The Cercle Rive Droite (an organisation that represents many well known chateaux in the Saint Emilion / Libourne / Pomerol / Fronsac areas that dont fit in to the grand cru classes category) held a very interesting dinner and debate last night.

It was held at Jean Marie Amat's new restaurant at the Chateau du Prince Noir (Rue Raymond Lis, 33310 Lormont, Tel : 05 56 06 12 52), and hosted by wine journalist Jean Marc Quarin ( www.quarin.com ) who spoke about the development of Bordeaux wine over the past 10 years.

Number of interesting points - firstly that with BOrdeaux wines when they are young, there is not always a link between immediate pleasure and intrinsic quality.

Since the region is now almost forced to show off its wines before they are finished (through the en primeur campaign when buyers are tasting two years before bottling), it puts critics and experts to the fore, as need someone to explain this gap.

He also pointed out a few new realities that I really agree with - namely that the vintage gap is getting less and less, and that today cabernet sauvignon's taste profile has altered beyond all recognition in the past 10 years. In many ways, with warmer summers, cabernet sauvignon can start to taste like merlot (you see this affect already in many southern hemisphere countries), because it is so ripe upon picking.

Already this has led to the first growths reducing their percentage of merlot in their top wines over recent years - they no longer need the softening effect that it brings.

Traditionally, it has been thought that the hot, gravelly Left Bank terroirs are the finest in Bordeaux. But as cool climate wines become more and more to the fore in the light of global warming problems, it's not ripening that winemakers worry about, but keeping alcohol levels down and ensuring elegance and freshness. As this trend continues, perhaps the Right Bank, clay/limestone 'cooler' soils will be seen as the finest terroirs?

In response to Quarin's points, we had Denis Dubordieu (professor at Institute of Oenology, the Harrison Ford of Bordeaux wine - and I'm thinking of the scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark where the female student enscribes 'I love you' across her eyelids to bat at him during a lecture) on hand. He was at my table, and it was hilarious to watch all the winemakers fall over themselves to impress him with their incisive comments, while his every word was met by vigorous nods and murmers of assent. I'm not immune though - he speaks with such knowledge on such a wide variety of subjects (but did, I'm pleased to report, get the blind tasting wrong).

He made one very good point about wine critics - that mos will meet the wines when they are young, but not meet them again as adults - and until they do so reglarly, it is hard to trust their assessment of how the wines will really age. A gentle dig at Quarin perhaps??