The 2005 French Wines
Vintage of the Century?

From the press link above, it sounds like last year produced some of the greatest French wines of all times. It also sounds like the top chateau's, like Latour and Petrus in Bordeaux will be selling for some astronomical prices, up to 3-5 times what is normal, with very high demand coming from Asian and American investors and speculators. In general, the stock will go very fast and anything that is reasonably priced will later become very expensive as well.

The way it works is you order your "Primeurs" now and they get delivered in the Spring of 2008 after they have been aged in barrels at the chateau, then bottled. Given that it was a great season for the grapes, the wine produced will get better and better the longer it is cellared, which can be at least 10 years and up to 20 years or more. The brokers are just beginning to take orders now, which means I need to get my order in now, and then get my wine shipped to me in 2008, and then I cellar it until at least 2018 before drinking it. In 2018 I will be 56 years old.

I think this story tells a little bit about how strange this whole wine thing is. Planning ahead 12-15 years what wine you want to drink takes a certain amount of passion and forward-looking optimism, which many find it difficult to appreciate. Many people don't plan ahead more than a couple of weeks!

I am relatively new to this wine thing at this level, and have never ordered Premeurs before, but I think I'll put down a few bets. Be sure to check back here around May 2018 and I'll let you know how it worked out.