Fourth Edition Of “The Complete Bordeaux” Shows How Things Have Changed In The Past Five Years In French Viniculture.

A major overhaul, delayed by Covid for two years, of The Complete Cordeaux: The Wines, The Chateaux, The People by Stephen Brook (Mitchell Beazley, $75) comes at a time of upheaval in French vineyards given changes in global markets, climate change and agrotourism. I posed questions to Brooks about this, the 4^th edition.

This is the 4th edition. What is different now?

Five years is a long time in Bordeaux. There are numerous changes in ownership, as well as changes in generation. The celebrated consultants, such as Michel Rolland, are still around, but being supplemented by a new crop of younger experts who may be more adept at dealing with issues such as climate change. There has been a remarkable expansion in organic and biodynamic farming, as proprietors are urged to take greater account of environmental concerns. Sauternes, long seen as a perfect way to lose money, is undergoing a revolution, as new entrepreneurs buy estates and transform them, creating hotels, and reducing the production of sweet wines to reflect the limited demand while expanding production of dry white wines. So plenty to write about, not to mention a succession of fine new vintages.

As someone who wrote five editions of The Encyclopedia of American Food & Drink, I doubt there will ever be another because looking up the entries within can just as easily, if not as dependably, find a great deal of information online. Is this the future or the fate of books like yours?

Yes, that’s quite likely. For some years I revised Hugh Johnson’s Wine Companion, essentially an encyclopedia of wine, but new editions ceased as potential purchasers realized they could find much of the same information on websites. The Complete Bordeaux is different, in that I voice opinions too. The content is not solely factual. Also I am 100% independent, whereas chateau websites clearly have an agenda. Nonetheless, I doubt there will be many more editions!

You write that Covid prevented you from visiting Bordeaux in 2021. How did you handle that gap?

I was fortunate, in having good contacts with growers’ associations in all parts of Bordeaux, and similar contacts with groupings such as the Alliance des Crus Bourgeois, and with merchants and consultants. Without exception, they responded to my requests for samples of recent vintages, so I was able to taste hundreds of wines here in London. There were also many Zoom calls with producers and winemakers.

You write that unlike the wineries of NAPA valley Barossa Valley and Burgundy, the Bordeaux vintners all seem reluctant to have visitors and do not communicate well with the public. And that it’s getting worse, even among vintners you visited in the past. Why is this?

When I started visiting Bordeaux in the mid-1980s, a phone call to a chateau was usually sufficient to result in a visit and tasting. That’s because there were relatively few visitors. Now, winelovers descend on Bordeaux from all over the world, and few chateaux have the facilities to welcome hundreds of visitors each day. Some properties (e.g., Lynch Bages) have always welcomed visitors (mostly by appointment) and properties in less prestigious areas such as Fronsac or Graves are often pleased to accept visitors for a visit and tasting. Bear in mind that the weather is clement year round in Napa or much of Australia, whereas in Bordeaux the climate is miserable from November to March, making it very costly to maintain staff and infrastructure for visitors when very few are around.

You write that “we the privileged,” meaning people in the trade and authors like yourself have access to staying at the châteaux. How does this generosity affect your response to what they are offering you to drink?

I think the honest answer is yes. Over many decades it’s inevitable that certain proprietors become friends. Not just because they invariably agree to a visit or request for samples, but because they are valued as reliable sources of information. Some owners court the press by toadying to them, but others (such as Olivier Bernard at Chevalier) see the value of two-way communication. But I have never been leaned on to provide a glowing review or tasting note, and I have never hesitated to express disappointment, even from estates I respect.

Do you always taste your wines blind?

During the UGC primeur tastings the press can choose to taste blind or not blind. I always tasted blind. But more and more chateaux insist on a personal visit to taste, so tasting blind isn’t an option. I also participate in wine competitions, where the wines are tasted blind. It’s a tricky issue, especially during primeurs, when you aren’t tasting a finished wine. I recall tasting a wine blind that turned out to be Lynch-Bages. It showed poorly, so I retasted the wine non-blind, and can defend doing so. Some samples are defective, and even the finest palate can show signs of fatigue resulting in poor judgment from time to time. I have always refused to score primeur wines (too young and unfinished, and you don’t know how the sample has been assembled), so for me it’s not a major issue.

You write that many Bordeaux vintners do a form of filtering their wines but in answer to the question do they filter, they say no. Please explain.

Filtration has varying degrees of severity. A sterile filtration can be damaging to a wine, whereas a coarse filtration (known, I think, in the New World as a rocks and frigs filtration) primarily seeks to remove any solids that remain after racking. But I’m not dogmatic about this. If a winemaker is convinced a wine needs filtration to be presentable, I’ll accept that judgment. Routine sterile filtration is more of an issue with high-volume wines that need to be consistent and acceptable to consumers who don’t understand (why should they?) that wine can throw a natural deposit.

You write that it is more or less useless to speak about barrels used and how they have been toasted because the nuances can be so small. So you have chosen not to speak about which of barrels are used. Correct?

It’s beyond my expertise to determine whether a wine has a certain character or quality because the winemaker chose Taransaud rather than Darnajou barrels. Moreover, many winemakers at top chateaux hand-commssion and hand-select their barrels. So Ch X”s Taransaud may well differ from Ch Y’s. Moreover, it’s almost impossible for a journalist to know which barrels made it into the final blend. Tasting the same wine from different barrels can be a fascinating exercise for professionals, But I think consumers are rightly more interested in the final product.

How does your book on Bordeaux differ from those written by Robert Parker, Michael Broadbent, Neil Martin and Jane Hansen? You say that bottles can vary widely and that some are even fakes provided to the wine writers. Does this make tasting notes, based on one bottle, useless?

One major difference is that I don’t score wines in my book, though I do provide tasting notes. I’m not interesting in ranking wines. Clearly I need to assess their style and quality, and I dare say some personal preferences come through. It’s not really for me to say whether my books are more reliable or more informative than those of my fellow writers! Bottle variation is only a real problem with cask samples which can easily be manipulated to subdue tannins or make them more appealing in their youth (when initial scores are bestowed). And of course bottles of ancient wines can and do vary. For wines within 10 years of the vintage it’s not really an issue.

At a time of PC correctness have you taken any heat for calling Bordeaux “virile” wines?

I don’t think so. I do try to avoid terms such as ‘feminine’, often used to describe Margaux wines. But a young Medoc from a good property can, I think usefully be described as virile or muscular.

How has climate change affected Bordeaux and what do you see in the next 10 years of change?

A big question! And it’s one I address in my introductory chapters. There are wines from 2010 and 2018 with 15.5% alcohol. That may be fine in Barossa or Paso Robles, but it robs Bordeaux of its typicity. Most chateaux are well aware of this, and are making changes to farming and yields, so as to achieve full ripeness at lower sugar and thus alcohol levels. But I’s not easy to do. Conversely, climate change has benefitted areas such as Castillon or Francs where grapes use to struggle to ripen. Today that is rarely as issue, resulting in greatly improved wines. The authorities are now permitting the planting of alternative varieties, but it will be many years before they become significant components of major wines. This, too, is something I address in my book.

It would seem that this book would seem to take up an enormous amount of your time. Are you already working on a fifth edition? I have written more than 40 bucks on many topics not about wine. I’m not actively working on a new edition – give me a break! – but I continue to taste Bordeaux whenever the opportunity presents itself, so as to keep my data base up to date. And I hope I return to the region next year.