2018 Bordeaux - What are you buying (and why)?

[Kris_Patten]

So, fine. I’m not a huge Bordeaux buyer, having gotten into it after the price hikes of 2009 and 2010, but had kids born in 2014 and 2016 and so invested in a few cases. Now to 2018. Have read the threads and preliminary reviews. What are you buying and why?

My first EP purchases:
6x Les Carmes Haut Brion
6x Calon Ségur

What does it mean to “invest” in a few cases. Is investing different from buying?

Investing is when you review your savings account, 401k 5 year performance, sign up for Experian and see your credit score, and review any debt calls that may be actionable before buying wine.

[maureen_nelson]

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

Will you adopt me?

Will you take good care of me when I am incapable of taking care of myself and give me grandchildren?

[Mark_Golodetz]

Great answer

[R_Greene]

Jeff - I get that it’s excellent, and a deal relative to comparably good “super seconds.” I’ll probably still buy, I was just hoping (optimistically) that it’d be sub-$100 and be another bargain of the vintage. Like Rauzan Segla in 2015 for $70 - i recently had my first taste and it was .

I’m curious if you think there are other standout QPR wines this year? Carmes? Rauzan Segla? I saw your note on Laroque - thanks for that tip.

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.

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

Couldn’t agree more. I always appreciate that Jeff includes the technical data into his notes. I’m always surprised when other critics don’t do this.

[Chris_Atkins]

Noah,

Was your sinus surgery a success I hope? I had surgery in 2006 and its amazing what a good surgeon can do for the olfactory senses. Terroir and precision come much more onto focus, while monster California Cabs, and the like, are no longer the wine of choice for me.

Regarding 2018 Bordeaux, I may pick up a few bottles of Leoville Las Cases, and a few bargains, but not much else. I still think 2016 will be the Vintage!

[NoahR]

Noah,

Was your sinus surgery a success I hope? I had surgery in 2006 and its amazing what a good surgeon can do for the olfactory senses. Terroir and precision come much more onto focus, while monster California Cabs, and the like, are no longer the wine of choice for me.

Regarding 2018 Bordeaux, I may pick up a few bottles of Leoville Las Cases, and a few bargains, but not much else. I still think 2016 will be the Vintage!

Not sure yet. They had to totally reconstruct my septum and nasal valves in addition to the sinuses and polypectomy and surgery was last week so still very much in the thick of it. I’ve had a few moments of smell so at least know that my olfactory nerve is intact (which is not always the case). And my wife says my snoring is better, which is all the nasal valve repair. We shall see.

[Jim_F]

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.

Yes to this, and “demand” in the context I mentioned, maybe not clearly, includes the point-driven American market. So, sold out in some places. Last I looked, MacArthur’s still had it.

[Jeff_Cassetta]

None, nope, nada…just took delivery of my last 6 btls of 2015…still haven’t bought a 2016…I am strong…I am strong…I am strong…

[PCLIN]

Caved in and bought some ‘18 Beychevelle in halves as I am loving the case of ‘66 just arrived from London few months ago, now I just need to wait for 30 years!

[Panos_Kakaviatos]

Caved in and bought some ‘18 Beychevelle in halves as I am loving the case of ‘66 just arrived from London few months ago, now I just need to wait for 30 years!

The 2018 Beychevelle is excellent. OK, the prices have been going up partly due to the Asian market, but one of the best barrel samples I have tried in the last 15 years for this estate.

[Marcu_Stanley]

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.

I don’t think a score of 96-99 puts you among the best wines of the vintage does it? I thought the new Bordeaux scoring system was 100 points very good wine, 96-99 pretty good wine, 90-95 average, under 90 flawed

[Robert.A.Jr]

Caved in and bought some ‘18 Beychevelle in halves as I am loving the case of ‘66 just arrived from London few months ago, now I just need to wait for 30 years!

I’m really bad at math, but that might be 52 years. I have a chance to make it, we have several recent family members break the century mark.

If I could turn back time on Bordeaux purchases, I’d buy 1/2 of my stuff in 375s, and I would have bought much more.

[NoahR]

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.

I don’t think a score of 96-99 puts you among the best wines of the vintage does it? I thought the new Bordeaux scoring system was 100 points very good wine, 96-99 pretty good wine, 90-95 average, under 90 flawed

That’s only Suckling

[PCLIN]

Caved in and bought some ‘18 Beychevelle in halves as I am loving the case of ‘66 just arrived from London few months ago, now I just need to wait for 30 years!

I’m really bad at math, but that might be 52 years. I have a chance to make it, we have several recent family members break the century mark.

If I could turn back time on Bordeaux purchases, I’d buy 1/2 of my stuff in 375s, and I would have bought much more.

Nah…halves should cut the waiting time by 15 years…full bottle of Beychevelle normally would take 45 years to show up.

[Marcu_Stanley]

I would guess it’s because of the Vinous review at 96-99 that called it one of the best wines of the vintage.

I don’t think a score of 96-99 puts you among the best wines of the vintage does it? I thought the new Bordeaux scoring system was 100 points very good wine, 96-99 pretty good wine, 90-95 average, under 90 flawed

That’s only Suckling

Naw, it’s pretty much all the big outlets now, at least when it comes to classed growths

[Dave_Dohanic]

Points restraint by the big three (WA, WS and Vin) plus the ever numbers friendly Suck has not been evident in Bordeaux for sometime now, and maybe it’s due to a re-correlation of scoring approach due to the '09/10 successes and also to all of these pubs wanting to be the prime successor to the RMP points machine empire. But with '18 it’s going to be interesting because of both the hugely reduced output in all of the Bordelaise houses and the fact that this one was like a super successful '14 in terms of both fruits and structure. All I can say is thank god for 17’s miss or this one would currently be even more egregiously priced than was 2010 out of the gate. As for Calon, they might be the early winner thanks to a smart approach to selling the scarcity, but once the right bank in particular picks up on this approach I can’t wait to see how much the vintage prices jump after the 2021 final roll-out has commenced.

[Mark_Golodetz]

That is the first time I have heard somebody compare 2018 to 2014. It sounds as though you attended primeur, could you expand on that please

[Adam_Levyn]

What do folks think of the Palmer offering/pricing?

[crickey]

What do folks think of the Palmer offering/pricing?

I originally had it on my “must have” list, but at $340 (what I can buy it at; I saw it cheaper initially), when it came time to pull the trigger last night, I backed off. It’s expensive, and I think it won’t go up significantly before bottling, so I can wait a couple of years to see how I feel about it.

There are others on a more select “must have” list I will probably buy (I did buy Calon Segur because I think the price will rise), but I think I may as a general matter wait for the wines to be bottled and re-evaluated before purchasing.

[CraigT]

I pulled the trigger on Palmer. I don’t think it will be around very long. It sold out in Bordeaux already and the chateau released higher percentage than normal.