Bordeaux on a budget

A surplus means the world’s most famous wine region can be surprisingly, even worryingly affordable. I’ve put some specific recommendations in for paid subscribers.

There was a story recently in the Drinks Business about a French supermarket selling Bordeux for just €1.66 a bottle. Bordeaux! The most famous wine region in the world, probably, home of Lafite, Latour etc. How could they be selling wine for less than beer?

Sadly, or happily for bargain hunters, such wines aren’t going away because there is just far too much Bordeaux out there. I was chatting with a wine merchant recently who told me that many producers are holding wine back in a desperate attempt to keep prices up. But their cellars are getting full and at some point they are going to have to sell to make more space. Then a lot of very affordable Bordeaux is going to hit the market.

Of course, Bordeaux has had its ups and downs before like the Hundred Years War, the Seven Years War, the Revolution, phylloxera, the Germans invading every generation or so etc. Crisis in Bordeaux? Calm down old boy, it’s not as bad as the 70s. The 1870s that is. I’ve always thought that the British would keep coming back to claret. In the words of the great philosopher and claret lover, the late Roger Scruton:

'After punishing body and soul with Australian Shiraz, Argentine Tempranillo, Romanian Cabernet Sauvignon and Greek Retsina, we crawl home like a Prodigal Son and beg forgiveness for our folly . Claret extends a warm and indulgent embrace, renewing the ancient bond between English thirst and Gascon refreshment. . . .'

But at the moment there is a problem.