Posted: November 16 2009

Upwards of 100 guests, including a fair few restaurateurs, gathered in the upper room of Fallon & Byrne's in Dublin for a two-hour lecture and tasting with Wendy Narby, Senior Lecturer at L'Ecole du Vin in Bordeaux. The main purpose of the presentation was to show that there are lots of good Bordeaux available for less than €25. Overall, there were 80-plus wines on display.

Bordeaux is producing 50 million cases of wine per year but only five per cent of it is classified, said Wendy. And there is a new appellation, Cotes de Bordeaux, introduced last year. The region has also introduced a new drive to encourage wine tourism in the area.

2009 is going to be a good vintage, she predicted (no use telling them that other parts of the world, with more consistent weather, don't have to worry about things like this).

The lecture dealt with two white wines, four reds and two sweet dessert wines. (Everyone agreed that the desserts are lovely wines, but nigh impossible to sell.)

Overall, there were good wines on offer but they were nearer €25 than €15 in most cases.

What wasn't mentioned was the falling sales in the market - some reports state that up to 300,000 litres of French wines are being sent to distillation into industrial alcohol. Also, there is an intense marketing drive into China with the websites for Bordeaux offering Chinese translations. This proves that after a few centuries, the merchants and negociants know well how to weather any recession and find where the new money is hiding.