The real surprise though is that there seems to be a genuine desire to launch a quick ‘en primeur’ campaign, with the possibility of the First Growths – Latour, Lafite, Margaux (above), Mouton Rothschild and Haut-Brion – coming out with an opening offer in the next couple of weeks, before most of the lower ranks. And that would be big news here as it would turn the normal routine on its head.

What usually happens is that the trade and wine press come to the tastings, and there’s much chat about which estates did well and the disastrous state of the market, and then everyone goes home and waits for Robert Parker to release his scores at the end of April. (’I may be disappointed if Jancis Robinson doesn’t like my wine, but I don’t eat if Robert Parker gives me a bad score’, the owner of one top château in Pauillac told me.)

Parker will have liked a lot of what he’s tasted, especially in Saint Emilion and Pomerol (eg L’Evangile, left), and at some of the top estates on the Left Bank, but will not want to be too enthusiastic for fear of the Châteaux getting above themselves.

Merchants and potential customers around the world then have to wait for the château owners to release their prices for the wines, which are still in barrel. It’s potentially quite exciting, and with great vintages like 2000 and 2005 everyone wants to splash out on super wines for much less than they’ll be worth in the future. But in the two most recent campaigns, for the 2006s and especially the 2007s, the wines haven’t been wildly exciting and the top châteaux have taken an age to set their prices – and when they have, the prices have been too high.

So the standard timechart has been for the reviews to be published online by wine critics in April, the trade then waits fruitlessly for some juicy offers in May, and eventually many leading châteaux ‘come out’ in June – after guessing what their neighbours are up to – until finally the First Growths astound everyone with their monster prices at the end of June. That’s three months – and way too long.

For the First Growths to turn the form-book upside down in order to kick-start the 2008 campaign, in a very difficult market, is a bold move. Corinne Mentzelopoulos, owner of Château Margaux, told me that the Bordeaux négociants (the intermediaries between the chåteaux and importers worldwide) were pressing for a quick campaign, and lower prices of course, but that there was still time to reflect. My own view is that she’d have little to gain by waiting for Parker’s score.

Alain Vauthier, proprietor of Château Ausone and maker of Saint Emilion’s most expensive wine, said to me yesterday that he was ‘Sûr. Presque sûr’ that the First Growths would release their prices by the end of April at ‘un prix attractif’. ‘Le marché est mort’, he said. Not for your wine, Alain.

Will the First Growth owners have the courage to breath life into the upcoming campaign, when there is at least some momentum and enthusiasm for the wines?

We’ll see.

If this sort of thing matters to you, one press agency report has resulted in several columns confusing the terms ‘Grand Cru’ with ‘Grand Cru Classe’.  The recent 2006 classification has been thrown out, meaning that ‘Grand Cru Classe’ cannot be put on the label, but there’s no change to the use of the words ‘Grand Cru’, which, confusingly, is not part of this classification or ruling.  ‘Grand Cru’ is part of the qualifying process for the St-Emilion Appellation, not for the Classification, and, as far as consumers are concerned, the words ‘Grand Cru’ in Saint-Emilion might sound grand but they mean rod all, unlike in Burgundy or Chablis.  There are hundreds of wines from Saint-Emilion bearing the words Grand Cru which, frankly, are pretty grim, while others rank as some of the most sought-after (and unclassified) wines of Bordeaux.  As for the words ‘Grand Vin de Bordeaux’…

I feel disappointed for some of the losers in this new ruling, such as Nicolas Thienpont of Pavie-Macquin and Christine Valette of Troplong Mondot, both promoted to Premier Grand Cru Classe, but their wines have been recognised as being at the top level for many years (and comparative bargains pre-2005).  But the 2006 ranking is already out-of-date, in my opinion.  Who knows, with everyone back to square one, perhaps no-one will rest on their laurels and others will try harder each year, without the prospect of having to wait almost a decade for the next re-assessment.

For all it’s faults, at least the ‘en primeur’ method of selling top Bordeaux is completely unregulated and provides a swift insight into what’s happening.  God forbid that the rules should ever by controlled by committees or the courts.  If a chateau raises its game and makes great wine, professionals will chew it over and market forces – and customers – decide as to whether it’s worth buying or not.  (If they don’t want to take part, they can still sell their wine through other avenues – just like the rest of the world).  If like-minded owners want to present their wines as a group or association, there’s nothing to stop them.

Over a relatively short period of time, the good guys succeed and the sloppy ones get found out.  Just ask the people in Pomerol next door.  No classification there – just plenty of classy wines, from Petrus and Le Pin, to Petite Eglise. 

I first tasted a barrel sample of this ‘legend in the making’ in April 2006 with Christian Mouiex, who runs Pétrus and a few other choice estates in Pomerol. Scores of other tasters – mainly merchants and critics – had a chance to taste the young wine that same week before the wine was sold ‘en primeur’. Monsieur Mouiex is one of the most charming men you could hope to meet, and it’s no surprise to see that he picked up Decanter’s Man of the Year award this year. (Although with titles like that, it’s no wonder that women sometimes feel intimidated by the world of wine.)

He told me that Pétrus shouldn’t be thought of as being one of the most expensive wines on the planet, but as the best value wine in the world. ‘You only have to own it for a short time and it goes up in value’.

He has a point.  Corney and Barrow, the UK agents for Pétrus – one of the handful of exclusive arrangements for top flight Bordeaux – released the 2005 ‘en primeur’ at £11,000 a case (of 12) in July 2006.  Less than two years on, I see that Berry Brothers are offering the same wine at £42,000 a case, and Farr Vintners for a mere £36,000. (In fact, the wine was first sold in ‘physical’ cases of 3 or 6 bottles.)

Frédéric Lospied, who looks after export sales for Mouiex, thinks the price is ‘indecent’, but I guess a wine is worth what someone will pay for it.  When I tasted the other Moueix wines in bottle last autumn – La Fleur-Pétrus, Trotanoy and so on – Frédéric explained that he couldn’t open the Pétrus because it didn’t have a label on, and would I mind coming back (label? who needs a label?).  He told me that they only open three bottles a year from a vintage like this, so I wasn’t going to say no.

I cannot comment on the whether the wine is worth the money being asked today, but the bottled wine certainly lives up to my expectations from that first barrel sample. In a brief note for Wine & Spirit in the May 2006 issue, in my selection of the Top 100 wines from the great 2005 vintage, I rated it 96-100 points.

“2005 reminded Christian Mouiex of the 1982 vintage, only now they are better equipped to handle the vines to achieve ‘perfect ripeness’”, I wrote. “This phenomenal wine will only be available to those who already have a prior reservation. Drink 2015-2040″.

Tasted from bottle, the wine has taken on weight from the barrel ageing and the colour is extraordinary. I haven’t seen a wine this colour before: it is a deep, dark, perfect blood red. The texture too is remarkable – it is very rich and velvety but not at all heavy or viscous. On the palate, there is unbelievable complexity and wave after wave of brambly blackberry and redcurrant fruit – and yet it feels that there is so much more in reserve.  It has an ethereal quality that I have only tasted in wines from the plateau of Pomerol, and even then it has a beguiling character that’s quite different from Lafleur, L’Evangile, VCC and others.  More like Le Pin – and both are almost all merlot. Behind the hedonistic appeal is a stream of persistent but superfine tannins.  The finish is long. Very long. 60 seconds? It is a perfect expression of merlot from this unique plot on the plateau of Pomerol. For me, this wine merits a perfect 100 point rating and is one of the greatest wines I am ever likely to taste.

I felt quite guilty, not because of the price or the fact that I am so privileged to taste it from bottle, but this wine should be left for 20 years or more for it to be at its peak. Infanticide. I have a horrible sense that few bottles will survive that long, which means that it might even be a reasonable investment at today’s price.

I was not surprised to see James Suckling of the Wine Spectator subsequently rate the wine 100 points but I was quite shocked that Robert Parker, the world’s most influential critic, only gave it 96+ points.

Maybe that bottle didn’t have a label.