NOW is the time that wine buffs are beginning to consider their purchases of Bordeaux's 1996 fine wine production.
Sadly the 96 vintage is less spectacular than the 1995 which according to the Co Dublin wine merchant Charles Searson was a four star vintage. The summer of 1996 was too cool to produce an exceptional growth," he explains.
Buying wine futures can be risky but if you want to acquire fine Bordeaux at the best prices, this is the only way. But it means you have to be prepared to put down your money and wait up to three years for delivery of your wine. And even then you won't be able to drink it: much of the top Bordeaux wines evolve over decades in the bottle.
In Bordeaux they'll tell you that it is the terroir - a combination of soil, local topography and microclimate - that gives their wine its distinctive characteristics. Vines do best on poor soil. The deeper the roots have to dig for food, the more minerals they absorb, which results in more complex wines.
As They Were
Most of Bordeaux's famous vineyards, which produce the grand cru classe, are situated in the Medoc. With only one exception - Chateau Mouton Rothschild, which was promoted from a second to a first growth in 1973 - these wines are still ranked as they were in 1855 at the request of the organisers of Napolean III's Universal Exhibition in Paris.
Some of the fifth growths - Lynch Bages for example - are now regarded as being better than some of the second growths, while in this latter category a number, including Cos d'Estournel and Ducru Beaucaillou, are popularly known as the "superseconds".
The top winemakers are unprententious. For them, wine producing is a way of life; they are dedicated to their craft and they feel an affinity with the soil. They admit that they have the best jobs in the world. Ask them what they drink at home and many of them will tell you - water.
The years when grape harvests are poor present winemakers with their challenges. When weather conditions are good, we all make great wine, says Bruno Pratz, owner of Cos d'Estournel. The years when the elements are against you and you still produce a great wine are the ones that give the greatest satisfaction.
In good years the prices of fine Bordeaux rocket - pushed up largely by the market in the United States, which invests heavily in good vintages as defined by US wine guru Robert Parker and his controversial marking system. In years that are less well rated by Parker Americans buy very little.
While Ireland is a small but steady market - in 1995 we ranked 12th in terms of volume sales - Belgium provides Bordeaux with its best customers. The Belgians buy the same large quantities of fine wine year in, year out. Japan and other Far Eastern countries are growing markets for Bordeaux wines.
Family Farewell
The number of family owned chateaux in Bordeaux is in decline. When grand cru classe estates come on the market they are snapped up by insurance companies and large industrial concerns.
Chateaux Pichon Longueville and Cantenac Brown for example, are now owned by AXA, a large French insurance group, while Chateau Gruaud Larose is owned by the telecommunications company, Alcatel. These organisations have lavished fortunes on their wine producing properties. Pichon Longueville boasts a state of the art high tech production unit that is cleverly submerged beneath the chateau's formal gardens.
Wine making at this level is labour intensive - even the grapes are still picked by hand. Every wine maker has different winemaking techniques. Some vineyards still use wooden vats for fermentation, but others have turned to cement or stainless steel. The wine is matured in oak barrels.
Most of the grand cru classe producers use 50 per cent new barrels each year but some use only new barrels. The oak which is hand split. comes only from French forests. (Legendary St Emilion winemaker Pascal Delbeck, who produces Chateau Belair, buys his own oak and matures it on the property in order to guarantee its quality.)
It's only when you taste wine with leading wine producers that you realise how undeveloped your taste buds are. Pascal Delbeck told his six year old daughter to remember the taste of everything she consumed so that when she began wine tasting, she would be able to identify the flavours. Even the shape of the glass can make a difference.
At lunch one day, Delbeck served wine in two different glasses and asked us to identify the differences. The wine served in the narrow glass tasted heavier and more full bodied than the wine in the glass with the wider mouth, which was lighter and more exuberant. Both glasses contained the same wine - a 1985 Chateau Ausone.
Many of the top producers will tell you that they welcome visitors, but be warned - if you simply turn up on the doorstep looking for a tour you will be politely but firmly sent away. Visits are strictly by appointment. Write or phone ahead.
Fruity, Oaky, Dark
The intricacies of wine production at this level are fascinating. There's nothing quite like the fruity, oaky, dark and slightly dank smell of the chai where the barrelled wine is stored. Sadly it's almost impossible to buy fine wine on the spot - very few of the top vine yards are willing to sell their wines directly.
Only a handful of the Medoc chateaux are still inhabited. The Bartons of Chateaux Langoa and Leoville Barton (Anthony Barton still retains his Irish passport) and the Borie family of Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou still live in their wonderful palaces above the shop - or rather the wine cellars. But many of the wine producing families prefer more comfortable family homes in the city of Bordeaux, where their children can be educated locally. The chateaux are used for business entertaining only.