Leading French magazine Le Figaro has said that Bordeaux 2006 vintage could be as ‘sublime’ as the great 1982 vintage.
Apparently flying in the face of most advice from the world’s wine critics, in an article entitled ‘Bank on the 2006 primeurs’, the figaro.fr website and Le Figaro magazine advises its readers to invest in the 2006 vintage.
In 1982, ‘few people banked on the vintage’, the article says, and ‘for collectors, it’s a strong bet that 2006 will follow this tendency. In 10 years, this vintage will be recognised as sublime.’
The article was written by figaro.fr writer Guirec Gombert, advised by Figaro finance expert Frederic Durand-Bazin.
The figaro.fr piece is linked to wine merchant 1855.com, offering their 2006 wines. Le Figaro magazine, figaro.fr and 1855.com entered into a partnership last month at Vinexpo.
Gombert said the idea was to show that the 2006 vintage could ‘follow the trend’ of 1982 by not selling so well to begin with, and eventually being highly prized.
In comparing the two vintages, Durand-Bazin told decanter.com, ‘after the 300% price hikes of 2005, if ever there was a drop in prices, one could expect a similar financial opportunity’.
Decanter’s consultant editor Steven Spurrier said 2006 may well be of higher quality than 1982 – due to lower yields and better winemaking techniques.
‘I’d say 2006 was better. They’re more concentrated and although that doesn’t always signify quality, they are better wines. The winemaking in Bordeaux is twice as good as it was back then. Even the elements that made up 2006 were better than 82.
However, he said claims that the two vintages could be compared on an economic scale were nonsense.
‘It’s absolute rubbish,’ he said. ’1982 didn’t sell very well because the French public were not used to buying En Primeur at that time. 1985 was the first vintage they bought because no-one was really selling it to them before then.’
Written by Oliver Styles
