What are some of your favorite 2009 and 2010 Bordeaux that can currently be purchased for around $30 or $40.
Looking for those that are drinking well now, as well as those that may need some time.
My two favorites in this lower price category are:
2010 Ch. Cambon La Pelouse - Structured, serious and under $25.
2009 Ch. Lanessan - Surprisingly crisp and red-fruited for this warm vintage, around $20.
In the under $45 category, and sale price at times at $40 (grabbed some in 2014 at that price), is 2010 Ch. Cantemerle, a classified growth that turned out a major 2010 and a very decent 2009.
I would have suggested Poujeaux as well, but in another thread, there are rumors that this tried and true, traditional estate has gone rogue modern on us. Tends to be around $32.
I’ve not had much 2010, but 2009 is a veritable treasure-trove of <$30 wines (at least when I bought, I haven’t been looking recently)…
The usual suspects:
-Lots of love for the 2009 Lanessan from me and around these parts, which I just reloaded on for $20 from K&L.
-I think the 2009 and 2010 Gloria are Gloria-ous and a step-up from the Glorias of yesteryear (without having gone to the dark side).
-In a more California style (but without much oak), the 2009 La Vieille Cure is very impressive for the $20 it cost me from PC.
-I hear great things about the 2010 Poujeaux for right around $30, but I’ve not tried it and some say its now modern and lost its rustic roots.
-The 2009 Cantemerle and 2009 Chasse Spleen both cost me right around $30.
-The 2010 Tour St Bonnet for $18 is a true winner (but its great in 2000, 2005, and 2009 too).
One caveat: these will wines listed be much better in 5-10 years (or even more for the 2010s), but if you have to open something now, go for the more fruit-forward 2009s.
You beat me to it, Robert!
Oh shoot, I forgot about the 2010 Tour St. Bonnet, amazing wine for the price. Good call on that one! I bought a case after a couple of bottles. Structured to age as well.
Some things that I liked and bought:
2010 Château du Retout Haut-Médoc $21
2010 Château Bernadotte Haut-Médoc $26
2010 Château La Vieille Cure Fronsac $24
2010 Château La Fleur Morange Mathilde St. Émilion $20
2009 Château Tour du Roc Milon Pauillac $30
2009 Château La Croix Lartigue Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux $25
2009 Château Godeau St. Émilion Grand Cru $29
2009 Château d’Angludet Margaux $36
2009 Château Lanessan Haut-Médoc $22
2009 Château Haut-Batailley Pauillac $36
2009 Château Monregard La Croix Pomerol
2009 Château Carbonnieux Pessac-Léognan $38
2009 Château Bernadotte Haut-Médoc $25
2009 Château Caronne Ste. Gemme Haut-Médoc
2009 Château Le Thil Comte Clary Pessac-Léognan $22
2009 ch. lilian loudys. Rocking wine
I was just about to post this, futures were $17 and change, this wine is the real deal, maybe current release is $30.
Great post. I am looking to add more Bordeaux that I can drink for the next 20yrs on a tighter budget.
You might consider the 2010 Chantegrive. I loved their rouge. Runs $240/cs or so.
Thanks for the reminders on Bernadotte, happy memories of their 96 & 00 in large formats. In general if Pichon Lalande made a good wine, they will too.
Senejac is another.
I like Ch Puygueraud too
Lots of great suggestions here. Jeff, I applaud your foresight having bought the Haut-Batailley 09 at $39. An absolutely delicious wine and a preposterous price. It is now at least $60, and even at that is a reasonable value. I wish I had bought at $39 when it was available
Also, I have no particular names to give you yet, but I think it is extremely likely that 2 no-name vintages and a mighty dollar are going to bring some more prestigious classed growths from 12 and 13 into the $30-ish range. They may not make old bones, but I suspect there will be a Domaine de Chevalier or Talbot or something similar
A modern-ish wine that also bears consideration is Rol Valentin in either vintage
Haven’t been able to keep my hands off the 2009 and 2010 Lanessan. Fantastic for the price!
Ridiculous prices!!
Reminds me, though, I have not received my 2010s from PC yet.
I have about half of what I bought.
Hey hey, just checked, half of my stuff is in, ready to ship. Interesting that they do not send you an email letting you know when stuff comes in. Oh well. Not like I’d be drinking some of these wines yet, anyway.
I’ve received about 2/3rds of my 2010 Bordeaux pre-arrivals from PC over a year ago. It was (almost) a letdown to get them so quickly (by PC’s standards), there was no build up, no board-induced anxiety about PC going belly-up, no visits from the ghost of Madoff future. It was all pretty anticlimactic, I didn’t even post a self-congratulatory thread on how I’d outsmarted the market with a long game.
I’ve read about Lanessan on here many times, via Robert mostly, but it has been hard to find. Just yesterday a local retailer said he got his hands on 3 cases of the 2010 as part of a special order for someone, who took 2 cases. And the 3rd case was going to go on the shelf. That is until I told him this is a dream come true and that I’d take last case off his hands. Can’t wait to get it! But up here, cost is around $28 per which irks me, but I still had to bite. It sounds like maybe a case won’t be enough since it’s a good vintage and 12 bottles will be hard to spread out over 10-20 years.
I’ll have to see about sourcing some of the others mentioned in this great thread. I’ve never had much Bordeaux in the last 5 years of my obsession because of the price stigma (super seconds costing $300 per etc), so looking forward to exploring this price point and the wines.
A word of warning, Bryan, the 2010 Lanessan really needs some time, it’s fairly tough right now. I think Neal has commented on that, too. The 2009 is always been wide open, the 2010 is backward. I bought some too, but it’s in the back of my storage.