Wine tasters at the Grand Pontet castle in Saint-Emilion, western France.(c)AFP PHOTO/PATRICK...

Critics lavished outstanding ratings on the 2009 vintage of Bordeaux wines as thousands of buyers rolled in Wednesday for the Bordeaux en Primeur yearly futures campaign.
More than 6,000 wine professionals have descended upon the Bordeaux region this week, many from the cash-strapped Western economies that were forced to slash back imports of fine wines in 2009. In a system unique to Bordeaux, wine is released for sale between April and June, more than a year before bottling, allowing buyers to secure both a supply and a price. Bordeaux sales plunged 23 percent last year, and while traditional markets in the United States, Britain and northern Europe may now be starting to pick up, all eyes are on global powerhouse China, now the key customer of the chateaux.
"From the Twitters and blogs that are pouring forth there seem to be some legends in the making," Justin Gibbs, director of Liv-Ex Fine Wine Exchange, told AFP. "The only reaction to Suckling's scores has been a general groan -- that prices will be high!"
Many expect prices to be stratospheric, and with weak exchange rates, soar past record-highs seen with the 2005 vintage.
Hong Kong has emerged as a major buyer this year, increasing the pressure on the prices.
Chinese buyers are definitely cutting a swathe through the professionals at the trade tastings, and taking the opportunity to visit estates.
At Chateau Cos d'Estournel and Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, 1,500 visitors are expected for private barrel tastings, with more buyers from Hong Kong and China than ever.
Many believe the skyrocketing prices for the Premier Crus (first growths) like Ausone, Lafite-Rothschild and Petrus, will open the market to equally highly rated labels that are less well known in Hong Kong and China.
"Mainland Chinese consumers don't have the same knowledge as Hong Kong consumers, but they are starting to learn more," said K.K. Wong. "They know the top chateaux and they know Robert Parker's scores. If he gives it 95-100, they buy."
Still to come is the word from market-making US wine critic Parker.
"These ratings will not lower the price of Lafite and Petrus, but they will certainly encourage consumers of grands crus to try 'new' wines," said Julien Boulard, deputy director of Chinese importer Great Vineyards Wine.
The big winners will be the wines that received equally high ratings as the Premier Crus, but cost far less, Boulard said.
Among China's new rich, drinking something besides Lafite has become a sign of being a true connoisseur.
"I am certain that the importers will base their orders on the ratings," added Boulard. "And they will be obliged to promote them in order to sell these unknowns to the public." (BORDEAUX, France-AFP)

Published 31.03.2010