In my experience, FT readers feel very strongly about bordeaux. The majority of those who read this column seem to be particularly keen on red bordeaux and especially curious about how the claret in their cellar is maturing. But there is a faction whose attitude could be summed up as: “Bah, bordeaux, humbug!”

I apologise to them in advance for this week’s column, a survey of how the 1999s are drinking now. I am, however, continuing a fine, longstanding FT tradition, begun by my predecessor Edmund Penning-Rowsell, of “looking at” each vintage of the top red bordeaux at 10 years old. He restricted his survey to the first growths but these wines are now so expensive that they are fast becoming of theoretical interest only.

I was delighted therefore when I learned that fine wine traders Bordeaux Index are reviving this tradition, with an annual tasting of more than 50 classed growth red bordeaux and equivalents, beginning with the 1999 vintage. The fact that this was a less than glorious vintage, with less than stratospheric prices, must have helped when they first approached the château owners with this idea. Apparently, about three-quarters of the wines tasted first by a group of wine writers and then by some of their customers last week were donated by producers, which considerably reduced the cost of the exercise. The event drained four bottles, or two magnums, of each wine, which ranged in price from Ch Bernadotte 1999 Haut-Médoc, at only about £100 a dozen in bond, to Ch Pétrus 1999 Pomerol at closer to £9,000.

Better value 1999s

Ch Bernadotte£14.35, Coe Vintners
Ch La Grave à Pomerol £240 a dozen in bond, HS Liquid Assets
Domaine de Chevalier £26.50, Lay & Wheeler
Ch Gruaud Larose £32.49, Fareham Wine Cellar
Ch Smith Haut Lafitte £36.50, Hennings
Prices correct at the time of writing. Global stockists at www.winesearcher.com. Tasting notes on all 53 wines on purple pages of www.jancisrobinson.com

Certainly these 1999s were very far from blockbusters, and some of them were just thin or inexpressive. Indeed, the least inspiring 1999s illustrate well how overpriced classed-growth red bordeaux can seem. I’m afraid I would find it hard to justify the current price of Ch Branaire Ducru 1999 or Ch Haut Bailly 1999 at £320-£390 a dozen in bond, which would work out at close to £40 a bottle.

One problem in some cases was that the fruit, which had clearly never been especially intense, seemed to be fading faster than the tannins were resolving themselves so that wines such as Ch Petit Village 1999 Pomerol and Ch Rauzan Ségla 1999 Margaux seemed to be drying out, with acidity rather than fruit coming to the fore. I feel sure that had today’s Bordeaux winemakers been faced with such a vintage, the extraction and the tannins would have been more skilfully managed – as in, say, 2007 and 2008.

But there were many attractive wines too – very much in the classic claret mould of being quite elegant and harmonious rather than knocking any taster’s jazzily modern socks off. These are not wines to drool over in a crowded bar. They are designed instead for a traditional table, with food, and fairly undramatic food at that. For example, the cheapest and most modest wine we tasted, Ch Bernadotte 1999 Haut-Médoc, was a perfect example of what Penning-Rowsell used to call “luncheon claret”. Light but expressive enough and beautifully balanced.

. . .

Although only 19 of the 53 wines we tasted were from the right bank of the Gironde, they strongly suggested that early picking Pomerol was one of the most consistently successful appellations. Chx Pétrus and Lafleur were my two favourite wines of all, and I thought Trotanoy, L’Evangile, L’Eglise Clinet, Vieux Château Certan and the second bottle of La Grave à Pomerol (which at first smelt rather fungal) all showed very well – rich and satisfying without being heavy.

The St-Emilions were a much more mixed bunch with the two first growths, Ausone and especially Cheval Blanc, performing well but only Tertre Roteboeuf of the mere eight we tasted really standing out – because of its richness and sheer character. (Too many of these 1999s are just too muted to make a really strong impression.)

On the left bank, two of the wines grown on the gravels of Pessac-Léognan looked particularly pretty last week. Domaine de Chevalier was as refreshing and expressive as ever, while Ch Smith Haut Lafitte had a light but beautifully developed perfume.

Margaux is conventionally thought to have performed particularly well in 1999 but I was not entranced by the Brane Cantenac, Rauzan-Ségla or Palmer, and even Ch Margaux itself did not stand out from the other first growths alongside which it was served.

St-Julien seemed to have been more successful on the basis of the nine we tried, of which Gruaud Larose, Langoa Barton, Léoville Barton and Léoville Las Cases were particularly impressive. We tasted only the top three St-Estèphes but I ended up giving them all an enthusiastic 17 points out of 20.

In Pauillac, Mouton was the only disappointing first growth, reflected in its price of “only” £1,800 a dozen in bond, and it was easy to see why the second wine of Ch Latour, Les Forts de Latour, is a robust £1,000 a case. I have suggested some of the vintages’ relative bargains in the box, although on the basis of this tasting I would not rush out to buy 1999s.

As for when to drink them, I thought some of the St-Emilions and Pessac-Léognans were already in their prime, while the more serious examples from the other appellations should drink well throughout the next decade. The wines to cellar for a while yet, other than the left bank first growths, seemed to me to be Léoville Las Cases (as usual), Grand Puy Lacoste, Pichon Longueville (Baron), Montrose, Cos d’Estournel and La Mission Haut-Brion. Bring on the 2000s!

More columns at www.ft.com/robinson