Vine Talk: Bordeaux 2009 seen more than trebling '08 prices(2)
Merchants won't sell the wine until they know how expensive they are going to become.
"There's no point in us selling the wines at one price if the next tranche comes out at a far higher price," said Simon Davies at UK merchant Fine & Rare.
No one really knows how many of Lafite's 20,000-odd cases have been released in the first tranche, but merchants, scrabbling for their allocations, agree they are smaller than ever this year.
"Every year we lose a percentage," said Sam Gleave of London merchant Bordeaux Index. "Soon all we're going to get is a six-pack. But what can we do? We're hamstrung by it."
Gleave may grumble about the lack of 'transparency' in the system, with no real idea of the number of cases released and merchants at the mercy of the chateaux, but he agrees it's all part of the game.
"We're just negotiating as hard as we can," he said.
But to the bloggers, crouched in their garrets over wine-stained keyboards, the prices are beyond the pale.
Some, like Oliver Styles on wine-life, have called on the world to boycott Bordeaux on the grounds it has collectively taken leave of its senses. Others express shock and surprise.
There's intemperate comment on Twitter, and American merchants are similarly outraged. Many will not touch the top wines fearing that if the euro drops, they will be left with literally millions of dollars of unsold wine on their hands.
But looked at dispassionately, Bordeaux 2009 is healthy.
There are slow-burners, but at all levels, most wine merchants in Britain report generally good sales.
"Everything is selling well," said Davies. "Leoville Barton and Langoa Barton sold out quickly. I wish we'd bought more Lynch Bages. Our biggest seller is Pontet Canet, and at 1,200 pounds (USD 1,780) a case it's xpensive."
The top wines of Bordeaux are in the superleague of luxury goods. As Davies said: "These aren't tiny properties. These are huge estates which unfailingly produce world-beating wines. They have always been very expensive."
Indeed they have - and there's always been disbelief. In March 2001, decanter.com asked the director of Mouton, Herve Berland, if there was any credence in the rumour that his wine would reach a release price of 1,000 French francs a bottle -- then the equivalent of about USD 135.
"Of course not," he scoffed. "It would be totally stupid to do that."
