Sipping Snippets:
Is Pétrus overpriced?
In a very interesting interview in the March issue of Decanter, the permanent oenologist,
Jean-Claude Berrouet, who retired last year after 43 years with Château Pétrus made some very
frank observations about the place of its wines in the vinous heaven. Notwithstanding Parker et al., he said:
"The speculation market is a disaster for wine. As soon as it becomes a financial product, it's no longer a a wine.
We have taken wine hostage and need to
to set it free. It's sad that many wine lovers who may not be wealthy will have less chance to drink Bordeaux's best wines.
It's not about the bottle or the value at the end of the day, it's about the wine. We have 10 Pomerols within our stable, and
I'm always naively surprised by how much Château Pétrus stands out. I don't believe it's the intrinsic quality alone
that gives certain wines their name. We are in a marketing world after all. Eighty percent of Bordeaux wines are well
made but we don't talk about them."
The 75th Anniversary Celebration of the IWFS
London Friday 14 November 2008
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The Top 100 wines of 2007
Want to know what the the top 100 wines of 2007 are? As far as the Wine Spectator is concerned anyway. Visit their
website
to see videos, the tasting notes (and the prices!) Anyone for Krug 1996 at $250? and that is only number 10. Mind you it did score of 99!
The results are a bit of a surprise - a Côtes de Rhone (Chateauneuf du Pape) in first place and another in 3rd and then three more in the top 100.
Could this be due to the Editor in Chief being a C de R specialist!! It's understandable that one of Paul Draper's wines will be pretty high - but a 2005 Chardonnay at 2nd !!.
Whatever happened to Montebello? Thank goodness some sanity survived with Antinori's Tignanello getting in at 4th. The first Medoc appears at 83 would you believe and that's a
relatively minor Chateau Pipeau (St Emilion) (JF)
