Bordeaux chateaux are starting to release their prices for the 2007 vintage but there is already bad news. The emperor of wine, famed wine critic Robert Parker has slammed the latest vintage handing out low scores and branding the vintage as overpriced. Wine buyers often look to Parker's scores to see if they should buy wine futures which are sold two years before a vintage's release. In his vintage review titled "2007 Bordeaux: Who Will Buy Them and at What Price?" he has basically told buyers not to bother unless prices are lowered dramatically.
The news is devastating for some Bordeaux producers for whom Parker's scores may mean less sales. Certainly his advice carries considerable weight and may influence wine dealers not to purchase simply because they are afraid they won't be able to sell to wine collectors in the long run. Should any one man have this much power?
Parker gave only three of his coveted 100 point scores this year and all three were for whites, Chateau Pape Clement white and Haut-Brion, were both marked 96-100, and Chateau Climens, a sweet white tasted by Parker's British sidekick Neal Martin, got 98-100. Even Bordeaux's top five, first growth wines didn't even hit 95 with Chateau Margaux earning a 92-94, Chateau Haut-Brion a 91-94, and Mouton-Rothschild a 90-94. Chateau Lafite and Chateau Latour both got a 90-93.
While the most famous examples of wine fraud involve older bottles, counterfeits of current vintages are also a problem. A new company called eProvenance has used RFID tags to create what they call an "intelligent bottle." The eProvenance system uses a semi-active RFID tag inside the case to monitor temperatures and shipping information, a passive RFID tag on the base of the bottle for tracking and inventory management, and a tamper-proof bottle neck seal that has a covert code applied at the base of the capsule to authenticate the wine inside the bottle and thwart counterfeiters. Eric Vogt, the founder of the company is currently working on programs with nine Bordeaux Châteaux. During the past six months, over 1200 "Intelligent Cases," equipped with temperature-tracking RFID tags from eProvenance, have been sent out from Bordeaux to a variety of locations in the USA, UK, and Japan in order to benchmark the current temperature conditions in the fine wine distribution channel.
It could be argued that watching the moves of wine tycoon Bernard Magrez is a good way to chart what is happening in the world of wine on a global level. Decanter reports that the French winemaker has bought 200 hectares in Chile and sold three Bordeaux AOC estates. The move is part of Magrez's strategy to concentrate on high-end wines. Magrez intends to produce between 100,000 and 150,000 bottles per year from his new estate in the Colchagua Valley, located around an hour south of the capital Santiago. There are no vineyards on the estate yet but vines planted will include Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Carmenere. The wine from the estate will be called Hacienda de la Serenidad, the name of an existing estate in the area owned by Magrez.
A couple of years ago the words high-end wine and Chile might have sounded laughable but as a recent article by Laura Daniel proves, the pricier end of the Chilean wine market is booming. Big bold Chileans reds are commanding attention and winning rave reviews.
In France, Magrez is selling off a trio of AOC Bordeaux estates. It's not that he's given up on France (of his 32 estates, 18 are in Bordeaux and six are in Languedoc Roussillon) but the move does bring increased credibility to the already booming area of South American wine. It seems to be part of a global shift where China and Russia are picking up older estates in Bordeaux while French winemakers are bringing their expertise to areas with less vineyards (and lower land prices).
Posted Feb 12th 2008 9:02AM by Rigel Gregg Filed under: Wine
There's been a controversy brewing over the prices of Bordeaux, and it doesn't appear to be settling down anytime soon. Recently in an article in a French magazine the former head of Richemont, Alain-Dominique Perrin, said that prices as high as €500 a bottle ($725) are "immoral."
The argument stems from estimates that production only costs about €12 per bottle (which would make €500 a markup of about 80 times) and that price tags should come down to about €100/$145 to be reasonable. The other sides says that costs aren't that low in many cases, and that most importantly they aren't able to give details and "don't want to get in an argument" over pricing.
The cream of the crop is officially all in one spot as the Robb Report, a global luxury source, recently released their limited edition series of rare items and unforgettable trips. From timepieces to cars, jewelry to wine, and trips to Aspen or Manhattan this list has something special for everyone and is bound to trip your trigger for must-haves. Imagine surprising someone with one of these unique gifts for the holidays! But don't wait too long -- the items went live for purchase a few days ago. Peruse the gallery and see for yourself the amazing offerings from Robb Report listed below:
Louis XIII de Rémy Martin's Robb Report Limited Edition Century-Old Barrel of Cognac: $2 million
ECOSSE Moto Works' Robb Report Limited Edition Titanium Series Motorcycle and Timepiece: $275,000
Steinway Lyngdorf's Robb Report Limited Edition Steinway & Sons Custom Model D Music System: $250,000
The London Sunday Times has a provocative article on vintage wine. Noted wine critic Hugh Johnson has said that due to advanced agricultural techniques, the concept of vintage is becoming obsolete. Johnson says that wine growers have become so adept at handling bad weather and other crop problems that just about every year is a good year. Johnson's words come in the pages of his 2008 edition of the Pocket Wine Book.
Johnson says that the concern over vintage is driving the high end of the market unnecessarily and that the "non-prestigious" years are better than they have ever been. Is Johnson correct or is he suffering from wine fatigue? In the article he is quoted as saying that he sometimes misses the days when he could write off an unfortunate vintage and that he feels that most wines are now remarkably similar. While Johnson's theory could probably handily proven in a blind tasting it seems unlikely to me that the fretting over vintages is going anywhere anytime soon. It is far too entrenched in the romance of wine culture to be easily discarded even if the intrinsic value of it has faded.
You can find a lot of information about Bordeaux online but this bottle-shaped USB flash drive from BeWine Connected provides info you can take with you anywhere. The drive contains the wine cellar management software "Open Cellar" a guide to the Grand Cru from the Bordeaux area and their classification, videos of tastings by Michel Rolland, a screensaver and wallpaper dedicated to wine, ringtones on wine for your mobile phone, and access to the BeWineConnected Club with links to our partners and wine professionals. The drive can also be used to hold your data. The wine-related information takes up about half of the one gigabyte memory. It sells for 35 euros.
Worries over potential wine fraud have started to hit the auction houses prompting the pulling of a pricey Bordeaux bottle. An Imperial of 1961 Chateau Petrus was expected to be auctioned off on Saturday by Edward Roberts International in Chicago. The single bottle was expected to bring in around $150,000. The auction house decided to withdraw the bottle from the auction in order to doublecheck the authenticity. The auction house has said they will put the bottle back on the block once all the documentation is in order. As more and more people see wine as an investment with possible big returns the stakes have been raised. Potential lawsuits such as the one filed by billionaire collector Wiliiam Koch may also be behind the increased scrutiny and the need to document the provenance of the investment bottles.
How's this for a titillating name for a wine auction: on October 26 and 27, Acker Merrall & Condit in New York is holding an auction of a mysterious collector known only as "The Man With The Golden Cellar." The auction's 248-page catalog details the 1,959 lots that the 11,474-bottle cellar has been broken down into. You want red Burgundy? Try 4,838 bottles of it including lots from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Leroy, Jayer and Rousseau. The sale is also rich in white Burgundy and First Growth Bordeaux from notables such as Lafleur, Petrus and the always craveable Cheval Blanc. Champagne? But of course, dating back to 1928 and Chateau d'Yquem, Port and some truly ancient Madeira is in there too. The entire cellar could bring in $20 million.
The latest auction from Hart Davis Hart Wine Co. in Chicago is a multi-tiered event spanning several days of high-end wine events. The main event is the auction of Finest and Rarest wines at the restaurant Tru on October 26 and 27th. The early morning auction is followed by a luncheon by Chef Rick Tramonto and Pastry Chef Gale Gand for $75. To whet your whistle before the auction you can attend a "Master Class" seminar and "Unico" dinner held by Bodegas Vega Sicilia on October 23rd. The master class costs $125 and will be held at the Arts Club of Chicago. The "Unico" dinner costs $500 and will be held at Les Nomades with a Champagne reception at 7:45pm. On October 26th Hart Davis Hart will host an evening of rare wines from the Domaine de la Romanée Conti at NoMi. This one is the real wallet stretcher, for $2000 you get four courses prepared by Chef Christophe David paired with five vintages of La Tâche and three vintages of Grands-Echézeaux.
And if you are looking for fabulous wine for the holiday season, December 1 will mark the second installment from the Verlin Collection . The auction will feature approximately 800 lots valued at $2-3 million. The auction includes more than 250 case lots of Bordeaux from the very best modern vintages including First Growths, Pétrus, and Lafleur; more than 60 case lots of top Burgundy including DRC, Vogüe, Jayer, Hubert Lignier and Coche Dury; 11 vintages of Romanée Conti from DRC; vintage Champagne including 50 case-lots highlighted by 14 cases of Cristal and 18 cases of Dom Pérignon; the greatest names from Rhône, including J.L. Chave and the single vineyard wines of Guigal; as well as cases of classic vintages of Spain's Vega Sicilia Unico. Auctions can also be bid on online.
When it comes to the upper tiers of wine auctions there are wines you buy basically for the old bottles (the Jefferson wines fall solidly in this category) and then there are wines you open no matter how much they cost. The imperial bottle of French Grand Cru First Growth Château Pétrus, 1961 being auctioned off by Edward Roberts International at their October 28 auction falls into this category. The imperial (the size of eight standard bottles) of Bordeaux is expected to sell for up to $150,000.
The auction also includes 1921, 1947 and 1961 Chateau Petrus en Magnums and several prized vintages of Chateau Mouton-Rothschild including the 1945. California cults wines are also represented with selections from Screaming Eagle, Harlan and Scarecrow available. But the most visually striking selection from the auction has to be the Courvoissier Cognac Erte decanter collection shown above. You can bid online or in person at the auction at the Columbia Yacht Club in Chicago.
Wine and watches make a luscious if perhaps odd pairing but many wealthy people are ardent collectors of both so why not combine passions. Hart Davis Wine and IWC Watches are hosting a wine and watch pairing event on September 11th from 6:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m. at the Newberry Library in Chicago. Watch expert Michael Friedberg of the International Watch Company will present the unique IWC collection while guests enjoy Bordeaux wines from the 2000 and 2003 vintages, including 1st Growths Château Haut-Brion and Château Mouton-Rothschild. The event costs $150 per person.
I've seen whiskeys for charity that blend the work of a variety of different distilleries but now wine from Bordeaux will get the same treatment. It sounds risky but when such a wine is in the hands of Michel Rolland, the world's most prolific wine consultant, risky gets intriguing. The charity wine will be an equal mixture of 17 wine properties that are part of the 18-member wine group Bordeaux Oxygene. The wine, which will be dubbed Oxygen, uses the 2005 vintage from member chateaux, including Clos Fourtet in St Emilion and Chateau Thieuly in the Bordeaux Superieur region. Only one property was left out, Chateau Nairac, which produces sweet white Sauternes. The wine will officially be dubbed a Vin de Table and will be sold at auctions starting in October. There will be 80 double magnums total.
As I've mentioned before, I have a weakness for any kind of auction where all the lots come from one impassioned collector. Much of a person's character is revealed in the things they have deemed precious. Steve Verlin, one of the founding partners of the New York restaurant Veritas passed away in 2006 but he left behind an expansive wine collection which is being auctioned on May 4th and 5th by Hart Davis Hart Wine Co. in Chicago. His wine collection rivals the Park B. Smith auction in terms of the amount of quality French wine.
Verlin was a true wine lover and often created non-traditional wine pairings such as hot dogs with the Spanish classic Unico from Vega Sicilia, popcorn (popped in truffle oil) with his many top Champagnes, and Krispy Kreme donuts with his Sauternes from Château d'Yquem. To honor Verlin Hart Davis Hart will duplicate some of these pairings at the auction. He was also passionate about wine storage and his subterranean cellars were strictly temperature and humidity controlled. The auction includes many French wines from Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhône and Champagne. He and his wife Grae also collected large format bottles including imperials, jeroboams and double magnums. Wines up for auction include the 1970 Pétrus, 1982 Cheval-Blanc, 1989 Haut-Brion, 1971 La Tâche, DRC, 1978 Châteauneuf du Pape, Rayas, Dom Perignon and Cristal. The presale estimate for the Verlin Collection is $4,000,000-$6,000,000.
