2009: Unbelievably delicious Bordeaux like Chateau Gloria above

Don’t panic, rest easy. For those who invested heavily en primeur in Bordeaux 2009, either for their drinking pleasure, or to make a bob or two, I think your money’s safe. In Octover 2001 130 of Bordeaux’s finest chateaux, members of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, turned up as they do each year at London’s Royal Opera House showing their most recently bottled vintage. I don’t know about you but with all the hype and price controversy that surrounded this vintage on release it seems 2009 has been around for ages, certainly a lot longer than 24 months. Widely praised by many as one of the finest ever Bordeaux vintages, now that it’s finally in bottle, this vintage is still a delight. Never has there been such joy drinking young red Bordeaux at this age, nor for that matter its fabulous sweet Sauternes and Barsac. The whites from Pessac-Léognan and Graves, whilst maybe not having the freshness and delicacy of say 2010 or especially 2007, have generally developed well into big, full, spicy whites.

I’ll get to the dandelions in a minute but for now let’s just say that they are extremely important to Johan Reyneke, philosopher, erudite yet pragmatic bio-dynamic exponent,  ‘vine hugger’ [that’s precisely what it says on his business card] and maker of some extremely harmonious and appetizing South African wines.

Frankly who cares? I’m being glib but this country makes such tasty and delicious wine from this variety in so many guises from the crowd pleasing to the simply stunning,  I could easily toss aside its Cabernet Sauvignon, Bonarda and Tempranillo or whatever, even its interesting Syrah and Sangiovese, so vivacious is Argentina’s Malbec. There is nothing like it anywhere in the world. It makes you wonder what on earth the French have been doing in Cahors all these years. Are they sure it’s Malbec they’ve got planted down there? Can Argentina’s South American rendition be related in any way to its rustic and tough Francophone brother?

There are fascinating wines coming from the Balkans at the moment. No surprise given the history of wine cultivation there. Who can forget the beauty of the two thousand year old Ilyrian wine amphora discovered recently off the coast of Albania on a Roman wreck?  Take a peek here if you haven’t [ http://bit.ly/nh8d4o ]. A touch patronising today then to be ‘discovering’ wines from the region but a recent tasting organised by Wines of Croatia, including a selection of forty odd wines chosen by the UK’s merry Wine Gang of journalists, showed how modern techniques, indigenous varieties and diverse terroirs are producing some brilliant wines.  Certainly you wouldn’t want to miss out on the wild flavours of the red Plavac Mali grape or Pošip, a local white.  Malvasia Istria also turns it hand at some tremendously refreshing, and occasionally weighty whites. You may not have herd of Crljenac but you’ll better know it as Zinfandel. Babić and Teran, a Refosco relative, can also produce very good reds.