Record exports for Bordeaux wine in 2011

[AlexR]

http://www.leparisien.fr/bordeaux-33000 ... 760005.php

Now, I know there's going to be a little whinging here... And I think it's deserved for the great growths (reality check: 5% of production!).

But, heck, *someone* is buying the stuff, even if it isn't you or me...

UK is number four market, US number 5.

China is number one by a huge margin for both value and volume.

Best regards,
Alex R.

[tim]

A friend of mine was just in China, in a small village where wine had been non-existent, and he found shelves of Bordeaux wine selling there, generic stuff (i.e. no appellation even listed), for $40 a bottle. And people were buying it.

[JonB]

Yes, they are buying Bordeaux in more ways than one....from Wine Spectator:

• The Chinese spending spree in Bordeaux real estate continues at a brisk pace, with more than a dozen châteaus either recently acquired or in the final stages of closing. On Nov. 30, movie star Zhao Wei and her real-estate magnate husband, Huang You Long, purchased the 17-acre St.-Emilion grand cru Château Monlot for around $5.4 million. According to the former owner, Bernard Rivals, the glamorous couple is passionate about wine. “They fell in love with the estate,” he said. Rivals will stay on for two years to help them learn about running a Bordeaux château. Other transactions are less transparent, but word has leaked out that the elusive tycoon behind the Haichang Group, Qu Naijie, is in the process of closing on four châteaus—Château Branda, Château de Grand Branet, Château Laurette and Château Thebot. That makes five total for the Dalian-based oil baron, real-estate developer and amusement park owner. Qu purchased Château Chenu Lafitte, located in Bourg, for $4.3 million in 2010. The current acquisitions follow the same pattern begun with earlier Chinese investments: low-key appellations, lovely historical buildings, relatively unknown labels. Luxury real-estate broker Eric Groux, who handled the Monlot deal, said his Chinese clients want castles with vineyards, preferably in Bordeaux. “They can buy a Bordeaux château for the price of a Paris apartment.”

[JimHow]

I fear for us. I fear for us all....

[Ramon_NYC]

I may have posted this story here befre but in any case,late last year, an acquaintance of mine shunned a lucrative partnership offer in a mid-size financial-tech consultancy based in North America and decided to open a couple of wine stores in some far-flung province in China. He has no knowledge of Bordeaux wines, but he travelled to Bordeaux last year, only went to the Right Bank area, and prior to that he even asked me for names of good Bordeaux chateaux, and then he emailed me with about 14 names of chateaux that would probably be familiar with AlexR in this forum and which he wil be bringing in to his store. No Angelus, Cheval Blanc, Petrus, the Clinets ... etc.

Last I heard, he's very happy and very comfortable with his decision.

A possible (but unlikely) silver lining for some of us here, Bordeaux may actually become passe over there. I'm hearing Burgundy would be the next one that's going to be bought with impunity and at all costs!!!

[Bacchus]

A column in this months Decanter states that Lafite and other fine french wines are no longer selling as enthusiastically in China/Hong Kong as was the case last year. Apparently, at some large auction more than 50 lots of Bdx, including lots of Lafite, went unsold. The mag spoke, almost with glee, of the popping of the Lafite bubble.

[AlexR]

Ramon,

You wrote:
>>>"I'm hearing Burgundy would be the next one that's going to be bought with impunity and at all costs!!!"

The Chinese cannot make much of a dent because there isn't much to make a dent in!
Why, there are great growths in the Médoc that are larger than entire appellations in the Côte d'Or!

I'm going back to Côte Rôtie next month for the Marché aux Vins in Ampuis.
I love those wines, that now seem like tremendous value for money compared to top-flight Bordeaux and Burgundy - to which, they are pretty much equals.
Well, the Côte Rôtie appellation has 119 hectares of vines (Ch. Larose-Trintaudon has 142...).
Hermitage is barely any bigger.

Even if the Americans in the past had, or the Chinese today have the means to buy up the entire production several times over, this will never be the case.

Burgundy (or C.R.) doesn't have the production but, more importantly, the brand recognition of Bordeaux. A Latricières-Chambertin from a small producer (however stellar) cannot achieve "household name" status like "Château Margaux".
Not to mention the fact that the former is produced in absolutely miniscule quantitites.
So, I am sceptical about the Chinese ever getting into Burgundy the way they have got into Bordeaux.
The most important reason is that the stuff is devilishly hard to buy.
Even Lafite, which has gone sky high, can still be *found* because the château produces over 55,000 cases a year.
La Tâche has an annual production of barely... 1 700 cases.
Even if the Chinese came in "in a big way" the amount would still be very small. And no one would let them corner the market.

Best regards,
Alex R.

[stefan]

Alex, for Lafite itself the production is generally under 20K cases.

Retail prices for Lafite have also gone down. PC is selling the 2002 for "only" $800 and the 1995 for $900. They recently sold both the !998 and 1999 for $900.

[AlexR]

Stefan

I looked this up before posting.
Bordeaux and its Wines (Cocks and Feret) says that Lafite has 100 hectares of vines and an annual production of 556 tonneaux.
Seeing as a tonneau = 900 liters, or 100 cases of twelve 75 cl. bottles, that makes 55,600 cases.
Does that include the 2nd wine? Maybe so. Still, I wonder what the proportion is. I'll ask.
Anyway, as we all know, Les Carruades has become ridiculously expensive too, much more than all but the most darling of Burgundy grands crus.

All the best,
Alex