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Build a Bordeaux cellar on a budget: Top tips for smarter buying
You may have a cellar of your own to stock, or plan to build a collection stored elsewhere. Either way, our expert’s advice will help you target the vintages and estates that offer the best quality and value in Bordeaux today, priced in that ‘sweet spot’ up to about £100.
One of the greatest pleasures in life is having a fully stocked cellar of mature wines to dip in and out of at will. With the world of wine evolving at a rate of knots, it is, of course, not quite as easy as that any more, even with the best will and the deepest pockets.
For wine drinkers, the one positive to have come from the meteoric rise in the price of Burgundy and other cult wines from across the globe is that Bordeaux has never looked better value than it does right now. That being said, there is undoubtedly a value sweet spot when buying claret, and following a few simple rules like those outlined below can help you get the best out of the region, for present and future, without an excessive budget.
En primeur: How to make the most of buying early
Outside the world of wine, the practice of en primeur is quite a strange one. The idea that you would put down your money, for a wine that had not been fully made, and receive it some two or so years later. To my mind, traditionally there were four reasons to buy en primeur. Firstly, before the invention of the internet, it was difficult to source and secure cases without making phone calls to merchant after merchant. Primeurs allowed a single release of all the wines without the worry of buying them later. Secondly, you were guaranteed provenance; you were opening wines that only you had ever owned. Then, you were able to choose your (size) formats, if you had a particular predilection for large formats or a need for half-bottles; you chose how your wine was bottled. Lastly, and possibly most importantly, you bought the wine at a discount from what the eventual cost of the physical vintage would be. There was a financial advantage to laying down your cash before the producer had bottled the wine.
The somewhat sad reality of the fact is that, with prices going up vintage after vintage, irrespective of the mature market, only two of these reasons are still valid. It is always nice to know that the provenance of your wine is A1, especially with rare big bottles; and even though you might have to pay extra for sizes other than 75cl – thanks to increased costs of bottling and shipping – you can choose your format.
My advice here is: when buying en primeur, make the most of this, but expect to pay about £25 more for a double magnum than you would for 4x75cl bottles, and £60 more for an imperial (six litres) than for 8x75cl. Buy yourself a few cases of inexpensive half-bottles for weekdays that will not only mature faster (about £10 premium compared to the equivalent 12x75cl), but will be incredibly hard to find as time goes by. If halves aren’t your thing, then double magnums are a great alternative, as well as being the best ratio between large format and bottling premium. Less expensive big bottles are ideal for summer barbecues or larger gatherings, while at the higher end they will evolve more slowly into a finer product at that special anniversary dinner in a few decades’ time.
A very useful tip for buying christening presents on a budget is to go for wonderful-value wines like Châteaux Cantemerle, Ormes de Pez, Potensac or Poujeaux in double magnum or imperial, knowing that they will last well into the child’s 20s and 30s.
Bordeaux cases in a racking system from the Sorrells Custom Cellars range
(Image credit: Credit Unknown)
Mature wines: How to buy
While I would agree there is something romantic about picking up wonderful, mature single bottles from auction (which I often do), we will stick to building a collection of wines, case by case, in bond – stored professionally, with duty and VAT unpaid until their release and delivery. After deciding how much money you are willing to put towards this noble quest, the key is understanding how mature you like your wines. Undoubtedly, you will want wines to be hitting their stride at different times but, more simply: ‘Do you like your wines laden with fruit and deep in colour, or loaded with cedar, leather and resolved tannin?’
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A great place to start – for both drinking and for laying down – on Bordeaux banks both Left and Right, is with the 2012 and 2014 vintages. Both are high quality, have not increased much in price in the decade or so since release, and existed before the inevitable price hikes of the vaunted 2015 and 2016.
If your tastes require going back a little further in time, then 2007 would be my go-to. When initially released, the vintage was labelled as ‘light’ and a ‘restaurant vintage’, and it would subsequently be overshadowed by the trio that followed. Hindsight can be a wonderful thing, but we weren’t to know that the 2008s would, a decade later, lack charm and still be shut for business. The 2009s and 2010s are qualitative peers, if not stylistic opponents, but both vintages were rather too expensive on release. They say a great wine will drink well every day of its life; well that is 2007 in spades. From bottom to top there is a purity, balance and drinkability in these wines that we haven’t seen in a long time.
Getting older still, those who like a little more opulence should not dismiss 2003 in the northern Médoc, although many do who have not drunk them recently. Yes, it was marked a ‘hot’ vintage at the time, but in the last two decades we have had warmer vintages without such concern. 2001 is a year for the classicists: the lesser wines are fully mature, while the top wines still have a good three decades of evolution in them.
If the budget can stretch, then it is impossible for me to look beyond 1996 on the Left Bank, which I believe to be an almost perfect vintage – many wines are at their peak but with time yet in hand. Similarly, for the Right Bank and Graves, the equivalent is 1998. A year of wonderful opulence, bordering on hedonistic.
A potential buyer bids on wines at a Christie’s auction.
(Image credit: MAXPPP / Alamy Stock Photo)
Headline vintages: Do they justify the hype?
From the lauded pair of 2015 and 2016, my preference would be for the latter as I find it to have better balance and drinkability. Even on a budget, some of the lower-end wines in 2016 are a must. 2009 is more opulent, open, and dare I say delicious than 2010 at the moment, but I believe ultimately the latter will provide the most pleasure at full maturity. 2005 was the ‘most famous vintage ever’ on release, but we’ve had a few of those since and my preference would be for 2000: the Millennium vintage has an openness and charm about it that delivers every time. If you are feeling adventurous, then the great wines of 1990, 1989, 1985 and 1982 are still hitting their stride, but be sure they have been well stored and the provenance is sound.
In an ideal world, you would build a cellar with a sprinkling of all of these elements: primeurs, especially in alternative formats, value vintages and some of the big-name vintages for the long haul and special occasions. To help you on your way, on p25 are a handful of wines I would recommend adding to your collection, to create a balanced cellar at the £30-£100 retail per bottle level–the value sweet spot for Bordeaux.
Collecting Claret: Birchley’s smart buys to look out for
Gareth Birchley is buying director at London-based Burns & German Vintners. He started in wine in 2006 at Bordeaux Index before moving to Berry Bros & Rudd as a fine wine buyer for four years, joining Burns & German in 2019.
