Bordeaux 2010: 300 Top Reds, A-Z, with Price Guide
April 28th 2011, by Gavin
I’ve sifted through all the red barrel samples that I scored over 85 points out of 100 and here are my 300 or so favourites (A-Z), from over 600 tasted in April 2011. Of other leading wines on the Right Bank, I’ve yet to taste Chateau Lafleur in Pomerol and, in St-Emilion, the wines of my friend Jonathan Maltus (including Le Dome and Teyssier), Valandraud, Tertre Roteboeuf and Pavie Decesse. On the Left Bank, I should go to Boyd Cantenac, Pouget, Pedesclaux and Sociando Mallet.
I have published them here for my April e-newsletter, shortly before Robert Parker publishes his scores. I’ve yet to look at any others but I’m sure we’ll all agree to disagree. As a price guide, I have included the En Primeur price, in sterling from the UK trade, of the same Chateau LAST year for their 2009 – another great, and possibly better, vintage. Do not expect prices to fall when prices are released over the coming weeks and months.
Bordeaux 2010: 300 Top Reds, with Price Guide
April 28th 2011, by Gavin
I’ve sifted through all the red barrel samples that I scored over 85 points out of 100 and here are my 300 or so favourites (top down), from over 600 tasted in April 2011. Of other leading wines on the Right Bank, I’ve yet to taste Chateau Lafleur in Pomerol and, in St-Emilion, the wines of my friend Jonathan Maltus (including Le Dome and Teyssier), Valandraud, Tertre Roteboeuf and Pavie Decesse. On the Left Bank, I should go to Boyd Cantenac, Pouget, Pedesclaux and Sociando Mallet.
I have published them here for my April e-newsletter, shortly before Robert Parker publishes his scores. I’ve yet to look at any others but I’m sure we’ll all agree to disagree. As a price guide, I have included the En Primeur price, in sterling from the UK trade, of the same Chateau LAST year for their 2009 – another great, and possibly better, vintage. Do not expect prices to fall when prices are released over the coming weeks and months.
“Top Speakers Lined up for London International Wine Fair Conference”
April 25th 2011, by Gavin
The headline from an article in Harpers Wine and Spirits actually says
Top speakers lined up for social media conference at LIWF on May 16.
But I wasn’t sure that the acronym LIWF means very much to our customers, as it’s a trade thing. However, I need your help.
“Anyone interested in communicating or making money through the internet is urged to attend the London International Wine Fair’s pre-conference event on May 16,” writes Richard Siddle, editor of the magazine.
“The half day event will include a line up of expert online speakers on how to develop your communication skills through the internet and the best way to invest in and make the most of social networking sites.
“The event, which is being chaired by wine writer and producer, Robert Joseph will include: Dan Jago, head of beers, wines and spirits at Tesco; Angela Mount of YourFavouriteWines.com; Rowan Gormley, of Naked Wines; Gavin Quinney of Château Bauduc; Sophie Jump of the International Wine Club Association; Antonia Branston, senior retailing analyst at Euromonitor International; and Guy Levine from digital marketing agency, Return On Digital.
“Key areas for discussion will include: the International experience; selling wines direct from the winery online; brands vs boutique wines online sales; how to engage the consumer online and keep your community interested; an overview of the current alcoholic drinks retail distribution landscape; how existing wine distribution channels are influencing online trends; opportunities across the price spectrum; how to build an effective website.”
Any feedback or ideas will be gratefully received, either as a comment below, or email me at gavin @ bauduc.com or on Twitter @GavinQuinney
Neighbour’s £120,000+ Loss to Oddbins: a Drop in the Ocean
March 28th 2011, by Gavin
Fortunately for us, it’s not Château Bauduc that’s owed £152,000, but Château Lauduc. Hervé Grandeau, whose vineyard is 10 miles up the road from us, will have to accept 21p in the pound if the beleaguered chain survives a creditors’ vote this week, or less if not. Over 500 creditors are owed over £1000 each, including 100 wine and drinks suppliers who risk losing between £10,000 and £310,000. (Update, 4th April. As HMRC – see ‘The executioner’ below under CVA: will Creditors Vote Against? – refused to back the survival plan, Oddbins will enter administration today.)
Everything seemed fine last October and November, when Hervé supplied Oddbins with 50,000 bottles, or 15% of the production from his 59 Hectare Bordeaux vineyard. As a small-time negociant, he’d also bought wine from neighbouring Châteaux – about 20% of the total bill of €180,000 – to supply the chain.
‘Much better health’
There seemed little cause for concern towards the end of last year for outsiders, even if some people say that the writing was on the wall. Tim Atkin MW, one of the UK’s most authoritative wine writers, noted as recently as 24th November 2010: “Oddbins has not yet returned to its glory days of the late 1990s, when it was arguably the best wine retailer in the world, but it appears to be in much better health than it was two years ago, when the French company Castel sold the business to its current British owners.”
You can imagine Hervé’s dismay at the beginning of March, following weeks of not having his calls returned, when news broke that Oddbins was to close 39 of its 132 stores. “The business is being restructured,” read the ominous public statement.