Dr Vino's wine blog

All of a sudden it seems like wine is made for the bling bling lifestyle. A couple of weeks ago, Jay-Z flushed one $300 bottle of Champagne and switched to another.

Then I got this email from a NYC retailer about the availability of these wines from Bordeaux 2005:

Latour, $9500 per case, 98-100pts WA
Cheval Blanc, $8999 per case, 95-98pts WA
Margaux, $8999 per case, 96-100pts WA
Lafite Rothschild, $7500 per case, 95-100pts WS

But enough about that since I have already droned on and on about it. I spotted this article about the new super rich “ultra high net worth individuals” in the Belfast Telegraph. In between private jets, $150 Wegyu beef sandwiches, yachts, and Bentleys, there’s (almost) always room for some bling bling wine:

The new Bordeaux vintage is proving to be a big draw for Russian and Chinese tycoons who have developed a new interest in the grape, but again, the problem is supply. Chateaux Ausone is selling en primeur (ie rough and not ready) for £6,000 a case. “We could buy 100 cases and sell out in 20 minutes,” a Berry Bros spokesman said.

But come on billionaires! Don’t just settle for a few $10,000 cases of wine, buy the whole vineyard! Don’t keep up with the Jonses, blow them away! Build a Gehry-designed winery!

* * * * * * *

Coincidentally, Al Brounstein of Diamond Creek, the man who perhaps brought cult wine to America, died this week. Frank Prial’s obit had this little nugget:

His first vintage was in 1972. His first vintage of Lake, in 1978, sold for $100 a bottle, a price then unheard of. Later vintages sold for up to $300 a bottle when better-known Napa wines might bring $70. Once asked why he charged so much, Mr. Brounstein said, “Because I can get it.”

tags: wine | bling bling | ultra high net worth

It’s crazy. Decanter reports that Latour and Margaux have now released their futures prices at more than £4000 ($7,300) a case. As I mentioned previously, this raises serious questions of whether you are going to put a roof over your head or a wine in your cellar (yes, cellar, not belly).

But the craziest part is that there is demand for these futures (the wines won’t arrive until 2008). Retailers from LA to London are talking about how even at these prices, they don’t think they will be able to get enough for their customers. That’s part of the reason the top chateaus waited this long to release their prices, hoping to be able to whip up demand and keep as much profit for themselves. Robert Parker recently accused them of greed.

But why not let it rip? In the same way that an IPO opening day gain is money that the company left on the table, chateaus fear a rise in price once the wine leaves the cellar door as lost profit:

Chateau Margaux general director Paul Pontallier told decanter.com, ‘the market decides the price. If we had released at a lower price the wine would have gone to London and then been sold on at its real market value. Our choice is limited.’

So why not try a “Dutch auction”? Let buyers bid on the wine and then the market really will set the price–with greater profits accruing to the chateau.

The only problem is the next vintage. What if it stinks? The producers need the negociants and retailers to push it. Cutting them out through a Dutch auction in an excellent year would no doubt alienate them in a future bad one.

The Dutch drained the swampy Medoc in the 17th century. The Dutch auction will not be draining consumers anytime soon.

tags: wine | Bordeaux 2005 | Dutch auctions

Bling
On the stratospheric pricing of Bordeaux 2005 futures, Elin McCoy suggests how to avoid the $500 Haut Brion: “So what to buy? Go for second growths such as Leoville- Barton, one of my top picks of the vintage ($100 a bottle), and Pichon-Longueville-Baron ($120). I’d also be happy to drink Lynch-Bages, Pontet-Canet and Leoville-Poyferre (all $85), Lafon-Rochet, Beychevelle and Dame de Montrose ($40 to $50), and Chasse-Spleen ($25) if my ‘investment’ turned south.” [Bloomberg]

The IHT “your money” column urges investment in 2005 Bordeaux futures suggesting a five year timeframe. It’s odd, however, that the piece does not caution about the high price of these futures. So I will. Watch out! Are you really buying low when the price is $500 a bottle? [IHT]

Bust
Mariann Fischer Boel, EU Agricultural commissioner, formally outlines her proposals to drain the EU’s “wine lake.” Nothing that we hadn’t already seen coming, but the details are now out. Expect action sometime next year. [EU]

An article summarizing the reform appears here and it underscores “French and Italian” opposition to the plan. However, the opposition is not across the board, as a senior wine official in Bordeaux told DrVino.com recently.

Apologies to Kieslowski for the title of this post.

tags: wine | EU wine policy | Bordeaux

French Rabbit, Pinot Noir 2004. $10 – 1 liter box Find this wine

Sacre bleu—French innovation! Many commentators attribute the current state of malaise in the French wine industry to a lack of innovation and bad labels. This one-liter box should silence the critics. Bright orange, English language, and critter label (well, that’s not the original part) all in packaging that will stand out on the shelf and weighs a fraction of glass. But what about what’s inside? Well, you won’t mistake it for Gevrey-Chambertin (it’s actually sourced from the Languedoc), but at least it is 100 percent pinot noir unlike many similarly priced California wines. It’s fruit forward and soft tannins—in other words a great red for the summer picnic basket. And you won’t even have to remember the corkscrew. Importer: Boisset America.

tags: wine | tasting notes | wine reviews

I’m sure you’ve been on the edge of your Aeron chairs waiting to hear which winery this is that we spied from the sky. Actually, all the words appeared in the comments of the original post, but nobody got them all correct. And the winery is:

Gallo Family Winery in Sonoma’s Dry Creek Valley.

You know, the one with the ads of Gina contemplating a glass of wine in the barrel room (not visible from the satellite). See the original image.

tags: wine | winery photos | Google maps

With the Supreme Court having ruled on winery to consumer wine shipments, one of the next big legal issues for consumers is to be able to buy wine from shops in other states. Three cases are currently pending in courts around the country.

Buying wine from the web sites of wine retailers is becoming increasingly easy. The “Cranky Consumer” column for the WSJ recently reviewed buying wine and found it “relatively painless.” But one thing she forgot to mention: browse the site but phone in your order.

If you’re looking a specific item, use wine-searcher, slap it in your cart and you’re done. But if you are looking for wines around a certain theme or rare wines, I’ve had experiences recently where calling has helped me.

Shops don’t always put their full inventory on the web site as recently arrived or limited quantity items might not make it up there. And sometimes the search functions aren’t advanced. Or you want to ask for a recommendation in a certain category to fill up your half a case order. In all these circumstances, I find talking to a human in the store useful. Imagine that! Humans trump computers!

tags: wine | buying wine | ecommerce

EU reforms: “We must make greater efforts to market our wines in an increasingly competitive marketplace. As things stand, the EU spends just 14 million euros annually on promotion and marketing.” And to think Yellow Tail’s ad spend is $24 million this year in the US alone…Read the details of Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel’s plan.

Australia dumps: “Mark Mckenzie, from Wine Grape Growers Australia, says wineries should help out growers by throwing out large volumes of old, poorer quality wine.” There’s a glut down under too. [ABC Rural]

French wine is thumped: Wine, alcoholism, road safety, and environmental impact. Discuss! Do you feel like you’re a French high school senior taking the baccalaureat? That’s what some of them had to write essays on for four hours. One journalist suspects operatives of the anti-alcohol lobby have entered the Ministry of Education… [Vitisphere]

Napa gets a Gehry: Kathryn and Craig Hall have been cleared by the County to build a winery designed by star-chitect Frank Gehry in St. Helena. The Halls own 562 acres of vineyards in Napa and Sonoma already. The new winery’s cost? “I wish we knew. My best guess is we will be in for at least $70 million,” Craig Hall told Wines & Vines.

tags: wine | wine news | Frank Gehry

I love GoogleMaps and Google satellite images as you may have noticed. So indulge me with this bit of trivia: which winery is this?

Image credit: Google.

tags: wine | winery photos