I don’t really see how it can make sense. I read a critic report that 2010 Batailley was a better wine than anything made in Bordeaux in 2013. I can pick up the Batailley for £50 a bottle from the Wine Society, a case of something delicious that is about ready to drink for the same price as 2 bottles of something else that is inferior. This isn’t really about sense though is it? It’s about the wants and needs of those of us who are obsessed with fermented grape juice.
We had the chance to taste 2012 Latour in our group last year … not bad but not worth the price either.
I vm doubt that 2013 is superior.
Never a purchase candidat for me , but maybe a bottle for group tasting if someone brings it along.
No, not at all.
I think my point is whether one wanted to spend $380 on a bottle of wine or not, is a separate question to whether the 2013 Latour is worth $380 or not.
No one here should have any beef with someone buying bottles of wine for $380. That’s my ‘drink once a year’ budget, personally, but still.
However, I think we can all agree $380 for 2013 Latour doesnt make sense.
I can bid, right now…at least for another hour, on a bottle of 89 Latour, better vintage, fully mature, with buyers premium from ideal wine for $549.00 all in. 30+ years of age and still cheaper than a current release of dubious vintage.
That should generate an answer…
tbh if anyone was keen on dropping money on latour, i’d at the very least point them towards the 2012 vintage…
Worse still 380 is the sterling price. The dollar price should be around $520.
As the only person here who has actually tasted 2013 Latour in barrel and last week in bottle… It’s a nice wine, not a great Latour. It’s probably wine of the vintage, in a light, elegant, fresh, rapidly maturing style. Notes are on my site and images are on Instagram
If it wasn’t so much money, it’s probably a style many people on here would like.
The wine is very pricey. But for some markets and people, it is among the least expensive vintages of Latour in the marketplace. It will sell slowly. My guess is, with time, it will slowly rise in price. As an example, 2007 is more expensive today. People and restaurants want ready to drink wine.
So Jeff, if you had $500 burning a hole in your pocket would you buy this wine? If not, who do you think will buy it?
I have had some clients buying it and the 2015 Les Forts as well. The latter almost twice the amount of the former in volume, while last year with the release of the 2012 Latour I sold a lot more cases of the Grand Vin and nearly none of the 2014 Les Forts.
Some people just want to have the wine of the vintage (wedding year; start off a business; birth year; etc.) or make sure their Latour vertical is intact.
The pricing does not make any sense to me either, after more then a year of covid-19 with basically no improvement what so ever (only dissension between the people) and restaurants still closed one might think the release price of the 2013 Latour should be lower than the 2012 Latour. However the Bordelais will make price aggressive decisions time after time.
Probably the top 50 in-demand Bordeaux Chateaux are looking very closely at this before the start of the 2020 En-Primeur campaign.
It doesn’t make sense to me either as a buyer, but Engerer is no idiot. He can charge whatever the hell he wants, and know that it will be taken up by the negotiants. If any were to hedge, they will lose this and all future allocations. To some extent, it is a form of corporate bullying. The negotiants will chalk it up to the cost of doing business, and know that they will eventually sell out.
But, nobody else needs to worry about losing their place in the line.
Definitely going to be interesting to see how they price the wider 2020 vintage en primeur campaign…