Bordeaux 2011 en primeur results (Part 3)

Third Report (April 10th, 2012)How does 2011 compare with previous vintages? What quality for the 2011s in Bordeaux? Dear readers, We have just compared the 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001 and 2000 scores for 407 crus. Here is what came out of this comparison: • The 2011 dry whites, which I find very good, rank fifth (see table n°1) among the last 12 vintages– with the 2010s, 2007s and 2008s in the lead. • The 2011 sweet whites, which I also find very good, rank fifth (see table n°1) among the last 12 vintages- with the 2009s, 2003s and 2010s taking top honours. • 2011 is a good year for the reds - the right bank (Pomerol, Saint-Emilion and satellite areas, Fronsac) outshining the left bank (Médoc and Graves). About the right bank On the right bank, 2011 ties for sixth place with 2006. - Two distinctive features can be noted: - The 2011 right bank scores are on the whole higher than average (87.73 versus 87.58 – see table n° 3). The best bargains of the year will be found on this side of the river. - For the higher calibre labels, i.e the five leading châteaux, the scores in 2011 are below average (94.6 in 2011 versus an average of 95 .24 – see table n°4). It is true to say that the best scores this year are not particularly high. Table n°1 also shows that, on the right bank, the 2009s, 2005s and 2010s are stealing the show. About the left bank - On the left bank, 2011 rank eighth among the last 12 vintages, on a par with 2004. - The average score in 2011 is slightly below average (86.92 versus 87.06 – see table n°3) - 2009, 2010 and 2005 are the star vintages for the left bank. About the charts It won’t escape you that the linear regression line is rising – a trend that was also highlighted in my book - which illustrates the steady increase in quality across the whole of the Bordeaux area. Dry and sweet whites alike have seen the quality of their performance improve significantly - their original level was of course not quite on a par with the reds. As regards the reds, improvements on the right bank are slightly faster than on the left bank. This, of course, somewhat puts into perspective the importance given to the vintage alone when judging the quality of a wine. You may find the information below useful to help you organize your purchase when the châteaux release their prices. As for each appellation and individual cru’s style, you will read about it in detail in the forthcoming reports. Table n° 1 Rank 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 Whites 5 1 6 3 2 4 8 9 7 10 11 12 Sweet whites 5 3 1 11 7 6 4 8 2 10 9 12 Right Bank 6 3 1 5 11 7 2 10 8 12 9 4 Left Bank 8 2 1 7 12 5 3 9 4 10 11 6Table n° 2Taste quality for each vintage 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 Average Whites 89,68 91,03 89,62 89,80 90,34 89,74 89,01 88,63 89,48 88,15 86,74 86,30 88,98 Sweet whites 91,41 91,66 94,21 88,50 90,48 90,91 91,62 89,74 92,19 89,09 89,51 86,21 90,37 Right Bank 91,17 92,60 93,26 91,61 89,61 91,16 93,13 90,66 91,13 89,59 90,92 91,81 91,41 Left Bank 90,46 92,47 92,50 90,82 89,35 91,03 92,00 90,34 91,54 90,11 90,09 90,86 91,01 Whites - Quality improvement index: 0,33 Sweet whites - Quality improvement index: 0,33 Right Bank - Quality improvement index: 0,11 Left Bank - Quality improvement index: 0,09 Calculation parameters To determine the rank of each vintage and the taste quality per category (table n°1 and table n°2), we first worked out the average score for 407 wines (see table n°3), then we established the average score for the top five labels in each category (see table n°4) and finally, from those two scores, we worked out the average scores you will find in table n°2. Table n° 3 Average score 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 Average Whites 88,16 88,87 87,83 87,80 88,28 87,88 87,42 86,65 86,96 86,70 85,27 85,00 87,15 Sweet whites 88,81 88,92 90,42 86,40 87,96 87,62 88,44 87,08 89,37 86,78 87,22 84,82 87,73 Right Bank 87,73 88,60 88,53 87,81 87,21 87,71 88,45 86,73 87,06 86,57 86,83 87,82 87,58 Left Bank 86,92 88,35 88,01 87,23 86,49 87,27 87,99 86,69 86,88 86,21 85,98 86,52 87,06Table n° 4 Average score for the top five labels 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 Average Whites 91,20 93,20 91,40 91,80 92,40 91,60 90,60 90,60 92,00 89,60 88,20 87,60 90,82 Sweet whites 94,00 94,40 98,00 90,60 93,00 94,20 94,80 92,40 95,00 91,40 91,80 87,60 93,02 Right Bank 94,60 96,60 98,00 95,40 92,00 94,60 97,80 94,60 95,20 92,60 95,00 95,80 95,24 Left Bank 94,00 96,60 97,00 94,40 92,20 94,80 96,00 94,00 96,20 94,00 94,20 95,20 94,96 The wine reviews for each château will be available from Thursday, April 12. Many thanks to Yves Collier from Winedecider for his expertise in working out the data. Kind regards. Jean-Marc Quarin __________________________________________________________________________ © Copyright 2010.This publication is the original work of Jean-Marc Quarin Sarl, 10 allée de Ginouilhac, BP 40, Le Taillan-Médoc. France. - E-mail : jmquarin@quarin.com The news media and subscribing wine distributors, importers and retailers may use portions of this material (such as tasting notes, ratings or quotes) provided that it is not distorted, the proper wine and vintage are stated, www.quarin.com is given credit for the material utilized, and Jean-Marc Quarin (JMQ) is shown as the Copyright holder.

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Bordeaux 2011 en primeur results (Part 3)

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