The response to the 2009 Bordeaux vintage has been so enthusiastic that wine merchants run the risk of running out of superlatives. Those involved in selling en primeur look as though they have ants in their pants, such is the speed with which they are wheeling and dealing and whizzing off to write yet more enthusiastic reports and repair over-subscribed websites. It is all quite exhausting.

Predictably, a recent London tasting of the 2006 to 2009 vintages from a small selection of Bordeaux Grands Crus Classés was hugely busy but also wonderfully interesting. It was a chance to taste the wines from less lauded vintages from estates that have wowed the critics in 2009.

Take, for instance, 2006. August was cool and damp and the ripening of the grapes was uneven, with problems continuing in September and October with intermittent rain interrupting harvest. Not then an easy year to deliver top wines. And yet, the Margaux-based second growth Château Rauzan-Ségla has delivered a magical wine.

I scored it 18/20, falling completely for its lovely scented fruits, lovely integration and balance of fruit and tannins and super length. Perhaps not the same generosity of fruit that the equally high scoring 2009 has to offer but triumphant nonetheless.

Prices for the 2009 are yet to be released, but you can buy the 2006 for £380 (in-bond for 12 bottles) from Justerini & Brooks (www.justerinis.com).

If 2006 was a challenge, 2007 was a tease with not much of a triumphant finish. Again, the summer was cool and drizzly and crops were already fairly low after an uneven bud break in the spring. Ripening was salvaged by a better September but some of the wines made in 2007 were too green, with insufficient fruit to carry the tannins and acidity.

Not a wildly exciting vintage and one that failed to excite investors. The wines may not be for long-term cellaring but, on the upside, the successful wines make for lovely drinking now. Château Smith Haut-Lafitte is based in Pessac-Léognan and is owned by Olympic skier Daniel Cathiard and his wife who bought the 125-hectare property in 1990.

A Graves Grand Cru Classé, it is perhaps better known for its white wines but I thought their red 2007 was a vibrant, fresh red with inviting aromas and a lovely freshness to the fruit. Fine and Rare (www.frw.co.uk) are selling it for £320 (in-bond price) for a case of 12.

2008 was indifferent; drier certainly than 2006 and 2007 but those that tasted the wines in barrel came home with a ‘ho-hum’ approach to many of the wines. It is a vintage that I have tasted only minimally but an estate that performed uniformly brilliantly across all the years I tried was the Pauillac-based, Château Pontet-Canet.

With the exception of 2007, I scored all the wines at least 18/20 and loved their freshness, balance, density and elegance. Farr Vintners (www.farrvintners.com) have the 2008 for £585 (in bond) for a case of 12.

Many — myself included — will find the odd case of 2009 Bordeaux irresistible but it would be misguided to pursue it without any consideration for the more modest vintages.