Bordeaux flutter

As the sap rises in the vine, a wine-lover's fancy turns to thoughts of young Bordeaux. At this time of year, the great chateaux of Bordeaux release their prices for last year's vintage. Local broker and merchant take their cut, then British wine merchants vie with each other to tempt buyers into a flutter on the new vintage, sight unseen, for laying down - or for posterity. This is the en primeur game. It can be risky; it can also be rewarding.

Top Bordeaux, especially red, remains the yardstick of long-lived fine wine. If the wine is excellent and the price is right, a bit of DIY nurturing can pay dividends in years to come. If, if, if. After four flat years for the en primeur market, expectations ran high. Gironde peninsula hotels and restaurants heaved to the slurp and glug of the world's wine press and merchants. Why? Because the word on the grapevine was of the first great vintage since 1990.

It all started well. The vineyards sprang into early life after a mild winter. Summer's prolonged heat wave drew bold assertions that 1995 could, after all, be the elusive, great new vintage. But by the end of August, drought had begun to stress the young vines. Grapes were smaller than usual, particularly cabernet sauvignon. Then, between 14 and 19 September, Hurricane Louis made its unwelcome appearance, leaving a trail of merlot grapes which had to be picked, some not fully ripe. "These six days were the final undoing of the great vintage-to-be," says Bill Blatch, a Bordeaux broker.

The tendency of 1995 vintage conditions to favour cabernet sauvignon over merlot is confirmed in the overall superiority of the left-bank wines of the Medoc over its right bank, and southern rivals in St Emilion and the Graves, respectively. Many right-bank wines have an over-extractive dryness and atypical lack of charm. But there is a handful of successes, particularly where the cabernet franc grapes ripened fully.

Most smaller properties simply cannot afford to make the sacrifices needed to declassify all but the best wines. This is why, in 1995, just about all the really great wines are the product of major self-sacrifices and investment in new oak. Only 35 per cent of the total production, for instance, has gone into this year's Lafite, 37 per cent into Chateau Lagrange. Most of the stars of the vintage are congregated in the Medoc, especially in St Julien and Pauillac. Here, meticulous wine making and scrupulously careful selection for the final blend have conspired to produce wines with great concentration and backbone and wonderfully pure fruit flavours.

A few crus bourgeois, the category for middle-ranking chateaux, occasionally throw up a wine at classified chateau level. But, with less room for self- sacrifice, the category was generally disappointing, even more so among petits chateaux, where the "doughnut effect", a certain hollowness in the middle, is particularly marked.

This unevenness of quality at the highest level makes it difficult to decide whether or what to buy. Typically, after playing its cards close to its chest in an uncertain vintage, Bordeaux has upped the ante. The exclusive five First Growths, at between pounds 500 and pounds 600 a case, have raised their starting prices by nearly 30 per cent, and only a small handful of the rest have resisted the temptation to follow suit. This year's price rises for British customers are compounded by the poor value of sterling (now only three-quarters of its 1990 level).

So 1995 is the classic Bordeaux lover's vintage: neither self-evidently great, nor universally mediocre, it sits alongside nearly-great vintages such as 1985, 1986 and 1989. When Robert Parker, the US guru, declares his hand, his favoured chateaux will sell well, but at ridiculous prices. The amateur punter on this controversial year will need to select wines which have excelled, but have not overpriced themselves.

Top wines of the 1995 vintage (Mouton-Rothschild and Latour not tasted), with hot tips asterisked, are as follows. Pauillac *Lafite, *Pichon Lalande, Pichon Longueville Baron, Lynch Bages, Pontet Canet. St Julien *Leoville Poyferre, *Leoville-Barton, *Branaire Ducru, Langoa-Barton, Lagrange, Gruaud-Larose. Margaux *Margaux, *Palmer, *Rausan-Segla, Brane-Cantenac, Cantenac-Brown, Lascombes. St Estephe (Cos not tasted) Lafon-Rochet, Calon- Segur. Graves *Pape-Clement, *Haut-Bailly. St Emilion *Cheval Blanc, *Figeac, *Angelus, *Troplong Mondot, Canon, Belair, Beausejour-Becot. Pomerol *La Conseillante, Vieux Chateau Certan, Petit Village, Beauregard. Crus bourgeois *Poujeaux, *Sociando-Mallet, d'Angludet, Monbrison. Sauternes *Lafaurie- Peyraguey, Haut Clos Peyraguey, La Tour Blanche, Sigalas-Rabaud, Nairac, de Malle.

When buying en primeur, shop around, and buy from an established merchant who can guarantee delivery or your money back. You pay a lump sum now, then add duty and VAT (and shipping costs if buying ex-cellars rather than in bond) on delivery in spring 1998.

Specialist merchants offering 1995s

John Armit Wines (0171-727 6846), Bibendum (0171-722 5577), Berry Bros (0171-396 9600), Corney & Barrow (0171-251 4051), Farr Vintners (0171- 828 1960), Goedhuis (0171-793 7900), Hicks & Don (01258-456040), Justerini & Brooks (0171-493 8721), Lay & Wheeler (01206-764446), Laytons (0171- 388 4567), Lea & Sandeman (0171-376 4767), Morris & Verdin (0171-357 8866), Tanners (01743-232400)