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As the potentially classic 2010 Bordeaux vintage begins unveiling futures prices, some U.S. retailers are suffering sticker shock. The first growth 2009s went for over $1,000 a bottle and the 2010s are expected to soar to even higher prices—beyond the reach of most American wine lovers. But, says James Molesworth, lead Bordeaux taster at Wine Spectator, the strength of the vintage also means that there are great values to be had from some of Bordeaux’s lesser-known producers, if retailers and consumers are willing to hunt for them. Shanken News Daily checked in with Molesworth to get a few specific high-quality, low-hype recommendations.
SND: You’ve already called Bordeaux 2010 potentially a “modern classic.” And you believe that will be apparent across the region, not only in the top chateaus’ wines, correct?
Molesworth: The thing about 2010 is it’s such a strong vintage that you can buy outside the big-name appellations. The Bordeaux Superieurs or generic Médocs for instance can really provide some delicious wines in 2010. It was a warm, dry season, so those areas that generally may not ripen as well as the premier areas, they also ripened well last year and have produced really solid wines.
SND: Looking at the list of values below, how many of these wines have any name recognition at all in the U.S.?
Molesworth: A lot of these are really small names that don’t get any hype whatsoever, and they’re all either fairly new or have made a turnaround in terms of quality, so they all have fairly interesting stories to tell. Other than Gloria and maybe Pibran, I don’t think anyone in America is really going to know these wines well.
SND: And what do they bring to the table?
Molesworth: A lot of them are just coming out with pricing, so that’s going to be a fluid situation, but especially the ones below the $25 mark are going to be some super values. They’ll have potentially outstanding quality, and they’ll age a couple of years—these aren’t wines that you’ll put down for 20 years. But they’re going to deliver very solid Bordeaux character and stay true to the vintage style as well as the appellation that they’re from.
SND: How do you think retailers are handling the prices of the top chateaux? Is there an opportunity for some of the lesser-known Bordeaux wines?
Molesworth: I think retailers are taking fewer allocations the last few years because they feel like they can’t move the expensive wines, which continue to get pricier. And Americans seem to be getting tired of the same old Bordeaux names that just keep getting more expensive every year. So the retailers are hedging on that, and saying, “I don’t know if I can sell some of the big second-tier names anymore,” like Pichon Lalande or Cos d’Estournel, for example. Where 10 years ago they could sell 100 cases of those wines easily, now it’s a struggle to get through 50 cases, and they don’t want to sit on the inventory. So there could be an opening for wines down below that first or second tier that present strong values.
SND: Do you believe the aggressive 2010 pricing by the Bordelais will come back to bite them, even considering the strength of the vintage?
Molesworth: The only way it will bite them is if Americans lose interest in those higher-end wines totally, and yet even that won’t hurt the Bordelais unless at some point they lose their other markets. Right now they’re starting to sell so much more wine in Asia and elsewhere that they don’t care that the Americans aren’t buying as much. If it’s a situation where one market jumps out as two new markets jump in, producers will have no incentive not to continue raising prices. But there are definite buying opportunities for 2010. Yes, it’s an expensive vintage, but for consumers who are willing to sacrifice name cachet and for retailers who are willing to do some digging there are some really good wines—whose names you may not know but which deliver great quality.
| Molesworth's Ten Hidden Gems From Bordeaux 2010 | |||||
| CHATEAU | APPELLATION | WINE SPECTATOR BARREL SCORE | ESTIMATED RETAIL PRICE | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Château Gloria | St.-Julien - 2010 | 92-95 | $46.00 | ||
| Château Fleur Cardinale | St.-Emilion - 2010 | 91-94 | $45.00 | ||
| Château Pibran | Pauillac - 2010 | 91-94 | $40.00 | ||
| Château Bellefont-Belcier | St.-Emilion - 2010 | 90-93 | $40.00 | ||
| Château Lilian Ladouys | St.-Estèphe - 2010 | 90-93 | $22.00 | ||
| Château Pédesclaux | Pauillac - 2010 | 90-93 | $35.00 | ||
| Château Le Thil | Pessac-Léognan Comte Clary - 2010 | 90-93 | $18.00 | ||
| Château Féret-Lambert | Bordeaux Supérieur - 2010 | 89-92 | $15.00 | ||
| Château Jean Faux | Bordeaux Supérieur - 2010 | 89-92 | $25.00 | ||
| Château Rollan de By | Médoc - 2010 | 89-92 | $22.00 | ||
•Southern California-based Spectrum Wine Auctions is set to hold its largest sale ever on June 25 and 26 in Hong Kong. The auction will feature 2,300 lots of rare wines, including 152 lots of Chateau Lafite Rothschild ($22,500), six magnums of Chateau Latour 1961 ($40,000) and five bottles of Henri Jayer Richebourg 1978 ($55,000), among others. Collectively, the auction’s lots are worth an estimated $7 million. Concurrent with the live Hong Kong auction, Spectrum will also be holding its Summer 2011 Internet Auction—featuring 2,230 lots worth roughly $750,000—through June 30.
•Rémy Cointreau has reorganized its global travel retail team, promoting Matthew Hodges to global marketing and business development director, based in Singapore. Prior to Hodges’s appointment, marketing manager Laurent Cosson had held the director role temporarily for the last two years. Former Guinness sales exec Simon Roffe, meanwhile, has taken on Hodges’s former role as travel retail director for the EMEA region, based in Paris. Both Hodges and Roffe will report directly to Rémy travel retail managing director Peter Sant. Roffe will begin his new role immediately, while Hodges’s position is effective August 1.
•Bacardi USA is relaunching Hatuey Cuban Style Ale with a newly crafted, smaller batch version made in the U.S. Entering the South Florida on-premise (through distributor Eagle Brands Sales) this summer, the reformulated Hatuey is being produced using micro-brew techniques yielding less than 800 cases per batch. First produced in Cuba in 1929, the original Hatuey rose to become Cuba’s leading beer brand by the late 1950s, reaching 12 million cases in 1959, according to Bacardi.
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