Well I’ve booked my plane ticket and car rental for Bordeaux’s busy primeurs week at the beginning of April. There has already been a fair degree of hype surrounding the quality of the 2015 vintage since harvest, with comparisons already being made with 2005, 2009 and 2010. But as with the last few years it will surely be price that is the major determinant of the success of Bordeaux 2015. With a very uncertain global economic outlook, the hope must be that prices won’t be much up on 2014 and surely offered at a substantial discount to the physically available 2005, 2009 and 2010 vintages? This probably won’t happen of course, partly because that hasn’t happened for almost a decade with the 2008 vintage being the last offered to customers at an attractive price en primeur.

Of course it is far too soon to make an assessment of the 2014 vintage in Bordeaux (the critical month is August), but it is interesting to look at the weather conditions so far to see how they may affect the final outcome. For some unfortunate growers in the northern Médoc, we know already that they will have vastly reduced crops because of the hail storm that struck on Whit Sunday (8 June). In four or five villages to the east of Lesparre-Médoc, nearly 50% of the vineyard was affected and some growers are reporting up to 100% loss. This was the critical flowering period, and hail is very effective at stripping the vines of their leaves. No leaves means no photosynthesis and therefore no crop. Fortunately for other producers, hail is usually very localised. Outside the northern Médoc, others are more upbeat about climatic conditions so far.