Bordeaux: not what you think?

[AlexR]

Bordeaux: what’s in a name?

This may seem like a rather odd question to ask in a blog about Bordeaux wine. And yet, there is enormous misunderstanding about just what the word actually means…
For a start, Bordeaux is not a little wine town with a famous name like, let’s say, Gevrey-Chambertin or Châteaneuf-du-Pape. It is France’s fifth largest city, a port on the Garonne river with a population of 250,000 and three times that in the metropolitan area.
So, Bordeaux is a major city and also the center of a centuries-old wine trade.

For the French, Bordeaux is also a color. Larousse describes it as rouge violacé, or purplish-red, although I don’t think that is the best description. I’d plump for maroon... And isn’t it odd that we say “Burgundy” in English for wine-colored (even though there is a slightly different nuance)?

And then, of course, there’s the wine. Thanks to this wine, Bordeaux is the most well-known French city after Paris. The vineyards cover about 115,000 hectares and produce anywhere from 400 million to 800 million bottles of wine a year, depending on the vintage. There are 57 appellations and, according to a conservative estimate, some 6,000 châteaux. This is where the problem arises.

What problem? On certain export markets, especially the English-speaking countries, consumers are only aware of the top wines, meaning essentially the classified growths. When many English and American wine enthusiasts say "Bordeaux", as often as not what they really mean to say is "great growth" – when those wines account for just 5% of total production! This makes generalizations about Bordeaux frustrating and seriously off the mark.
Bordeaux went through a bad patch starting with the 2005 vintage when the great wines – the tip of the iceberg – increased their prices significantly. The Bordelais were accused of being greedy bastards and it was endlessly predicted that “the bubble would burst”. Which it never did. The irony here is that even though the overwhelming majority of Bordeaux estates did not increase their prices unconscionably, that did not prevent them from being stigmatized and erroneously lumped in with the 5% that did…

Why are the affordable, fruity, early-maturing wines of Bordeaux so little-known on certain markets, especially the US, where Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are such popular grape varieties? The answer is complex, and there is plenty of blame to share around… It must be admitted, for a start, that with so many estates there are bound to be hits and misses. It cannot be denied that there are thin, weedy wines at the lower end of the price range. However, there are also many beauties that can hold their head high compared with wines from anywhere else in the world in terms of value for money.

The wine distribution system obviously has its failings too. The weaknesses are on both the Bordeaux end (lack of investments in marketing, promotion, and sales trips) and the importing end. It is maddening that the same journalists who are tickled pink to discover a little gem of a wine from the Luberon or the Jura never seem to make the effort to ferret out such wines in Bordeaux – where there is plenty of scope! One of the reasons for this is that Bordeaux is so big, when wine merchants and critics can devote only so much time to one region... Most of them try to make it to the en primeur tastings in the spring. But, I can tell you from experience that even if you do nothing but taste for a full week you will only have scratched the surface. The sheer size and variety of Bordeaux are impressive, in fact overwhelming. So what do most professionals do? Focus on the great growths…

This equation – Bordeaux = great growths – is particularly prevalent in America. It stems from a time when the crus classes where much more affordable. One also needs to factor in the classification system that categorizes wines into neat slots. Once upon a time, if you more or less memorized the classifications, you were pretty much on your way to understanding Bordeaux. Or rather 5% of Bordeaux…
Of course, the advent of Robert Parker changed all that. He upset the apple cart and (to begin with in any event) noted wines without a pious regard for their hierarchical standing. While the number of non-classified wines Parker reviewed was greater than his predecessors, the choice of wines he chose to review were still very heavily lopsided.

This situation reminds me of two other regions. New Zealand is identified with Sauvignon Blanc and Argentina with Malbec. Since world demand associates each country with that one type of wine, it is not easy to step outside of that paradigm. In the case of New Zealand, Sauvignon Blanc is by far the leading grape variety (although Pinot Noir may have made some headway in recent years, it still accounts for just a quarter of Sauvignon Blanc, whose area under vine has grown more than fourfold since 2003, compared with Pinot Noir’s doubling). Malbec’s paramount position in Argentina is a similar story. So, a wine’s reputation is often a question of well-established commercial niches, which are paradoxically both an advantage and a disadvantage. Bordeaux’s image is decidedly double-edged. In some rich countries, it is perceived much more as wine with a grand château on the label to be ceremoniously decanted after long ageing and consumed at a formal candlelight dinner than a fresh, fruity, uncomplicated, affordable wine to have with a sandwich or a steak… And yet, believe me, there are many fine examples in the latter category!

France drinks more Bordeaux than any other country. The French, the Belgians, the Germans, and the Dutch are huge consumers of Bordeaux selling in the 5-15 euro range. China, Bordeaux’s largest export customer, also brings in container-loads of these wines. But they are little-known in my native country, the USA. Bordeaux needs a super-hero to fix this!

Meanwhile, please let us be careful about making any sweeping statements or generalizations about Bordeaux... The wines from a classified growth in the Médoc, a producer in the Côtes de Blaye, a petit château making white wine in the Entre-Deux-Mers, and an estate in Sauternes all represent very different realities, as well as different products at different price points…

When my friends and fellow wine lovers bitch about price increases for the great growths, I’m on the same wavelength. The sticker shock can be alarming. But when people start to extrapolate from this, and badmouth “Bordeaux”, they have lost sight of the very meaning of the word. And, without being a superhero, I come swooping down to the region’s defens;-).

Let us treat Bordeaux as a complex reality.

Amen,
Alex R.

[Racer Chris]

Good article Alex!

I'm doing my part to change things. There's 23 cases of Bordeaux in my cellar, all under $30, and all less than 10 years old and (for the most part) ready to drink.
I like a wide variety of inexpensive wines representing chateaux from The Medoc to Castillon.
While I generally prefer majority Cabernet left bankers in the 12.5-13.5 range, one of my favorites is a very fruity 14.5% alc. St. Emilion.

[AlexR]

Wonderful .

AR

[DavidG]

A lot of truth in there Alex. You have a difficult task in combating a well-entrenched mindset about Bordeaux. While I agree with what you wrote, there are many more people like me who celebrate the great growths than there are like Chris who look to Bordeaux for value wines. I had a mental image of you as Don Quixote as I was reading. Then I read this:

Bordeaux needs a super-hero to fix this!

and the image immediately shifted to one of you in a cape and tights with a triangular medallion on your chest and a large letter "B." Standing for Truth, Justice, and the Lesser Growths of Bordeaux!

From a practical perspective, what can the non-classed producers do to promote their wines? Do they have a separate trade association? How can they get traction when all the noise is about the big boys?

[AlexR]

David,

I thought my fancy tights would remain my dirty little secret, but no such luck...

As to the other point your raised, I believe what Bordeaux needs is more of the kind of specialized brokers/négociants you find in Burgundy who have a smallish porfolio of hand-picked producers who can be relied on to make good wine year after year. People who can break away from the current mind set that a Graves rouge or a Côtes de Bourg should sell with a fairly narrow price bracket at a more-or-less commodity price.
The big négociants sell across all categories of Bordeaux, but their ranges of petits châteaux are often more reliable than exciting.

AR

[AKR]

Great article AlexR

The California merchant K&L has a pretty astonishing spectrum on Bordeaux at all price points, but the real differentiator is their sub $30 spectrum.

Here is what they have in stock (not prearrival) in the $10-$25 zone

https://www.klwines.com/Products/r?s=Sy ... yCount=100

Anyone can forward an the template email for Latour's late releases at $700/per.

But its a lot harder to win biz one bottle at a time, where the consumer has to taste the stuff, and if they're disappointed, the trust is lost and a stores recommendations will fall on deaf ears.

If people can get wines shipped, and they're willing to experiment, it's worth the effort.

[danzur]

K&L, and shipping...I have 4 cases of Bordeaux purchased from them over the last few months that I have asked them to ship to me here in Colorado. They have been shipping to me for years. FedEx, UPS etc. are no longer options for them, so they are using another, unproven route. They are hopeful the wines will be to me in 2-3 weeks, I am hopeful too. I need to see how this is going to work before ordering more from them. This is pretty disappointing as they have been a great source for me over the years.

[AKR]

Yes that is why I qualified the whole shipping thing. I'm in CA and have drastically curtailed my purchases out of state because I don't want to risk my chattels getting trapped in other locales.

It's strange, normally the law eventually bends to the arc of what social norms and conventions are. Nowadays, people expect everything to be delivered to their doorstep, and alcohol, in many states isn't really sold that differently than how it was in 1975. And yet somehow, we are regressing on this issue, despite SCOTUS ruling on the Granholm case.

[AlexR]

Arv,

Thanks for sending that link.

I am truly impressed with the range as well as the prices. Hell, they're not much more than in the region of production, 6,000 miles away! First thing that caught my eye was 2014 Réserve de Malartic for 20 dollars. I don't know that particular wine, but I know the estate and, as you can see, leading critics scores are pretty good.

I'll provoke you here: is there any California wine that can challenge this at 20 bucks a bottle ?

All the best,
Alex

[JCNorthway]

Living in Chicago, I could at least find a few quality inexpensive Bordeaux wines. Having recently moved to Detroit, I've not had much luck in this category yet. I found one shop where the owner stocks a lot of wines from all over the world at the $15-30 price point. And I have found a couple of Bordeaux wines there (with pretty limited supply). However, they both are very high in Merlot content, and I would prefer bottlings with a bit more Cab in the blend.

My wine buying has been seriously affected with the changes in cross-state shipping the past few years. K&L used to be one of the places I bought fairly regularly.

[AKR]

Arv,

Thanks for sending that link.

I am truly impressed with the range as well as the prices. Hell, they're not much more than in the region of production, 6,000 miles away! First thing that caught my eye was 2014 Réserve de Malartic for 20 dollars. I don't know that particular wine, but I know the estate and, as you can see, leading critics scores are pretty good.

I'll provoke you here: is there any California wine that can challenge this at 20 bucks a bottle ?

All the best,
Alex

Well to be fair, those prices do not include the brutal sales taxes we suffer under here.

When it comes to CA wines, there is some structural advantage to locals here, so there is the potential to get better deals than what is available nationally.

But not all producers are willing to do that and want to keep prices sort of similar nationally for their mega production wines.

I would say in 75% of vintages, it's pretty safe to buy the supermarket Mondavi Napa CS bottling, Beringers Knights Valley CS bottling, or Louis Martinis Sonoma CS Bottling.

They're basically all $20ish or less. They can age a little too. I'm skeptical of CA merlot, unless one pays up, and then it simply makes more sense to drink St Emilion.

BV's Rutherford CS bottling has now recovered too and may be in that group more consistently going forward.

If one can live without a big brand, and is willing to hunt around / buy direct, there is a CA negociant -- Cameron Hughes -- who has popularly styled, and fairly priced, wines across many varietals.

It's probably just easier to buy his stuff directly, but unfortunately, he's a UPS shipper only, which is hard for me.

[Racer Chris]

I'm fortunate to have a few decent wine shops nearby which carry limited assortments but different from each other to a large extent. Total Wine is also within 5 miles of my work and they have a full aisle devoted to affordable Bordeaux.
I've been getting cases shipped to me from shops in NY and NJ to expand my choices. (Hopefully the interstate shipping issues get resolved in favor of the consumer soon.)
When I find something I like I go back for more.

Here's the list of sub $30 Bordeaux currently in my cellar:
Quantity Vintage Wine Appellation
25 2012 Château D'Arvigny Haut-Médoc
21 2010 Château du Moulin Noir Montagne-St. Émilion
17 2010 Château Larose-Trintaudon Haut-Médoc
16 2011 Clos de la Vieille Église Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux
13 2009 Château La Cardonne Médoc
12 2011 Château D'Arvigny Haut-Médoc
12 2011 Château Greysac Médoc
11 2009 Château Lalande St. Julien
11 2011 Château Larose-Trintaudon Haut-Médoc
10 2014 Château Marsac Séguineau Margaux
10 2014 Château Pierre de Montignac Médoc
9 2010 Château La Cardonne Médoc
9 2012 Château Pierre de Montignac Médoc
9 2011 Les Vieilles Pierres Lussac-St. Émilion
9 2014 Château du Retout Haut-Médoc
9 2014 Château Lilian Ladouys St. Estèphe
8 2010 Château Pierre de Montignac Médoc
8 2009 Château Larose-Trintaudon Haut-Médoc
8 2012 Château de la Huste Fronsac
7 2011 Château Guillou Montagne-St. Émilion
7 2010 Château Lilian Ladouys St. Estèphe
6 2009 Château Marsac Séguineau Margaux
6 2010 Les Vieilles Pierres Lussac-St. Émilion
6 2010 Château Lanessan Haut-Médoc
6 2010 Château Sénéjac Haut-Médoc
6 2010 Château Marsac Séguineau Margaux
6 2012 Les Vieilles Pierres Lussac-St. Émilion
5 2012 Château Haut-Bergey Pessac-Léognan
5 2014 Château Sénéjac Haut-Médoc
5 2014 Château La Tonnelle Haut-Médoc Haut-Médoc
4 2010 Château la Matheline Bordeaux Supérieur
3 2014 Château D'Hanteillan Haut-Médoc
3 2014 Château l'Oiseau Vieilles Vignes Bordeaux Supérieur
2 2008 Château Sénéjac Haut-Médoc
2 2007 Château Larose-Trintaudon Haut-Médoc
2 2014 Château Bois Redon Bordeaux Supérieur
2 2012 Château de Chantegrive Graves Graves
2 2011 Château La Tour de Bessan Margaux
2 2012 Château Greysac Médoc
2 2011 Les Hauts de Larrivet Haut-Brion Pessac-Léognan
2 2012 Château Sénéjac Haut-Médoc
2 2010 Château Potensac Médoc
2 2009 Château Meyre Haut-Médoc
2 2012 Château Smith Haut Lafitte Le Petit Pessac-Léognan
2 2010 Les Parcelles de Stéphane Derenoncourt Haut-Médoc Haut-Médoc
2 2010 Château Latour-Laguens Bordeaux Supérieur
1 2012 Château Garraud Lalande de Pomerol
1 2010 Château Paloumey Haut-Médoc
1 2010 Château Côte Montpezat Cuvée Compostelle Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux
1 2014 Château La Tour de Bessan Margaux
1 2009 Château d'Agassac Haut-Médoc
1 2007 Château Fombrauge St. Émilion Grand Cru
1 2012 Château Potensac Médoc
1 2011 Château Potensac Médoc
1 2011 Château Moya Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux
1 2006 Château Garraud Lalande de Pomerol
1 2014 Château Bellegrave Médoc Médoc
1 2011 Château Lalande-Borie St. Julien
1 2014 La Dame de Montrose St. Estèphe

[Antoine]

Alex,
You are the Super Hero,
It seems part of the problem is distribution?
Other part is small chateaux are seen as inferior growth and people are reluctant to go for inferior. .. which is a bit unfair as they are not inferior when young...they just need less time to mature...

[Racer Chris]

Other part is small chateaux are seen as inferior growth and people are reluctant to go for inferior. ..

I see plenty of classified growth bottles scored between 87-90 points, whether young or with 20+ years of age.
But it's not hard to find Cru Bourgeois and even Bordeaux Superieur wines that are worthy of 87-90 point scores.
However, finding low end Bordeaux that deserves higher than 90 points is not so common.

[Racer Chris]

I heard on NPR last night that China now buys 80 million bottles of Bordeaux a year,
but the Bordelaise are worried that China will soon produce plenty of their own "bordeaux" and no longer need to buy from France.