News Category: Exclusive

• To Buy or Not To Buy - That is the Question.

  These are confusing times for wine buyers. Unless you are a super taster, an experienced wine connoisseur or know a trusty local merchant, you are left with the wine critics: A rare breed, gifted with a superhuman sense of smell, a million dollar palate and unending stamina, capable of tasting 100 wines per day and evaluating each one perfectly in just seconds. The mere presence of the wine critic brings on shivering sweats to most wine producers as his/her opinion can make or break a wine’s reputation and dash all hopes of making a profit.

  Posted by Patrice Breton on 2006-11-20 at 02:47

• Seeking alternatives to 2005 Bordeaux?

  Convening with some wine merchants at an enlightening tasting of Michel Chapoutier’s 2005’s last Friday, a wine-trader mentioned how some long-standing clients were finally turning their back on Bordeaux and seeking alternatives, preferably wines that do not entail shelling out £10,000 per case. Musing upon that over the weekend, I speculated upon where I would divert my pennies to?

  Posted by Neal Martin on 2006-10-27 at 11:47

• The Judgment of Sauternes: Bordeaux vs California

  Last September 28, the Grand Jury Européen — a non-profit European Corporation considering itself as an alternative way of classifying the great wines of the world compared to the individual notes of the best critics worldwide — held a wine tasting called "The Judgment of Sauternes" at famous Château Guiraud in Sauternes.

  Posted by Stéphane Hébert on 2006-10-17 at 11:59

• Two Idyllic Weeks in Burgundy

  I have just returned from two idyllic weeks in Burgundy with the family, rather than on business. Sometimes it serves well to step back away from a region whose wines you love and immerse yourself into surrounding countryside, the nooks and crannies you would otherwise have remained ignorant about, the hamlets you would never visit on and ordinary trip when you spend most of the time in dark, dank cellars.

  Posted by Neal Martin on 2006-10-12 at 07:42

• Just how much are collectors willing to pay for fine wine?

  On September 28, a case of 12 bottles of Chateau Mouton-Rothschild 1945 sold at Christie’s in Los Angeles for a record $290,000. A few minutes later, a case of 6 magnums of the same wine sold for $345,000 ($28,750 a bottle!) to the same anonymous bidder. That, folks, is a whopping $175,000 more than the previous record holder, a 6 magnum case of Domaine de La Romanée-Conti Romanée-Conti 1985 sold at Christie’s in New York last March for $170,000.

  Posted by Patrice Breton on 2006-10-04 at 04:29

• Fake Bottles & The Rodenstock Affair

  I have been buying fine wine for the Far East for a number of years. Not just a few cases here and there, but large chunks of chateau’s production and cases of some of the most expensive wines in the world. People talk about the insatiable demand for wine: I have been the conduit through which much has been procured. The one satisfying element is that fact that I can put my hand on my heart and say that nearly every bottle, even the ones closer to five figures than four, has been a transaction based on a love of wine rather than for speculation.

  Posted by Neal Martin on 2006-09-15 at 03:11

• Hedonism vs. Traditionalism

  Oneophiles fall into two camps: those that have a yen for a hedonistic experience and those that prefer their wine to be more understated and refined. It is like examining your friends and dividing those that like to party until the early hours of the morning and those who prefer to stay in with a cup of tea and a game of Scrabble.

  Posted by Neal Martin on 2006-08-29 at 10:08

• How Are the 2005’s Doing?

  Now that the brouhaha over the 2005’s had ebbed away (slightly) perhaps we should step back and look at the wider picture in order to predict future demand for this vintage?

  Posted by Neal Martin on 2006-08-23 at 11:59

• Wine Tasting Etiquette

  Like everyone else, my inaugural wine tasting was a rather intimidating affair. Invited to a merchant’s trade event somewhere in the City of London, my colleague turned tutor guided me through the arcane ritual of tasting wine, which looked easy until I attempted to inhale the wine over my palate.

  Posted by Neal Martin on 2006-08-08 at 10:29

• 2002 to 2004 Bordeaux Perspective

  There is little doubt that future wine-lovers will look back on the first years of the 21st century and see two towering vintages in the form of 2000 and 2005, much like we today see the 1980’s dominated by 1982 and 1986. Such auspicious vintages tend to suck attention away from adjacent growing seasons, deprive them of their fair share of limelight, a propos 1962, 1988 and perhaps the years sandwiched between 2000 and 2005?

  Posted by Neal Martin on 2006-07-31 at 02:02

• Look to 2000 and 2001 Bordeaux for Good Deals

  With Bordeaux 2005’s finally seeing light of day, it makes it an opportune moment to speculate upon its knock-on effect upon other Bordeaux vintages, the ripple-effect that passes backwards through time. Let us examine two vintages that remain fresh in our memories: 2000 and 2001, both viable alternatives to the 2005.

  Posted by Neal Martin on 2006-07-17 at 02:11

• Understanding scoring systems

  If Robert Parker had never applied his now omnipresent 100-point system, would he have achieved his global acclaim, or notoriety depending upon which side of the Atlantic you live on? Imagine a scenario where The Wine Advocate scored wines out of 5-stars like Michael Broadbent, or 20 a la Clive Coates and Jancis Robinson: would that make his publication less attractive as a means of selecting which wines you wish to procure?

  Posted by Neal Martin on 2006-07-06 at 05:48

• Bordeaux 2005 “en primeur” like a record-attempt for the longest strip-tease

  I often think of Bordeaux “en primeur” like a record-attempt for the longest strip-tease. The spotlights switch on, the music revs up, she (or he) waltzes onto the stage and…takes out a book to read. The whistling and shouts of “Get on with it” have little effect and so the audience take out some reading material, say the last issue of the Wine Advocate, with one eye on the stage for signs of any movement.

  Posted by Neal Martin on 2006-05-31 at 05:01

• How En Primeur Defies the Micro-Economic Laws

  I can imagine Maynard Keynes, seated in his study, scratching his head in confusion as he tries to fathom out how en primeur defies the micro-economic laws. In the real world, prices are governed by the intersection of the supply and demand curves, but the en primeur graph often shows a price performing a trick worthy of David Blaine, hovering in mid-air in a world of its own.

  Posted by Neal Martin on 2006-05-24 at 12:00

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