2006 Bordeaux - less historic than expected

Less than 10 weeks ago, Bordeaux seemed set to produce another great vintage (as I mistakenly suggested in a blog in July). Today, as the grapes are in, the talk throughout the south-west is of red wines that resemble 1999 and 2001: ripe (unlike 2002) but lacking in depth and colour. The exception to this rule seems to be the Medoc, where some of the best wines of the vintage will have been produced, but even so, there will be few claims to greatness. Quite how the market will react to this kind of vintage after the hysteria that surrounded the 2005s, remains to be seen...