer to the questions that nature posed. This year, we have the answers and made wines that largely good value for money.¡±
Rolland admitted: ¡°It¡¯s not a great vintage but a vintage that will give pleasure.¡±
Michel Fillion of Bordeaux negociant Yourwine tasted some 700 wines during en primeur week and said he was ¡°pleasantly surprised by the quality, even if it hasn¡¯t got the potential for longevity compared to previous vintages.¡±
Rolland is optimistic for the future of the 2013s. ¡°I am certain that within three or five years, people will say they are surprised with the wines of 2013 because there are some very good wines, just like 2002 and 2007.¡±