Home » Archive by category 'Bordeaux Wine'
Bordeaux Wine
Bordeaux wine lovers may credit the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris and Emperor Napoleon III's "Official Classification" with putting Bordeaux wine on the map. But, it turns out that his grandmother the Empress Josephine, first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte may have ignited French passion for the wine.
Prior to Josephine raising the status of Bordeaux to an elixer fit for nobility, it was seen as an inferior product suitable only for the English who had been stubborn lovers of claret, or red Bordeaux wine, for four centuries. At the time of the French Revolution, Burgundy and Champagne reigned supreme, in fact, not a single bottle of Bordeaux is known to have been kept in the
wine cellars of King Louis XVI.
Empress Josephine's Wine Cellar Continued
TagsBordeaux, Bordeaux Wine, Burgundy, Cape Town, celebrated hostess, Champagne, Château Laville Haut-Brion, Chateaux de Malmaison, Cyprus, Emperor Napoleon III, Empress Josephine, exposition universelle de paris, France, French Revolution, french wine, Germany, great drinker, Greece, Hungary, Italy, king louis xvi, Margaux, Martinique, medoc wine, Napoleon Bonaparte, Paris, Portugal, premiers cru, red bordeaux wine, saint helena, social historians, South Africa, south african wines, South Atlantic island, Spain, sweet wines, Wine Cellar, wine cellars, wine lovers
Posted in Bordeaux Wine, Champagne, Wine Cellar
I don't know if they still do, but at one time the Chinese called America
Gum Shan, the mountain of gold, a symbol of opportunity and the chance to get rich. Today, the Chinese have found another symbol of opportunity whose very name beckons the ambitious. In French Lafite means small hill, in Chinese it is very similar to the word
lai-fat or "come get rich."
It is this association with wealth and opportunity that has made Chateau Lafite-Rothschild and it's
second wine Carruades de Lafite the currency of choice for negotiating Chinese business deals. Which bottle you get depends on who you are and what is "requested". In China, anything with Lafite in the name sells be it Bordeaux or Burgundy. As such, both wines are becoming literal mountains of gold for owners of bordeaux futures.
Chateau Lafite-Rothschild and Bordeaux Futures Continued
Tagsasian wine market, bordeaux futures, Bordeaux Index, Bordeaux Wine, Carruades de Lafite, Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, economic crisis, Gary Boom, Liv-Ex 100, Robert Parker, wine price, wine sales
Posted in Bordeaux Wine, Economic Crisis, Wine Price and Sales
Chateau D'Arche, a Grand Cru Classe producer of Sauternes (dessert or sweet wine of Bordeaux) has started bottling its La Perle d'Arche wine in 100ml test-tube shaped bottles aimed at young drinkers in nightclubs. On the whole this seems to be a good idea since Sauternes is not well known outside the wine community, not to mention that french wine sales are on the decline so they've got to do something to shake things up.
But what's troubling is their marketing, once again targeting women. Managing director Jerome Cosson told decanter.com:
Sauternes Targets Nightclubs and Women Continued
TagsBordeaux Wine, calories in wine, Chateau D'Arche, dessert wine, French Wine Research Center, low calorie wine, sauternes, So Light, sweet wine, women
Posted in Bordeaux Wine
 |
A San Francisco cooperative is selling futures in a new wine called "Bailout," inspired by the economic crisis. Crushpad, a custom crush facility, will sell the Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon at $39 per bottle. But there's a twist, for every 100-point drop in the Dow Jones from the date of purchase to the projected bottling date of 14 August 2009, the final price will be discounted $2 per bottle. If the Dow is higher on the bottling date, the price is still $39 a bottle, making Bailout futures a minor hedge on the economy. Only 500 cases will be produced. Crushpad is doing this for fun and exposure, but it may be instructive for high-end Bordeaux winemakers who refuse to lower their exorbitant 2008 futures prices given the current environment. According to those in the wine trade, Bordeaux must lower it's prices by 50% or the 2008 en primeur campaign could be a disaster. Crushpad is an urban winemaking facility that enables budding entrepreneurs to make their own wine with the expert help of the staff.
TagsBailout wine, bordeaux futures, Bordeaux Wine, Cabernet Sauvignon, Crushpad, Dow Jones, economic crisis, en primeur, Napa Valley, wine price, wine sales
Posted in Bordeaux Wine, Economic Crisis, Wine Price and Sales
Reviews of the just-bottled 2005 Bordeaux are coming in. This much vaunted vintage has everybody in the wine trade drooling. But to their chagrin, the less prestigious, lower-priced wines are getting all the praise. Influencial wine critic Robert Parker called wine from the famous chateaux "museum pieces" because their prices are so astonishingly high. And in what many consider a political statement, he gave out only two perfect scores (100 points), none of them to Medoc 1st growths. Just two points, (i.e. the difference between 98 and 100) can double the price of the wine, these developments may cost the wine trade hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales. Similarly at Decanter Magazine's tasting of 2005 Medoc wines, 25 were awarded 5-star status, only two were 1st growths. The star of the show was 5th growth Chateau Pedesclaux. Is this the shape of things to come?
Click here for more information about
Bordeaux wine appellations and classed growth system.
Tagsbordeaux 2005, Bordeaux appellations, Bordeaux Wine, Classed Growth System, haut medoc, medoc wine, Robert Parker, wine price, wine sales
Posted in Bordeaux Wine, Robert Parker, Wine Price and Sales
There was a time when excess Champagne was dumped into French rivers. As a matter of fact, wine-growers from Bordeaux and Burgundy used to say that the reason Champagne had bubbles was because the wine was no good. This may have been true at one time, but today, Champagne sales are experiencing significant growth. Recent figures show that worldwide sales hit a record high in 2007 with 338.7 million bottles sold, up 5.3 percent. Demand is outstripping supply to the point that 40 new towns will be added to Champagne's AOC (Appellation d'Origine Controlee) in an effort to keep up with the world's thirst for the legendary tipple. Sales of Bordeaux on the other hand are hampered by overproduction, overpricing and what's anticipated to be a disappointing 2007 vintage.
Tags2007 vintage, Bordeaux Wine, Champagne, Champagne AOC, Champagne Appellation, wine price, wine sales
Posted in Bordeaux Wine, Champagne, Wine Price and Sales
The recent Climate Change and Wine conference in Barcelona helped to shine a light on the effects of global warming on the world wine map. For example, traditional wine-growing regions like Bordeaux may soon be too warm to grow Cabernet Sauvignon, the mainstay of the Medoc. However, in what may turn out to be another case of French winegrowers with rose-colored glasses, many feel this warming trend presents an opportunity. According to Bruno Prats, former owner of Cos d'Estournel a 2nd growth chateau, the last 10 vintages have been the best ever. One of the advantages of warmer weather is higher sugar levels in the grapes and thus no need to chaptalize (add sugar to) the wine. However, this assumes that climate conditions will stay the same. Hopefully, the French don't mind producing California wine in Bordeaux.
Click here for more information on the
effects of global warming on the wine industry.
TagsBordeaux Wine, brix, Bruno Prats, Cabernet Sauvignon, chaptalization, Climate Change and Wine conference, Cos d'Estournel, global warming
Posted in Bordeaux Wine
For the wine investor, absolutely! But for the wine drinker, it's much more complicated. Hugh Johnson (the world’s best-selling wine writer) declares in his 2008
Pocket Wine Book that, "Vintages used to be really crucial but the difference now is not so much in quality as reputation, because the most famous ones are traded up to ridiculous prices. The reasons people buy a particular wine are complex but have a lot to do with snobbism.
"If you sold a nonvintage bordeaux nobody would buy it. It would be just as good, but it would not have the romance and the interest.”
More Info on Bordeaux Wine Vintages and Their Effect on Pricing
TagsBordeaux Wine, hugh johnson, wine price, wine sales, wine vintage
Posted in Bordeaux Wine, Wine Price and Sales
