My Article: Bordeaux 2010 Is Up to the Consumer Now

I was speaking with a wine merchant friend in Hong Kong this morning and the conversation inevitably turned to Bordeaux 2010 futures. “It’s crazy the prices,” he said. “You can have the same wine, at the same quality level, with the same points, at a lower price and already in bottle. Why tie up your money in 2010?”

My gut feeling was that he was right. Moreover, my wine drinking and collecting friends in Hong Kong like to buy wines that they can drink now or at least have in their cellars. There is very little “face value” in having a piece of paper with the amount and price of a young Bordeaux purchased as futures compared to a bottle.

Anyway, I decided to put my friend’s conversation to test.

Let’s look at 2010 Pichon Baron. The Pauillac estate made an excellent wine in 2010. So I compared it to a favorite recent vintage of mine of PB – 2003. I used wine-searcher.com with Hong Kong as the destination.

2010 Pichon Baron: $2,500 a case of 12 bottles (95-96 points)

2003 Pichon Baron: $1,800 case of 12 bottles (96 points)

How about another example?

2010 Giscours: $825 a case of 12 bottles (94-95 points)

2003 Giscours: $840 a case of 12 bottles (93 points)

It’s just two examples but I could go on all afternoon making comparisons with different vintages and similar quality levels. My friend’s statement is true in some instances but not completely true on others. Nonetheless, a lot of great bottles of Bordeaux from top vintages are out there right now as well as futures of 2010. It’s up to the consumer now.