Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1787
20 / the tasting panel / august 2009 " Our vineyards cover only 4% of the whole region but represent 34% of wines sales, and 95% of the estates are family-owned." This statement made at a morning confer- ence at Vinexpo in Bordeaux in June did not refer to the Haut-Médoc, but to Napa Valley. Family owner- ship seemed the overriding theme to this biennial jamboree, where low- ish expectations of the exhibitors in the current economic climate were transformed by the end into high-ish satisfactions. Everyone I spoke to, every event I attended underlined the vital importance of personal relation- ships in the world of wine. For me, Vinexpo week is an ava- lanche of tastings, meetings and socialising that always begins with a lavish tasting and dinner hosted by the Crus Classés de Graves. This year, the tasting was held at Haut-Brion, the 520 guests being ferried over to a magnificent dinner at La Mission Haut-Brion, where alternative courses were cooked by starred chefs Daniel Boulud of New York and Alain Pas- sard of Paris. Whites from 2007 to 1988 and reds from 2005 to 1983 were poured au hasard des tables, ending with magnums of La Mission 1990 to go with the outstanding cheeses from Bernard Anthony, the maître fromag- ier. The second night was the Grands Crus Classés du Médoc dinner, this year at Lafite-Rothschild, where I was lucky enough to be on the Pichon-La- lande/Montrose table, whose 2001 and 1996 kept us going until jeroboams of Lafite 1978 circulated to match Brie de Meaux from one of Baron Edmond de Rothschild's estates, followed by Yquem 1988. The third night was a more modest affair, a buffet barbecue, hosted by cult winemaker Stéphane Derenencourt and Bernard Thienpont, where the high spot was an imperial of Vieux Château Certan 1998. The party I never miss is Olivier and Anne Bernard's Tour de France des Appellations dinner at Domaine de Chevalier, where they have been joined every Vinexpo since 1979 by Alphonse Mellot, Château de Fuissé, Paul Jaboulet Aîné, Faiveley, Olivier Leflaive, Pol Roger and Zind-Humbre- cht, many vintages of whose wines are offered on a self-service basis in an informal party atmosphere. Guests of honour were Adrian Bridge of Taylor's Port and Georg and Maximil- ian Riedel, whose many thousands of glasses grace the best tables through- out the week. It was almost without regret that I passed up the 1ers Grands Crus Classés Saint-Emilion dinner, cooked by Michel Troisgros and ending up with Figeac 1966, but one cannot be in two places at once. Needing some rest on the fourth evening, I was preparing for a solitary dinner on the terrace of my hotel, but was happily joined by Maximilian Riedel, also on his own. He now runs the company from New York, where his semi-retired father devotes his spare time to running marathons. The final evening was the Fête de la Fleur at the historic Château d'Issan in Margaux. Dinner for nearly 1,000 guests was prepared by an ever- youthful Michel Guérard, creator of la cuisine minceur, whose astound- ing dishes were accompanied by Haut-Bailly 2003 and Lagrange 2001, before moving on to d'Issan 2000 and Mouton-Rothschild 1988, then finish- ing with Climens 1996 with the wild strawberries. During the days, I also did an awful lot of tasting. Steven Spurrier's Letter from London PHOTO: DECANTER