Top 3 Hot Markets

by Wine Owners

Posted on 2015-08-28

1/ Grand Puy Lacoste 2010 is a great wine. 4 years after release, the price is £100 off its opening price. GPL 2010 is surely now one of the buys of that wonderful vintage. Rated 95 points by Robert Parker this will be a magnificent drink in years to come. We would not be surprised to see this rerated 97 points in due course.

'An absolutely magnificent wine from this very popular estate, which sits well off the Route du Vin, just to the southwest of the town of Pauillac, its classic creme de cassis and floral notes are well-displayed. The wine possesses supple tannin, a full body, voluptuous character and a layered, impressively textured mouthfeel. This is a brilliant effort from Grand Puy Lacoste that can be drunk in 4-5 years or cellared for three decades or more.' RP 95.

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2/ Montrose 2010 is another beauty, a perfect wine and less expensive than 2009, yet a seamless monument that is the equal of any of the First Growths. It’s hardly surprising this is a hot market: surely it’s only going to go one way from here?

'This is considered to be among the greatest vintages ever made in Montrose, right up with the 1929, 1945, 1947, 1959, 1961, 1989, 1990 and 2009. Harvest was October 15 to 17. The wine has really come on since I last tasted it, and it needs at least another 10 years of cellaring.' RP 100.

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3/ Ducru Beaucaillou 2011 is interesting. It wasn’t so long ago that top new vintages of this super-second were releasing at well into 4 figures. The unfashionable 2011 vintage provides the opportunity to buy in for just £660 per case of 12.

Exchange activity is suggesting this is a buy as top-drawer drinking claret. The latest Parker score surely reflects the a period during which the wine has shut down. Once this wine starts to open up again, could there be the potential for it to be rerated in the 93-95 range in line with the en original primeur rating? Neal Martin’s rating is 92-94.

'The 2011 Ducru Beaucaillou (which normally represents 1/3 to ½ of the entire crop) possesses a dense ruby/purple color along with a beautiful nose of sweet creme de cassis, crushed rock and spring flower aromas. This rich, medium to full-bodied St.-Julien is among the most concentrated wines of the Medoc. Moderate tannin is sweet and well-integrated. This beauty will benefit from 3-5 years of cellaring and keep for two decades.' RP 92+.

Parker re-rates Top Bordeaux 2009

by Wine Owners

Posted on 2012-03-04

Around 9am on Friday 2nd March 2012 my inbox lit up with wave after wave of 2009 Bordeaux offers from wine merchants. (Congratulations to Flint Wines for refreshingly focusing on an up-and-coming Burgundian grower.) In the weeks leading up to last Friday, merchants had taken the opportunity to inform private customers that RP's new scores were imminent, and that now was a good time to pick over market prices, many of which had fallen from their release price and 2011 highs.

I'd already done all my 2009 'business' during 2010/11 so stood by and watched. Parker duly came out with his new 2009 scores and a glowing recommendation - like 1982 (on which he made his reputation) but better thanks to advances in wine making, a return to traditional vineyard husbandry, and greater de-classification of parcels into second and third wines (in fairness common arguments trotted out regularly by the regisseurs and chateau owners in Bordeaux). What surprised everyone was how many high points he awarded his favourite wines - 18 wines getting 100 points; in comparison to just 6 wines in each of the two great vintages of 2000 and 1982.

Here are the final 100 pointers thanks to Ditton Wine Traders

And Friday's price increases vs the previous day's prices ranked from high to low