Wine lovers are waiting anxiously for their first taste of Bordeaux 2015 after experts hailed the vintage.
Wine makers have been optimistic about the ideal growing conditions for the year and that view has been confirmed by experts at the region’s annual future tastings.
A “magnificent” vintage appears to be on the way. Everything suggests that 2015 will be a great year and not just in Bordeaux. Conditions in Burgundy, Champagne and the Rhône were close to ideal last summer.
The vines flowered early in warm sunshine; the grapes appeared in perfect dry weather; they turned purple in ideal conditions of slight drought in mid-July; they expanded and ripened in a warm, dry August with just a little rain; and they were picked in a dry autumn with cool nights.
The verdicts of the expert tasters at the week-long event are crucial to future sales and help determine the prices that will be set at the end of May.
"This is something to get excited about," said prominent oenologist Michel Rolland at the tasting.
"It's a great vintage with precise wines, better than any we've ever made," he said. "It has the power of the 2005s and... the body and sunny charm of the 2009s."
South African Neil Pendock, owner of a Cape Town wine shop, agreed.
"I've been coming to the tastings for about four, five years now and this is the best," he said, praising the wine's accessibility and fruitiness.
Wine expert Stephan Toutoundji from a French tasting laboratory said the exceptional quality was true across all the Bordeaux labels for 2015, "on a par with the last great ones -- 2005, 2009 and 2010".
Wine futures are sold to buyers on exclusive contracts. The buyers later resell their selections to clients who will receive their wine only when it goes on the market in 18 months.
The system is used by just 150 Bordeaux wineries representing around 2% of production.
The news comes as a relief for producers. The 2013 Bordeaux output was lacklustre followed by an average vintage in 2014.
"Conditions are in place for everyone to do very good business," said Olivier Bernard, head of the Bordeaux wine federation that organises the futures tastings.
