Wine enthusiasts are getting restless

(AFP PHOTO/PATRICK BERNARD)

On May 18, wine enthusiasts began impatiently twittering about Bordeaux 2009 pricing, Asian and American wine buyers, while anticipating VinExpo 2010 in Hong Kong.

Simon Staple, a wine merchant for Berry Bros & Rudd (BBR), got the ball rolling on the morning of May 18 by tweeting, "Come on Bordeaux!! Release some wines!! If everyone waits until after VinExpo there will be casualties as we can't focus on everything."

Then wine guru Jancis Robinson quickly tweeted during the London International Wine Fair to comment on pricing, "Daft and dafter prices coming out for #bdx09. Speculators are welcome to them. There are lots of good modest Medocs for drinkers."

It has been made abundantly clear, since international renowned critics released their notes in April from annual wine futures tasting event En Primeur Bordeaux 2009, that 2009 is an excellent vintage.

Robert M. Parker Jr., the voice of wine and author of several wine books, has clearly impassioned the market, "For some Médocs and Graves, 2009 may turn out to be the finest vintage I have tasted in 32 years of covering Bordeaux."

However it is no secret that the wine world is catering to the burgeoning Asian market and Americans are falling out of love with Bordeaux even though the euro is falling. Eric Asimov, the wine critic for The New York Times, noted on his NYT blog The Pour with a post on May 18, causing tweet-jerk reactions, that young Americans have lost their taste for Bordeaux: "it' s downright unfashionable" and "the new standard of excellence is Burgundy."

Robinson tweeted in response to Asimov's post on May 19, "Bordeaux represents <0.5% of wine sold in US according to http://ow.ly/1MW6f by @ericasimov. And it's likely to decline further, I'd guess."

James Suckling, Wine Spectator's senior editor, weighed in, "Great vintages, blah, blah, blah. Some wine lovers no longer care much about Bordeaux," on May 19 and followed up with "2009 vintage is what it is: excellent quality. So why all the Bordeaux bashing? If some wines are too expensive don't buy them. No big deal!"

All eyes will be on VinExpo, an international wine trade event and hub for wine education, trends and new products, taking place May 25-27 in Hong Kong to see if Asia buys up Bordeaux.

Keep current by following these tweets and blogs:

- Jancis Robinson, wine guru: @jancisrobinson

- Robert M. Parker, Jr., the voice of wine and author of several wine books: @RobertMParkerJr

- Wine Spectator's senior editor, James Suckling: @JamesSuckling

- Simon Staples, wine merchant for Berry Bros & Rudd (BBR) @ BigSiTheWineGuy

- Jeannie Cho Lee, leading Asian authority on wine: @JeannieChoLee

- Charlie Matthews, who developed tailored Bordeaux tours: @Bordeauxuncorkd

- Stephen Tanzer, ‘Wino-in-Chief', Winophilia blog: http://www.winophilia.com

- Decanter's Bordeaux 2009 site: http://www.decanter.com/specials/296209.html

If you are obsessed with wine, you can monitor the prices as they roll out with bordOverview, a site that monitors and collects all you need to know on Bordeaux Primeurs (futures): http://www.bordoverview.com or The London International Vintners Exchange (Liv-ex), the fine wine exchange: http://www.liv-ex.com/pages/static_page.jsp?pageId=98

For more information on VinExpo, visit:  http://www.vinexpo.com/en/index