It is official: 2016 was a great year for Bordeaux wine

Thousands of professionals in the wine trade descended on Bordeaux to taste last year’s wine in what is known as the primeur — the tasting before the wine is bottled. They have confirmed what wine makers have been promising - 2016 was an exceptional year for Bordeaux wine.

One taster speaking at the wine tasting at château Pontet-Canet (Pauillac) on April 6 last week said the overall standard had never been so high. ‘It was the wine year we needed in Bordeaux’.

It appears the weather conditions were just right to lend themselves to a spectacular year. Stéphany Lesaint, of Château Mazeyres in Pomerol, said: ‘We had the 800mm of rain up to June, which is really unusual. But we had one week of sun, which was during the flowering and this permitted vines to have a very generous crop. After June, we had 42 days with no rain and very hot temperatures.’

Winemaker Nicolas Glumineau said: ‘Everything about the balance, complexity, the density of the wine [is right]… that’s why I’m so enthusiastic.’

‘It’s a high definition vintage,’ said Hervé Berland, MD of Château Montrose in St-Estèphe.

‘We knew from the beginning that the richness of the berries was wonderful.’