I was surprised like most people following the 2013 en primeur or futures campaign in Bordeaux that Alfred Tesseron of Chateau Pontet-Canet released his wine on the market today. It was a ballsy move.
“It was pretty simple,” he said to me after I tasted the wine at the chateau. I rated the 2013 Pontet-Canet 92-93 points. “I like my wine in 2013, so why not sell it right away?”
I think that a lot of people are going to like his 2013. It’s balanced and harmonious in a subtle and delicately fruity way. I hope to find more wines like that over the next five days in Bordeaux. In fact, I have already found a handful of reds out of about 150 samples that I would rate clearly outstanding. Dry and sweet whites are excellent quality.
Alfred said that he produced about half the normal production of wine in 2013. That should be about 10,000 cases of 12 bottles. I expect his 2013 should sell in the US and Hong Kong for about $100 and change. I don’t think that’s a crazy price for his 2013, although I wish it was less expensive.
I have been listening to what the first growths might sell for, and the price range seems between 220 euros and 180 euros to the trade in Bordeaux. That means that the retail price will be near or just past $300 a bottle. That’s inexpensive to past vintages, especially the 2010 and 2009.
Of course, other chateaux will have to figure it out for themselves. Most wines in Bordeaux sell for less than 10 euros a bottle, and the quality of wines in those price ranges is really variable. Some wines from small producers in 2013 are undrinkable.
I spoke to a well-known negociant yesterday who said that he urged a number of his wineries not to bottle their wines so he could buy them in bulk. “It was really sad but the wines were just not good enough to bottle on their own,” he said. “It wasn’t worth the corks and bottles.”
We can’t forget that a lot of bad wine was produced in 2013 in Bordeaux. You can’t blame anyone. The weather was atrocious with all the cold, rain, hail, and disease. Only the top names could spend the time and money to produce very good to almost outstanding wines in 2013, which makes finding and tasting them all the more exciting as a wine critic in Bordeaux at the moment.
But many of the wines in 2013 may be difficult to sell at any price and they are not fun to taste.
