Vintage for Investors – 2005 Bordeaux
Maybe you don’t have any grandchildren now, but it’s quite possible that one day you might. So when the time comes – maybe their 18th or 21st birthday, in several decades time – giving them a case of top class Bordeaux from the 2005 will give them either a fabulous gift of wine or a serious return on investment.
Even those not involved in the wine trade may have heard some of the hype surrounding this vintage which the Bordelais are comparing to other great years such as 1982 and 1990. Often French winemakers can be heard proclaiming each year as the ‘vintage of zee century’ but this time it looks pretty genuine. Having been to Bordeaux recently, the quote of the visit was from Frédéric Engerer, the top-man at Château Latour, who told me that after this vintage they might as well all retire as their best work would have been done.
Of recent, 2000 was also a very good year with the kudos of owning a millennium ‘00’ label pushing prices up. 2003 had hot weather and produced wines that were dark, rich and very ripe. It seems the 2005’s are much more about balance – coming after a cold winter with a long summer, plenty of sunshine without being too hot and sporadic rainfall – the wines are big (and expensive). High in alcohol, tannin, acidity and fruit, means they will last for a long time.
The wine trade is currently going through the ‘en primeur’ season for this vintage. This is when the châteaux allow their wines to be bought well in advance of actual release. The benefit of this is that the wine can be bought now at lower price than in 18 months time, in fact there may be no wine left to buy.
Long term investment wines include the 5 top growths – Lafite, Latour, Mouton, Haut-Brion or Margaux on the left bank (Médoc) or the likes of Petrus, le Pin, Ausone or Cheval Blanc on the right bank (Pomerol and St Emilion). A few new contenders such as Cos d’Estournel, Montrose and Pavie are also now demanding serious prices. Take a look at the 1982 vintage of Château Mouton-Rothschild, it was released in 1983 at £300 per case and has since risen to a selling price of £3,200 by 1999. So consider what a £2,000 investment will be worth in 20-30 years (the life expectancy of the best wines).
If you do invest, the history or provenance is a priority with these wines; to store wines yourself they must be kept in the very best of conditions. This means in at a cool, constant temperature, a little humid and in the dark. Don’t be tempted to break open the box as those in original wooden cases wines sell at the highest prices. In fact having not left your merchants storage facilities is the best way for you to demand top dollar prices. This could mean that you may never get to see your bottles after all that time waiting, but instead you could see some very happy grandchildren.
Top tips for ’05 – Lafite or Latour (at £2K+ per case!) or Pontet-Canet, Troplong-Mondot, Carruades de Lafite, Léoville-Barton.
See websites for Farr Vintners, Uncorked, OW Loeb or Charles Taylor Wines.
Or for good Bordeaux buying advice see Gavin Quinneys blog at Château Bauduc
