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To lay-away or buy and drink now

© Michael Vaughan 2003
National Post Weekly Wine & Spirits Columnist
 Saturday, March 29, 2003

I am watching Faking It on The Life Channel, in which a devoted beer drinker and wine know-nothing has to be transformed into a sommelier who can serve fine wines to sophisticated patrons. He has trouble understanding all the fuss about wine, especially the semantics and the prices. "How could something made from grapes smell like grass, lemons or peaches?" he wonders. And what about prices, could a single bottle of Bordeaux be worth ten cases of beer? Finally, is older better?

Wine fans are quick to answer yes, yes and yes to all three questions. And yet when it comes to prices and age I am not so sure. My professional guess is that perhaps one-third of all expensive wines are not worth their price. This wouldn't have been the case four decades ago when there were very few dedicated wine lovers. Today, the ranks have swollen with moneyed neophytes and the impact on prices has been dramatic.

In the 1960’s, the best bottle of Bordeaux would cost just over three times the price of the worst. My 1962 Chateau Latour, for instance, was a mere $6.80 a bottle when freshly purchased at the SAQ. Today, that ratio would be at least 30 fold. And that, of course, is for brand-new Bordeaux. My 41-year-old Latour might fetch 200 times its original price.

While prices are set by demand and supply, the law of diminishing returns tells us that the fine wine will not taste 30 times better than the ordinary. And it gets worse. Fine wines are usually not very tasty in their youth and require costly proper aging. There is, of course, the final risk that the wine may not evolve as anticipated.

Knowing when to drink your treasurers is extremely problematic. Also keep in mind that while these older wines have characteristics that make experienced fans jump for joy, they may be repugnant to others. All of this came home to me while addressing a fund-raising tasting of highly sought-after 1982 Bordeaux last year. To put it gently, by the time I got to sip the prepoured glasses, there was nothing to sing about. They tasted tired, even for a guy who likes mature reds. The fruit was dull and flavours oxidized.

The problem with these '82s could have been bad shipping conditions, poor storage and/or just a case of bad luck. Most devastating was letting mature wines sit in a glass breathing itself to death for almost an hour. There are still great 1982s out there.

By contrast, this year’s fund-raising focused on the initially less esteemed, but sturdier, 1983s. Well, what a difference. These '83 Bordeaux were the antithesis of last year's offerings - solid, still quite alive, packed with fruit and very delicious. And so they should be with sky-high prices.

The question that one must ask is whether it is worth getting into the fine wine buying-laying away game at today’s prices. While it is tempting to sock away a few bottles from say the highly esteemed 2000, which is reputed to be sublime, there are many pitfalls to keep in mind.

From recent tastings, let me recommend a gem from last week's Vintages release: 2000 Château Cambon La Pelouse at $26.45 hails from the Haut-Médoc. It is well-structured and yet harmonious, with slightly spicy, chocolate-tinged, ripe-plum purée flavours. Good today, tomorrow and probably for a few more years.

Unfortunately, most of the Vintages 2000 releases to date have been lackluster. From the new arrivals, check out the chunky, chocolaty 2000 Château Lynch-Moussas, a surprisingly earthy Pauillac at $49.95 (April 5). Or the rich, earthy, smoky, ripe plum and lime-tinged 2000 Château Clarke ($42.85) from Medoc's Listrac region (April 19), which may well be their best to date. Unfortunately, both will require some additional aging (3 to 6 years).

Ironically, there are always tasty, accessible, reasonably priced Bordeaux appearing on the market. I remember the irreverent words of Kit Stevens, an English Master of Wine, who would mutter in a very low voice, "When the bride is beautiful why wait years to taste her?" Why indeed?

Which brings me to the one of best buy Bordeaux in years. It doesn’t hail from a collector’s vintage, but the challenging 1999, which the Wine Spectator awards 83 points suggesting that you “stick to top estates; rest mediocre.” Don’t miss the wonderfully accessible 1999 Chateau Loudenne, a $27.95 (or $14.95 per half-bottle) Medoc Cru Bourgeois, which at gets my 100 point score in terms of value. This deep, intense, purple coloured beauty has a complex, rather earthy, smoldering fire, chocolaty, stewed plum nose. On the palate, look for bright, medium full bodied, dusty chocolate, dried ripe plum flavours with lingering lime leaf and sandalwood notes.

Coming up this week: On Tuesday at Roy Thomson Hall, the annual German wine fair with 108 entries. Call 905-815-1581. On Thursday, there's a terrific afternoon Chilean wine trade fair (96 wines from 17 wineries are listed on my web site) at the Park Hyatt Hotel. Contact Lindsay Williams at 416-591-7783 ext. 109.

 

Vintages April 2003 Release
To see the complete list of upcoming products click here
(sorted by date of release). It includes the number of cases, which wines were presented by the LCBO, our agent ID for every product, as well as, special unannounced In Store Discoveries” for April.
You can also see it sorted by agent
click here  

 

Check out the
April 2003 InStore Discovery


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Copyright Food & Beverage Testing Institute of Canada 2004
Prior written permission is required for any form of reproduction
 (electronic or other wise) and or quotation.
Contact Michael Vaughan at
mbv@total.net