Brilliant Bordeaux

Mike Bennie Chats With Master of Wine Andrew Caillard About One of the World’s Most Famous Wine Regions.

Bordeaux’s image remains unscathed amongst the cognoscenti but it barely raises the pulse for the more avant-garde drinker. The buttoned-up grand Chateaux imagery of the region projects a rarefied air and inspires aspirational drinking culture, but ‘common folk’ seem to have shifted their gaze. Bordeaux has lost a generation of drinkers.

In high end, fine wine circles however, particularly the increasingly voracious Chinese market, Bordeaux’s image has not faltered. Top end Chateaux achieve record money at auction, wines are bought and sold like stocks and shares, and the best wines of vintage are clamoured for. Each year a horde of suited and booted wine critics descend on the winegrowing region for ‘en primeur’ tasting – an orgy of sampling unfinished wines, tasted direct from barrel. The subsequent reviews have a marked impact on wine buyers.