by AD Perrin
The interview by Alain Dominique Perrin published in the “Revue des vins de France” (February issue) continues to stir up a storm. It is now the internet’s turn to take it up. Of course, we couldn’t be happier. A discussion of good wines on the web indicates that the cyber generations are also connecting with the pleasures of the table, and so much the better.
The french cooperative blog by the name of Bakchich Info scrutinizes the news in a spirit of independence and not without impertinence. Its editorial board includes french journalists whose freedom of speech is appreciated (Serge Faubert, Anne Giudicelli), libertarian agitators (Noel Gaudin, better known by the feared nickname of the Cream Pie Thrower), and impish cartoonists (Kerleroux).
Quite fittingly, the wine column, entitled “In Vino Veritas”, is entrusted to a gentleman by the name of Jean Pierre Bacchus; these days, he has mischievously and gleefully authored a grating piece on 2007’s advance sales in the Bordelais.
The author quotes me in the very first lines, singling out some of my most acid words, which are likely to have been unpopular in the area...
“2007 will be plenty of fun, for the year is positively bad. The good folk of Bordeaux can say what they like. Will they try to sell at 500 euros a bottle? If there is any morality in the world of wine, the greatest of them should all drop below 100 euros”.
Bacchus issues no denial. Quite the contrary. He explains that advance sales used to allow consumers to have access to fine wines without spending a fortune before they became available at the wine cellar, that is, at lower prices. As for the owners, they would improve their cash position by selling earlier.
Alas, this “win/win” strategy appears to be a thing of the past. Today, it usually backfires on the final customer, as Bacchus explains:
“Today the wine lover is cheated, and Bordeaux’s chateaux and merchants pocket the profits. Many vintages deemed mediocre or average were overpriced in advance sales, only to turn up at rock bottom rates in supermarket wine fairs a few years later.
Worse still, since the mythical 2000, speculation is raging. The owners of the greatest Bordeaux vineyards, who are only too glad to fleece not always well-informed Asian or Russian millionaires, now “forget” to adjust their prices according to the quality of the vintage.
As was the case for 2006, acceptable but no more than that, which sold for just a little less on an advance basis after the stratospheric rates hit by the superb 2005.”
Wine lovers beware, therefore. Better take a second sip when the time comes...
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