With the weekend upon us, (likely a long one in France), and Parker's scores out in the next few hours, herewith an easy to digest run down of all current Bordeaux 2011 releases of interest.

Chateau owners praying for a miracle may be disappointed. Neal Martin’s notes are trickling on to erobertparker.com, and early indications show that the notes are somewhat lukewarm. 

Our friends at Foxes Island in Awatere, Marlborough, reported recently:

"We are fully into vintage. Fortunately the Indian summer has saved the day and the quality is looking good. Vintage is short and furious this year – it started about 2.5 weeks late however the end game hasn’t changed as the vines are done and this morning it was a cool 3 degrees. Riesling looks fantastic – with the really cool vintage, Kelly Brown and John Belsham feel like they are back in Germany again. Foxes Riesling comes in this week.

Marlborough Pinot Noir volumes will be down. Too early to tell exactly by how much overall but producers initially reporting as high as 35-40% decline in volume. Quality however looks very good and as always those on top of their viticulture should stand out."

"With the 2011 en primeur campaign poised to begin in earnest, Justerini & Brooks’ Bordeaux Buyer Tom Jenkins told the drinks business that “what works for Lafite may not work for others”.

Jenkins said that for customers to buy this vintage, it was essential that the wines were “correctly priced”.

With a cut of 30% to €420 p/b, Lafite still released over 200% above its 2008 release price but Jenkins noted that Lafite was able to operate on a very different level to its neighbours.

He thought that the château’s price was “sensible” and was glad that prices had come down but warned that other growths would have to be looking at below €300 a bottle to find buyers. 

I had a bottle of this at home on the weekend, despite it seeming young, on paper, it was actually drinking beautifully well.