I’m afraid it is illiquid
Purchasing a fair amount of bdx this year, as my wedding year was 2018. With this, am trying to seek out the more long term age-able wines from the vintage. The high pH and high alcohol is a little worrisome to me for long term. Does anyone have any input on if this should be a large concern for me?
Purchased so far:
Calon segur x12
Les carmes haut brion x12
Waiting for:
Lafite
Margaux
VCC
Trotanoy
LLC
Rauzan Segla
Pichon Lalande
Pontet Canet
Ducru beaucaillou
Etc
I was trying to find out why you used the term. I have never considered the wine I buy to be an investment. I consider it to be an expense. I think that when people who buy wine call it an investment, they are buying for the purpose of reselling (or something similar to what Mark has in mind), not for the purpose of drinking, so I asked what you meant.
Purchased:
- 6x Les Carmes Haut Brion
- 6x Laroque
Considering Calon Segur and waiting for Pichon Lalande prices. Also looking for 375ml Sauternes-- not really convinced Suduiraut (current listing) will be it.
You’ve had a tendency to jump down my throat in the past. Forgive my being aggressive.
I bought them, at least nominally, for my children. They’re investments in that they have fluctuating monetary value on the resale market and will hopefully appreciate. Should they choose to drink them, then they may, and if they choose to sell them, I’d be okay with that too.
For me, I don’t think wine is an “expense” in that I can always sell. They are not an expense or sunken cost until I drink them, and then they would immediately cease to have resale value, so they are sort of like Schroedinger’s Cat in that sense…
I just had big sinus surgery last week, and showed up at Bassins to say hi to Joe and Tim and Phil with tape all over my nose. Can’t smell currently, and, while I had a 20min period where I could, I knew that there is a greater-than-zero risk with this surgery that I would permanently lose my sense of smell. In that case, I would be able to sell my entire collection of wine. Since a lot is recent vintages, I’d probably lose 20% of the value, but if it’s an expense, it would be a sunken cost, so I guess it’s still an investment to me until I choose to drink it. 
Yes. You don’t actually drink it. ![[stirthepothal.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/f/f40faec63ca1018898a40805efbf9f0066a3d205.gif "[stirthepothal.gif]"){kind=small}
Given what’s happened to my portfolio this week I’d say yes
Well at least your cellar is still good, you can turn to that for solace.
There’s a lot of well-priced, high quality wines and several strong value wines. Best thing is for you to read my site and let me know if you have any questions.
This looks like a year where a range of critics gave good scores to various second wines like Petite Eglise, Croix de Beaucaillou and Pagodes. But there’s rarely a compelling reason to buy those before they hit the shelves.
Not trying to jump in this back and forth, just wanted to say thanks to Jeff for making his notes public via cellar tracker and for his website. His inclusion of tech notes/data in his tasting notes is invaluable to me in my decision, as it adds some objective data to a subjective tasting note. Something that I do not feel I get from almost any other professional critic regardless of palate alignment
Thanks Jeff
What Ty said
Not like Schroedinger’s Cat actually 
but in any case your point is clear.
Well, I have a grand niece born in 2018 so that is my excuse. So far i have purchased 1/2 case of les carmes haut brion, an estate I have liked since the 98 (indeed just backfilled a little of the ‘00) and a mag of the calon segur. Likely to buy a mag of the branaire. My goal is to give her and her big brother (born in 2014) 4-5 cases of different birth year wine. Don’t want to blow her allotment on bordeaus and want to get her some ducru
They exist in a superposition of states, neither and both expenses and investments. The act of either selling or drinking collapses those multiple possibilities into an actuality. Niels Bohr agrees with me. Exactly like Uncle Erwin said.
Will you adopt me?
Whoa, 750ml bottles of 2018 Calon Segur at Total Wine are sold out.
Do you know why it’s sold out? Did I miss a memo? 2018>2015 for Segur? I see 2015 for $85
I would guess it’s because of the Vinous review at 96-99 that called it one of the best wines of the vintage.
The Farr Vintners site said something about a 25% volume reduction in the release vs 2017. Futures games I think, combined with the aforementioned “demand”.
I call bull$hit.
There is absolutely not a single large Bordeaux estate that can claim a right to inflate prices based on low yields. Scarcity is a joke. There is such a profound glut of Bordeaux that the negoce and houses have to hold it back and sell small tRanches to inflate demand.
Calon Segur is a 50+ hectare estate that makes about 20,000 cases per year. Compare that to anything in Napa or Burgundy.
Perhaps, but an interesting question when you look at potential demand. Calon Segur has a world market, and the demand is a multiple of what it would be for a California wine. Burgundy has tiny production, and we have all seen what has happened to prices for the more coveted producers.
I am not sure how much is being held back. A lot of wine from 2013, the really tough vintage to get rid of, has gone to local markets at knockdown prices, and the trade does like to keep some back for inventory. Rather than a glut of unsold wine, I am told that stocks are a little greater than normal, but nothing to worry about. I talked to two large houses, but the smaller ones with less cash reserves may be feeling the pinch.