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[/vc_column][/vc_row]The Bordelais and wine merchants will be having two different conversations about the grapes now safely harvested for the 2015 vintage. For Bordeaux it will be another great vintage, for the trade another waste of time and effort in the face of illogical pricing.Buyers of the 2009 and 2010 vintages have faced grim and enduring…
DetailsIf you want to understand the boom and bust story in Bordeaux since 2000, Chateau Pontet Canet goes to the heart of the matter. Widely considered to be the most improved winery in Bordeaux in the last twenty years It’s a huge estate producing up to 20,000 cases of its main wine annually. Their 2005…
DetailsA sunny September is forecast for Bordeaux and the odds are shortening on a great vintage this year – but will it be worth buying ? Any successful en primeur campaign in Bordeaux needs most of the classed growth wines to sell through, something that hasn’t occurred since the 2009s were launched in a blaze…
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Every ten years : So into the 4th consecutive day of rain in Lincolnshire, I know the weather will be better in Bordeaux, but not how much better. There’s a loose correlation between us – if we get a proper roasting as in 1976 or 2003 the grapes for that year’s Bordeaux harvest would be…
DetailsOne of the greatest names in Bordeaux and top of the original 1855 Second Growths, Rauzan Segla outperformed all the other chateaux from the Margaux commune in 2012 including Palmer and Chateau Margaux itself. It has not been an easy journey, even after the Chateau was bought by Chanel in 1994. Selection was less rigorous…
DetailsWith a good and plentiful harvest in the bag this year, Bordeaux has a chance to win back the interest of UK wine buyers when the 2014 vintage is offered en primeur in April/May next year, after the debacle of the 2013 campaign. In this series of blogs we look at one Chateau that performed…
DetailsWith plenty of warmth and sunshine in September and October this year, Bordeaux 2014 is set to be a keeper and will hopefully be good value when released en primeur in May next year. 2013 will appear and disappear shortly, not much made and of little interest to collectors but certainly ready to drink. Mildew…
DetailsThis is my 14th en primeur campaign, starting with 2000. Each previous vintage has provided a few or more wines that are either out and out brilliant or good value. That ended with 2013, the worst vintage for at least 20 years and priced higher than 13 of them. The best wines are ok but…
DetailsThis 2nd Growth St Julien has been rising in quality since 1979 when the owner Didier Cuvelier first took charge and two recent tastings in London offered a useful snapshot of their vintages over the last 24 years. At Somerset House on May 21st, their four most recent vintages 2010-2013 : The first and last…
DetailsWhen Robert Parker began publishing his opinions on Bordeaux vintages in the late 1970’s he also introduced a new rating system that scored wines up to a maximum of 100 points. Over time this became a quick reference point for quality and despite some grumblings over the bias of his palate the 100 point system…
DetailsFirst thanks to the wines for entertaining us, sparking off happy differences of opinion – and all 20 mentioned favourably by tasters. A warm and happy night – huge thanks to Kate and Alex Jones for opening their beautiful home to make it happen. The revelation was the mix of wines with Marc Pasternack’s delicious…
DetailsA huge thank you to our site designer Christian Jaroljmek – www.theweblounge.net – for turning a haphazard set of ideas into such a beautiful website. And to Kate and Alex Jones for generously hosting our first London tasting – we really appreciate your support. The mistakes, of course, are all mine : please show mercy…
DetailsPrices for high end (top 500) Bordeaux rose over 60% between March 2009 and July 2011, driven by Chinese buying funded by their QE programme, and an unprecedented run of top vintages and increased opening prices by chateaux. The spike was led by Lafite which raised its opening case price from £1,600 for the 2008…
DetailsHowever dysfunctional our beloved Football Association seems to be, it represents the epitome of efficiency and fairness compared to the Medoc’s league tables. In this world there are five divisions containing the 61 Classed Growth chateaux. These were assigned their rankings, based on how much their wine was fetching over a hundred and fifty years…
DetailsStatus is everything for the wine-makers of Bordeaux and officialdom guards their status by prescribing exactly which words they can print on their bottle labels. Rules govern what grapes they can use, how much wine they can make, the particular district they can name, and the quality level they can claim. In most years this matters…
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