Dave McIntyre's WineLine

Parker: Will Bordeaux Alienate the U.S. Market?

A roundup of recent news from the world of wine:

* Bordeaux is in the throes of its annual frenzy of futures (or en primeur) sales as chateaux, buoyed by rave reviews from journalists, release the prices for their 2010s. No surprise, perhaps, that many prices are up substantially from the record levels set in 2009. The increases even have uber-critic Robert Parker complaining to the Agence France-Presse that the prices are getting out of hand. Parker’s love of Bordeaux has helped fuel the rise in prices, but he warned of a “big, big crisis” if the trend continues.

“Bordeaux is the epicenter of the greatest wines,” he told AFP. “I hate to see the image damaged by the fact people tend to think it’s too expensive.” He said Bordeaux is focusing too much on the demand for fine wines in Asia and risks alienating the American market. What do the French say to such criticism? Foreign minister (and Bordeaux mayor) Alain Juppe chalks it up to the market and calls the wines “good value.”

* Speaking of the American market, Decanter.com (the Web site of the leading British wine magazine) reports that U.S. retailers are balking at the high prices for the 2010 futures. Elliott Staren of Wide World of Wines in Glover Park is quoted as saying, “We are buying so far, but being much more selective.” A New York retailer says the top wines will sell at any price but worries about “mid-range” Bordeaux, “where wines that used to be $50-60 a few years ago now come out between $100-120.” That’s “mid-range”? Wow — further evidence that the fine-wine market is out of touch with reality or real people.

* That Asian market is no myth. Decanter.com also reported last week that a new store set to open in Taipei, Taiwan, will sell only first-growth Bordeaux (plus a few other chateaux that have achieved cult status), with vintages dating from 1945 to 2000. Sounds like a niche market, but a total of 10 such stores are planned for cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Tokyo by the end of this year. New York and London will bring up the rear next year. And this week, Decanter made its own play for the Asian market, posting an online guide to the 2010 Bordeaux vintage in Chinese.

* Meanwhile, the French wine culture seems to be fading. A new study shows that French wine consumption has dropped by 3 billion bottles over two generations, to just 4 billion bottles a year, according to The Telegraph. That makes for one bottle per week for each French adult, the laggards. More tellingly, younger French drinkers are less inclined to savor a bottle over a meal while reminiscing about the good ol' days, and prefer to drink socially with friends. And to add insult to injury, ShankenNewsDaily.com reported that U.S. wine consumption is set to eclipse that of France in 2012. We have a big population advantage, of course - France's per capita wine consumption was 46.07 liters in 2010, compared to a paltry 8.7 liters for Americans. But overall, we bought 307 million cases of wine last year, while France consumed 321 million cases. The trend lines show U.S. consumption ascendant.

(Photo: eRobertParker.com)

An AmpelWHATapher?

Ampelography is one of the funniest sounding words in wine, a field that's full of potential puns and double entendres. It means simply, the study and identification of grapevines. And Lucie Morton is one of this country's leading ampelographers. But she's not just good at identifying grapevines - Morton identifies and wages war on grapevine pests and diseases. She is also a revered vineyard consultant here in the Eastern United States (though she also has clients in California and France).

Think "revered" is a bit strong for a vineyard consultant? Well, check out my column on Lucie in this week's Washington Post Food section. Two of her clients use religious imagery while speaking of her - one calls her "our Moses leading us from the wilderness" while the other describes his "Road to Damascus moment" when he tasted a wine from one of her clients and became a convert to the gospel of high-density planting. And don't miss my recommendations of wines produced by some of her local clients.

Malbec Throw-Down at Vinexpo

Vinexpo 2009, which ran 21-25 June in Bordeaux, featured an interesting and obviously intentional juxtaposition. The Wines from Argentina pavilion was flanked by a more modest but still brazen presentation of the wines of Cahors, in southwest France, which considers itself the ancestral homeland of malbec, the grape that has made Argentina famous.

The ploy by the Cahors wineries worked as far as this writer is concerned – being rather familiar with Argentina’s malbecs, I was more interested in tasting the French versions. I sat down with Laurent Marre, a sommelier born and raised with the “black wine of Cahors,” who poured me several of the wines on display.

These were arranged from fruity and accessible to more tannic, expressive and expensive. Yet there was an impressive continuity of style and flavors, as one would expect from a wine region that has found its voice. These are large, tannic wines for the most part, with impressive structure, lots of fruit, and minerally finish. Although I am usually a fan of wines that do not see oak, I found myself drawn more forcefully to those that had been aged in new oak barrels for at least part of their lives – the oak gave structure and smoothed out the tannins. A skeptic could easily (and perhaps convincingly) argue that the oak stripped some of the appealing rusticity from the wine. But I felt the Cahors character came through even with the polish. That makes the choice a matter of preference, and probably price.

My favorite producers: Château Lamartine, Mas de Périé (organic), Le Cèdre (organic), Château La Reyne.

Argentina’s malbecs are cheaper and more accessible, which makes them more marketable to the U.S. consumer. But during my short tasting with Laurent Marre, we were interrupted several times by Argentine wine makers coming over to taste the “original” malbecs. So the savvy decision to place the Cahors booth near the Argentine pavilion reached a core audience.

What are you going to drink, dear?

This isn’t a wine glass, actually, but an impressive and thirst inducing decanter. It is rather tricky to pour from, but it certainly does a nice job of aerating the wine. This was taken at L’Envers du Décor, a delightful wine bar and restaurant in St.-Émilion. The food was delicious. The wine, unfortunately, was forgettable, a St.-Émilion Grand Cru Château Something-or-Other.