Bordeaux wine merchant Bill Blatch, always so generous with his knowledge and experience, sends his fascinating preliminary report on Bordeaux’s most recent harvest. I have put the phrases I found particularly illuminating in bold.
Bordeaux 2004 – setting the scene
After the freakishly early 2003 vintage, the earliest harvest since 1893, we now have 2004, the latest harvest since 1988. Budding was a week later than the 30 year average, flowering two weeks later, the long spun-out véraison approximately 1½ weeks later, and the harvest nine days late for the Merlot and 10...