The Market

I note in my ‘holiday reading’ the following: There are sharks that take money for ‘investments’ and there are piranhas that disappear with en-primeur cash/orders. Now there is another kind of unpleasant individual – a sharp-suited barracuda perhaps – that tries even harder to suck the soul from wine: The ‘short-selling’ of Chateau Lafite 2009 on Liv-ex has outraged some wine merchants, leaving others in the industry shrugging their shoulders. The latest vintage of Lafite is being offered on the trading platform for £11,750 a case. The actual sale has gone through for £10,000. The wine has not yet been released by the chateau. Decanter, 1st June Whilst these largely remain ‘Bordeaux things’ they cannot but chew at the edges of even the the most [....]

DOMAINE DE L’ARLOT 2008 – Nuits-St-Georges NUITS-SAINT-GEORGES Le Petit Arlot 75cl 39.50 (Swiss Francs) NUITS-SAINT-GEORGES Clos de l’Arlot 75cl 68.00 NUITS-SAINT-GEORGES Clos des Forêts Saint Georges 75cl 68.00 VOSNE-ROMANEE Les Suchots 75cl 84.00 ROMANEE SAINT VIVANT 75cl 248.00 l’Arlot are getting better and better press – presumably that means they can charge a premium over other producers – let’s see…

CORTON CHARLEMAGNE Grand Cru 2008   75cl 109.50 Swiss Francs (119.00) CORTON CHARLEMAGNE Grand Cru 2008 150cl 224.00 (243.00) The 2007 price is in brackets and from this source was the same as 2006. Particularly in this vintage I have to say that this price flirts with ‘value’ – unfortunately there’s still no reason to presume that it will live longer than 5 years in your cellar. Question: What’s worse than a bottle of p.oxed wine in your cellar? Answer: A magnum…

LA FORGE DE TART 2008 75cl 129.00 (159.80 for the 2007) Swiss Francs CLOS DE TART Grand Cru 2008 75cl 249.00 (299.50) CLOS DE TART Grand Cru 2008 150cl 528.00 (629.00) CLOS DE TART Grand Cru 2008 300cl 1196.00 (1398.00) The offers are coming in, thick-and-fast. A modest reduction versus 2007 here. I think that a ‘great’ wine can certainly be worth 250 SFr and this domaine does occasionally deliver ‘great’ but in this case I can’t offer guidance as I haven’t tasted. That said, no 1er cru of Morey is worth 130 Francs….

Regional BOURGOGNE 2008 75cl 30.65 (Swiss francs) BOURGOGNE BLANC 2008 75cl 25.10 Villages MARSANNAY 2008 75cl 46.45 FIXIN 2008 75cl 53.90 GEVREY-CHAMBERTIN 2008 75cl 73.40 GEVREY-CHAMBERTIN VIEILLES VIGNES 2008 75cl 82.70 Premier Cru GEVREY-CHAMBERTIN 1er CRU 2008 75cl 116.15 GEVREY-CHAMBERTIN LES CHAMPAUX 2008 75cl 116.15 GEVREY-CHAMBERTIN LAVAUX ST.JACQUES 2008 75cl 116.15 CHAMBOLLE-MUSIGNY AUX BEAUX BRUNS 2008 75cl 116.15 Grand Cru CLOS DE VOUGEOT 2008 75cl 250.00 CHAMBERTIN 2008 75cl 360.00 Whilst I like like the approach that a 1er cru costs ‘x’, it’s an expensive ‘x’. It seems to me that the prices straddle two concepts: ‘offering little value’ and ‘outrageous’.