Bordeaux 2004 at 10 years old

Here is the next in our annual series of reviews of more famous wines of Bordeaux at 10 years old. The 77 most starry reds were tasted blind in appropriate geographical flights of 10 to 12 wines and then afterwards I tasted, sighted, a further 22 less glamorous reds and the sweet whites – which in my view are the most successful, and certainly best-value, wines of 2004. (You can read about this in the Blatch report on 2004 in the vines and wines.)

The autumn rains that marked the red-wine harvest – which was very late while producers...