Decanter World Wine AwardsBordeaux 2010: Lafite, La Mission release, Beausejour Duffau more than doubles
- Wednesday 29 June 2011
- Comments (8)
La Mission: 'First Growth'
The much-praised Graves property, neighbour and sister to bona-fide first growth Haut Brion, La Mission has come out at exactly the same price as Lafite Rothschild, Mouton Rothschild and Margaux at €600 per bottle ex-negociant.
Its second wine is level with those properties’ second wines at €108.
Lafite is €600, and its second wine, Carruades de Lafite, is €108.
Carruades has been offered on Liv-ex for £3,273 a case – or £272.75 a bottle, nearly three times the ex-negociant price.
Lafite is offered on Liv-ex at just over £1000 a bottle, with no takers at the time of publication.
St Emilion’s Chateau Figeac, to the dismay of some, has released 5% up on last year, at €168 ex-negociant, up from €160 in 2009.
Figeac, made with three-quarters Cabernet Franc, is much admired in the UK for its elegance, but at the same time merchants can find it difficult to sell.
Simon Staples at Berry Bros was unequivocal: he adores the wine but ‘this isn’t the way to do it’ – far better to come out at a lower price with a very small amount of wine.
Other releases include top-flight Pomerol property L’Eglise Clinet, which has held its price from last year at €276.
And St Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé Chateau Beausejour Duffau Lagarosse, described by James Lawther in Decanter as ‘Harmonious. Follows the progress made in 2009’ has come out at more than 170% up on last year, at €180 according to reports.
ALL PRICES QUOTED ARE PER BOTTLE
Have your say!
PRJ
July 01 11:45
Robert - nothing to do with UK merchants bowing out
First tranche releases of the Firsts are so small that they are not worth offering. Most UK merchants will get everything they can from all of the various tranches before averaging the cost out, adding their margin and offering onwards to their clients
Joep
July 01 00:13
I am putting my money into '04s, 06's and 08's at the moment: classic Bordeaux that one can still actually afford to drink at some stage. '09 and '10 are over the top, but I fear this is the new benchmark.
Darin
June 30 16:28
First growth bordeaux is now a rich man's game; not an upper-middle class man's. So be it. I believe, firmly, that there will be no troubles selling the wine.
max
June 30 12:47
I think the French Wineries have smelled the Chinese in the water