2018 Madness
Dear Friends,
While you are trying to figure out how to remove every last cent from your home's equity in order to fill a truck with 2018 Bordeaux futures (think: 2010 Left Bank meets 1989 Left Bank meets Bolgheri meets Oakville meets INSANE levels of gritty, massive high-octane fruit from thick-skinned, black grapes that are going to make people run for vinous cover), try to stay level-headed as you pour through the gushing accolades - it’s not going to be easy – JS may rate 30-40 wines at 98-100pts and I will be pretty surprised if he does not proclaim the vintage - at least in part - as the greatest modern year since 1961...or at least since 2010
Is it indeed a “great” vintage?
That depends on the style of wine you admire – I generally like my Bordeaux to taste like Bordeaux (with alcohol levels less than 14.0%, but I am in the minority - see: Oakville meets Bolgheri reference above).
What I’m fairly certain of is that 2018 is going to make 2015 seem like a junior varsity vintage – 2018 is so stuffed with tannin and material that is undeniably exciting and “oh just yum!”. The bad news is that the vintage is FAR from uniform. The mildew and losses in the spring made things very tricky and you will have to pick and choose your spots (but they may have to invent a score higher than 100pts for several wines. Seriously? Yup).
...and still...
2016 remains a much better overall vintage of incredible freshness, mystery and heightened classicism but 2018 is going to steal the Oscar spotlight with performances that are so showy, gritty, masculine and higher in alcohol that the judges may be afraid to withhold the trophy for fear of a dark alley backlash. It’s the type of vintage that will bring many nations out of the woodwork and competition for the top wines will be fierce. To make matters worse for the US consumer (as far as possible allocations go), USD/Euro exchange is way down (in your favor) since most of the 2016 futures contracts were due and that means more consumers, retailers, importers and vendors will be in the “game”. In addition, 2018 will have wide appeal to a huge swath of consumers that have grown up on layered and rich Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon or Guado al Tasso but are also curious about Bordeaux (as opposed to a much more difficult to understand year like 2016).
Anyway...
As soon as the 2018 en-premier critical notes are penned, the vintage's madness will spill over to many other areas of France (much of it well-deserved). In other words, if you were hoping for a quiet spring with a peaceful Bordeaux release season, you may want to take a few months off as fisticuffs are going to fly when people miss out on the finest wines. Let’s hope the Bordelaise keep $’s reasonable (I doubt it).
Before the insanity begins, you may want to consider a molten low-alcohol 2018 red from the Loire instead.
Oh yeah, it’s also less than $10.
From an old source we haven’t championed in a while, Domaine du Rin de Bois has bottled a 2018 Touraine Gamay that will make your knees knock together with excited chatter. Examples such as this are almost unfair to other vintages – how can they possibly compete with the levels of bursting black/purple fruit, scads of minerality, fresh acidity and layers upon layers of “oh just yum!” that lull the taster into an incoherent 2018 induced frolic on Aladdin’s magic carpet (see: 2018 Bordeaux as well – be careful if you are attending en-premier, you may have a lot of folks walking around in a stupor of hallucinatory disbelief with black/purple liquid dripping from their mouths).
So...
Get an early peek into the window of 2018 with this firecracker of a red wine for hardly any $!
This parcel is set to depart from Rin du Bois with the finest/freshest original provenance available – it is not a long-term pre-arrival.
ONE SHIPMENT ONLY of 2018.
FIRST COME FIRST SERVED up to 36/person until we run out:
2018 Domaine du Rin du Bois Touraine Gamay 750ml (Loire) - $9.98
To order: click the name of the item above in blue and follow the easy instructions – simply follow the prompts, enter the number of bottles desired and we’ll do the rest. That’s it!
This parcel is set to ship from the Loire - it is not a long-term pre-arrival. All will ship to you during the first available window and/or with your region’s schedule (weather permitting!). Please check your CHOA (Customer Hang Out Area) for local pick up in the spring. Drink: 2019 - 2024+.
