Eminent wine critic Robert Parker says he has been vindicated by the quality of 2009 Bordeaux.

Every year, Parker's scores for the latest Bordeaux vintage are eagerly awaited by those in the industry; a high score from the critic can make a chateau but a poor report can be very damaging, such is the esteem in which his opinion is held.

Back in April 2010, Parker conducted an early tasting of 2009 Bordeaux and said it "may turn out to be the finest vintage I have tasted in 32 years covering Bordeaux", with a total of 21 different wines given the potential to achieve potentially perfect 100-point scores.

Those who bought the likes of Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Chateau Mouton Rothschild and Chateau Latour en primeur all that time ago are now coming close to finally receiving these great vintages.

Conducting a wine tasting seminar in Hong Kong, Parker says that tasting these wines now validates the comments he made back in 2010.

He explained: "When I first tasted [the 2009s], if you look at what I wrote, I said it was high in alcohol, very concentrated, and with sweet tannins, and all those characteristics were demonstrated at this tasting today.

"But what impressed me more than at the barrel tastings is the elegance of the wines and the finesse of the tannins – and the tannins were sweeter and better integrated than I remember them being in barrel."

Parker's tasting took the shape of his "Magical 20" tasting at WineFuture in Hong Kong, which reviewed the best 2009 wines from the best up-and-coming estates from Bordeaux.

Chateau Angelus and Chateau Cos d'Estournel received notable praise from Parker, as did Fleur Petrus, Leoville Las Cases and Palmer.

Parker said that these wines are of First Growth quality and offer potential for magnificent ageing.

"Every one of these wines will be alive in 30 years time and will probably be more pleasurable and complex in 75-100 years," he said.

Such is the strength of Parker's opinion, the Drinks Business reports that there has been a flurry of interest in the featured estates from wine buyers.

As the wine began to flow and the debate began to open up, Parker gave an insight into just what he looks for when tasting: "The purity of flavours should be there, and not aromas like a petrochemical plant or vegetal characters."

He added of 2009: "We have not seen in these wines even a trace of vegetal characters, the green beans and asparagus – the flaws in a wine – and that's why it is such a wonderful vintage.

"We've seen 20 wines that behaved brilliantly… and showed the brilliance of Bordeaux. This is one of the greatest vintages of my lifetime."

One thing that Parker does have concerns about is the creeping alcohol content in many recent wines.

Experts have suggested that modern viniculture techniques are behind the change, producing grapes with high sugar levels which then translate into more alcoholic wine.

Parker suggests that it should be a cause for concern, although the amount of alcohol that can be tolerated is dependent on the other characteristics of the wine in question.

"I don't think any of us want to see champagne at 15 per cent, at the same time there are certain Shirazes from the Barossa Valley or McLaren Vale that have the richness and concentration to handle the alcohol," he told reporters.

For a bottle to be considered table wine, Parker explained, it must have an alcohol content of no more than 15 per cent.