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Today (3/8/07) on the Moncreiff show on News Talk 106FM we have an Irish radio
first, in fact it may even be a world first as we’ll be tasting barrel samples
of the Bordeaux 2006 vintage live on air. Normally, you would, of course, have
to go to where the barrels are - in Bordeaux to get a preview of how the wines
will be. Listen in at 3.15pm as we discuss the market for buying fine wine
before it’s bottled.
The idea behind buying fine
wines in advance is that you should be able to buy at a price that is lower than
when the wines come to market in bottle. Well that’s the theory, but it
doesn’t always work out like that. Wine values can go down as well as up. 2005
was a fabulous vintage and prices were high to start with and have in some
instances gone higher. So along comes 2006 and the greedy chateaux owners price
it at around only 10% less than the iconic vintage. Should you buy? Maybe, but
in small quantities. In an exceptional year you can buy almost any wine with
confidence but this is a good but not great vintage. Caution is the key. You
need to read widely to see which were the successful wines and than look at
pricing and availability. It just may be that these wines will be the same price
or lower when they arrive in a couple of years time. But if you follow a
particular Chateau you should buy to be sure of getting your favourite.
Be careful who you buy from
too. Companies have gone bust between taking consumers money and delivering the
wine. Stick to solid established names. Berry
Brothers, Millesima.com and Greenacres
all have substantial offers and Mitchells
have a limited range on offer. But as you may never take deliver of the wines
and store them in bond you could buy from British merchants too. There are too
many to mention and winesearcher.com will guide you.
We’ll
be tasting wines provided by importer Gleesons who held a tasting the other day
from which grabbed some leftovers. First wine will be Ch.
Talbot 2006, priced at about €340-360 per case of 12 excluding
duty, VAT and shipping and then well try Ch Figeac
2006, priced at about €725-800. By way of contrast we’ll also be
tasting an already bottled Bordeaux wine imported by Gleesons called Cheval
Noir 2003, widely available in independent retailers, on offer at
about €14.99, reduced from its normal €19.99.
listen
live to News Talk 106-108 FM
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