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Reader Stephanie Madsen writes:
I strongly disagree with your
comment on pricey Bordeaux wines.
For everyday use I buy Chateau Mayne Guyon 2003 Premieres Cotes de Blaye Bordeaux, which received the bronze prize at the general agricultural contest in Paris in 2005. You can find it at Trader Joe’s (a California retail chain) for $7.50 including tax. It is a great deal.
I had a fancy dinner last Saturday night at my place and opened a grand
clu classe Chateau Prieure Lichine 1998, Bordeaux again. This wine is exceptional and I bought it for just $25.
Dear Stephanie:
Indeed, you are correct. There are some very fine value-priced Bordeaux available in the U.S. market despite the overall upward spiral in Bordeaux pricing and the weak U.S. dollar.
My beef with Bordeaux pricing is directed more at the Bordeaux collectibles. These are wines that are prized by wine collectors, in particular Bordeaux aficionados, because of their reputation for longevity, their overall cachet, and the likelihood they will appreciate in value over time.
As a collector myself, I used to purchase a case each of the first growths (Chateau Lafite, Mouton, Margaux, Latour and Haut-Brion) each vintage. I also dabbled seriously in a number of other top chateaux – Palmer, Leoville Las Cases, La Mission Haut-Brion, Cheval Blanc, etc.
These wines, some of which sell for upwards of $400 per bottle upon release, are no longer within reach of most ordinary wine enthusiasts, myself included. Except as a rare treat. I still love Bordeaux. I still drink Bordeaux. But I can no longer stock my cellar with great chateaux, even from so-called off vintages, the way I once did.
That is my lament.
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