Chateau Malescot St Exupery Margaux 2000: Good floral aromatics mitigated by a hint of brett, but not obtrusive. Fine. Overall, a pleasure to drink. Got better in glass. 92-93

Chateau Giscours Margaux 2000: A better wine. I bought this en primeur for $35 a bottle. The Malescot was $50. Both now trade for about $100. The Giscours is more reflective of Margaux elegance. More floral, not even a hint of animal. A lovely wine. Perfect drinking. Smooth. Long finish. 94-95

Chateau Haut Brion 2001: I thought that this would steal the show. Needs more time perhaps but today, not really showing itself optimally. Yes, there is breed. Tobacco notes with a full body, fuller than the above for certain, but lacks elegance and poise. It is fine but for the money, I think Giscours 2000 is better. 93?

This is a conversation that is never ending, but The World of Fine Wine published my portrait on Jacques and Eric Boissenot in its most recent issue, which addresses a return to elegance in Bordeaux. Relatively speaking of course. Modern winemaking has done much good for the region. Many 1970s Bordeaux are not all that good – although some are fabulous (Palmer 1978 or Haut Brion 1975, for example) because pickings were generally too early and yields were generally too high. And some of the more modern gadgets did not exist to minimize poor vintage effects, so that a 1973, for example, could not be really “salvaged”, while a 1993 was, more or less). But if you can get a hold of The World of Fine Wine, you can see that the modernists also went too far in some respects. More on this later… In the meantime, back to holiday matters. Happiness and good health to all!

In two tweets this week, the influential American wine critic Robert Parker said ‘the Bordelais are indeed killing the golden goose’ and ‘the ridiculous and painfully slow release of prices for the 2009s is both stupid and arrogant, moreover… expect sticker shock… dumb and dumber.’

Amidst mounting criticism that Bordeaux 2009 prices are reaching outer space, US merchants explain that wines which Parker graded as potentially perfect (100 points) are selling.
A wine like Pontet Canet (96-100 Robert Parker points) has sold well. ‘By a factor of 25 to one, I have sold more Pontet Canet than Lynch Bages (94-96 points),’ said Mark Wessels of MacArthur Beverages in Washington D.C.
Other wines which at first seemed too high in price are now perceived by some as relative bargains, ‘including Giscours, Brane Cantenac and Gruaud Larose’, said Wessels. ‘Some people see recent prices and say “never mind” and buy something else,’ he said. ‘Smith Haut Lafitte has a high price, but it is still cheaper than Ducru Beaucaillou.’
According to Jeff Zacharia of Zachys in New York, some wines did not do well initially, ‘but with the high prices of the top wines, people are taking a second look now.’
US buyers are also purchasing lower end cru classés and cru bourgeois, merchants said. Wines like Cantemerle, Haut Bergey and Chasse Spleen, according to Chris Adams at Sherry Lehmann, also in New York.
On the other hand, certain wines prove more difficult to sell, particularly those with high prices without potential 100-point Parker scores. Adams said ‘price/score fatigue’ is making wines like Ducru Beaucaillou and Pape Clement, for example, more difficult to sell. Writing on the popular American blog wineberserkers.com, UK-based merchant Tom Mann of LHK Fine Wines described Chateau Figeac – at over $200 without a Parker score – as ‘a total failure.’ He later said that it could have sold if it were less expensive, because so many other critics appreciated it, but ‘I’d be stunned if anyone were to buy it in the US.’
‘Clearly miscalculated’, is how Daniel Posner, of Grapes the Wine Company in New York, describes Bordeaux 2009 pricing. He bought 75% less in futures compared to 2005. ‘Very few wines are going up in value, which is to be expected,’ he said. ‘I suppose La Mission Haut Brion gets the award for the dumbest price.’
Wessels, who bought 3-4 times less wine compared to 2005, said ‘I don’t think most American wine merchants are going to finance and invest heavily in this vintage because there is little opportunity for upside potential, but a very real possibility that the economy will weaken or the euro will weaken.’

Here a brief list of good prices en primeur 2009:

Du Tertre Margaux

Cantemerle Haut Medoc

Sociando Mallet Haut Medoc

Grand Puy Ducasse Pauillac

Poujeaux Moulis

Calon Segur St Estephe (€58 per bottle in Europe)

A few others…

From what I have been hearing, the Bordelais may be on the verge of making an error with Asia. Already Gruaud Larose and Giscours are at about $60 per bottle. That is very high for both estates. Imagine what wines like Palmer, Cos and Ducru will sell for, not to speak of the first growths. Some people have told me that the Asians will not necessarily take so many en primeur orders. At the same time, such prices already introduced may not be making traditional markets happy, in Europe and in the US. A quick look at wine-searcher.com shows you that both Giscours and Gruaud Larose 2005 in bottle are available at the same price as the 2009 futures offering. So why bother to tie your money down for two years? That is the question many are likely asking…