Hey, a guy can hope ...

An interesting article from Decanter caught my eye yesterday, and not just because there's a quote from Minnesota guy Thomas Keim.

It seems that the latest, greatest Vintage of the Century in Bordeaux might not enjoy the stupendous price spikes of its recent predecessors. In fact, it might not garner a price hike at all. When Diageo decides not to buy Bordeaux futures, that's saying something.

Here's Keim's take: "'I see an incredibly soft market for both 2008 and 2009 – especially in the Midwest." That's a fairly safe prediction, since there's been a semi-soft market in these parts for even the ballyhooed '05s.

In one sense, the latest climate patterns and improved technology and sharing of information have created a monster. And maybe, just maybe, that monster is in the process of being tamed.

Even without the economic downturn, we probably would have been looking at a glut of good juice at lower price points and stellar vintages where the big boys play (and there's only a finite number of them, and their cellars are likely bulging already).

Bottom line: Well, I'm not smart enough to accurately predict the bottom line. But it's hard not to imagine that there will be values galore when the "regular" '09s hit the shelves, and perhaps a bit more sanity in the rarefied First Growth world.