To Bordeaux for a first taste of the 2014 vintage

New York

SEVERAL thousand people from around the world are in Bordeaux this week for the annual spring rite of en primeur, roaming from the Medoc to Graves, from Pomerol to Saint-Emilion to get a first taste of the 2014 vintage. The wines are still ageing quietly in barrels as merchants assess which ones to offer their clients as futures, and journalists furiously scribble their tasting notes.

Overall quality looks to be pretty good. The vintage story is a familiar one: a cool, damp summer with the grapes finally ripened by the "miracle" of September sun.