Bordeaux 2010

[andrawes76]

I LOVE old Bordeaux, but its come to my conclusion that greed presented by the negociant system and the lack of general interest by the Chateau Grand Cru's in Bordeaux to become more direct with their consumer market will likely cause some kind of backfire... but with 100 million new prospective buyers, it may not...who really knows?!

The 2010 Bordeaux release prices are astronomically absurd. They are no longer a commodity as how much appreciation can we expect to see from a $1000 per bottle release price? Is the future cash value of a bottle of Cheval Blanc or Lafite Rothschild worth the investment? I doubt it any longer. I think 20%-30% increases from houses like Ducru Beaucaillou and Rauzan Segla are foolish given the vintage is lesser than the 2009 (in terms of cellar capacity) although drinkability is definitely more present in the 2010's. When a winemaker explains how he prices his wines "I don't know how to explain it, one day I wake up and just say to myself, the release price is 100 Euro," it reminds me of Donald Trump's claim that his net worth fluctuates based on how he feels that day. Simply idiotic and egotistical...

Also, Robert Parker, as adorable as some may find him starts out by saying "While I may have had some influence on the escalated pricing of the 2010's..." he is almost completely to blame for not vocalizing the concerns of the rising buyers, the younger generation that will not be able to enjoy these wines because they've been hyped. Lets look at some facts here. Bordeaux had two stellar years in the 40's (1945 and 1947), again in 1950/1959, with one major vintage in 1961, followed by a glut in the 1970's. In the 1980's Bordeaux rose again in 1982, 1983, 1986 and 1990. That's four great years which are now mature/ready to drink. The 1990's were OK, with great years in 1990, 1995, 1996 and 1998 (latter two were not bad, not GREAT). Then in 2000's you have the 2000, 2003 (right bank), 2005, 2006 (was pretty good) and 2009. Word on the street is that 2010 was overhyped but somewhat on par with 2006 which means the wines were great in terms of sooner drink thru's. So I leave this post by saying that looking at farming trends in Bordeaux, the global warming aspect, I believe that you'll see much more "vintage of a lifetime" production over the next 10 years. I wonder then how this will affect prices and demand... :-O