Some New Possibilities in Bordeaux

Sometimes riding coattails can still turn into profits.

In a market that was established centuries ago, and organized in 1855, it is quite a thing when a major player offers a new bottling. There are plenty of second labels that have garnered praise and accolade on their rite, giving them the ability to hop off the coattails of their founding chateaux. As the first growths spiral ever upward, rafted on ratings and exclusivity to the point of insanity, some of these super seconds are worth looking at, and one of the newest ones will bear watching as it comes "online" production-wise. The new kid:

Le Clarence de Haut-Brion

Now while this isn't really a "new" wine the sense of new land, new grapes, or even new winemaker - it is new in the sense that Bahans has been discontinued and relabeled in honor of the upcoming 75th anniversary of Clarence Dillon's purchase of Haut-Brion (Clarence died in 1979 but still has many members of the family involved in many aspects of the chaateau). The anniversary will take place in 2010, just as people are receiving their allocations of the inaugural 2007 bottlings of Le Clarence de Haut-Brion. You have to plan your publicity in advance, you know. So what makes putting a new label on an old wine something to write about? Well, the wine is being traded at a higher price than Bahans, and that for a sorry vintage such as 2007. A future price of around $70.00 - $85.00 per bottle so far is a bit high, while the Bahans '05 can still be had for around $60 - factoring in the difference in vintage quality, 2005 being vastly superior to the 2007. Ratings are so-so: An 88-90 from RP. 85-88 from WS. 17 from Jancis Robinson, and a 17.5 from Decanter. Perhaps the additional price is for the inclusion of the iconic Haut-Brion bottle into the second label lineup, something the Bahans label never benefitted from - call it vertical branding. So while I am not saying to run out and buy this wine simply because it is a more expensive, relabeled version of Bahans, I am curious to see what the makeover of the label will mean in the coming years. Of course we know that prices will go up, even in the face of bad vintages, and second labels will ride the same tide, but what we don't know is if there will be significant changes in the wines production with the outside makeover. Generally a winery institutes some changes to accompany a re-launch (and make no mistake about it, HB wants this brand to succeed and to carry more clout - otherwise the pricing and the bottle wouldn't have changed.)

I like the idea that HB is carrying the bottle design over to the second label. I know it's just glass, but it says a lot about what HB is putting into the bottle. They never used that bottle for the Bahans. Of course, the pessimist can argue that they are just trying to benefit from a little "brand confusion" by giving the buyer a greater sense of the HB experience despite buying the "leftovers." Either way, I think the Le Clarence is a bottle to watch.