Accidentally filling the big shoes of Michael Broadbent and Steven Spurrier, Jane Anson, wine critic, author of Inside Bordeaux, founder of janeanson.com, and former Bordeaux correspondent for Decanter for nearly 20 years, is one of the world's foremost experts on the wines, history, and region of Bordeaux. Having lived in Bordeaux since 2003, Jane shares her deep insights into how Bordeaux became as famous as it is, how the systems of La Place de Bordeaux and En Primeur work, and the complex terroir of the region. She gives us insight into the content of janeanson.com and how it will be a unique look into Bordeaux, focusing on the drinkability of the wines and many of the unique features to be released.
Detailed Show Notes:
Bordeaux Overview
- A port city far enough inland to be a safe port
- 12th century - duchy of the English crown, wines were sold in the London market
- The system of chateaux, merchants, and negociants was built for export
- Terroir is very complex (which may be why it's not talked about much), e.g., of the 61 wines in the 1855 Medoc classification, all of them are on 2 specific gravel terraces (#3 & 4) of the 6 terraces of the Medoc
- Mostly clay underneath with gravel on top
- Lots of micro terroirs
- St Emilion - has pure limestone, clay, and gravel
Issues that have hurt Bordeaux
- Every vintage is not great, though Bordelais often say that
- Frustrate people based on the prices they ask (e.g., 2009/2010 vintages - many people who bought lost money)
Advantages of La Place de Bordeaux
- Business to business, sell to merchants that sell to consumers
- Virtual marketplace - enables access to 10,000 clients globally
- Includes chateaux, brokers, and negociants
- Sells wine into every level of the food chain - has specialists for on-trade, off-trade, hotels, corner shops, supermarkets, etc.
- It doesn't build your brand but makes sure it gets everywhere
- Good at giving the illusion of scarcity
- Can use La Place for specific markets - La Place has expertise in the Asian markets (e.g., China, Vietnam, Japan)
Disadvantages of La Place de Bordeaux
- Creates a very competitive environment - low-end wines compete with each other
- It protects Bordeaux well, and merchants need to buy in bad years to get allocations in good years
- No direct contact with consumers for wineries
- Less effective for small guys that aren't established brands
Non-Bordeaux wines selling on La Place
- Gone from nothing to 60 wines 5 years ago to 90 wines in 2021
- Provides access to global markets - shows wines next to the great wines of Bordeaux
- Opus One - the 2nd non-Bordeaux wine on La Place (after Almaviva), has sold wines since 2004 and opened an office in Bordeaux.
- Barriers to joining La Place - need enough volume to get everywhere, need to do your own brand-building work, and meet customers
- The increase in overseas wines has hurt smaller Bordeaux estates -> negociants have limited budgets and drop them
En Primeur
- From the early 1980s, Parker injected excitement into the En Primeur system
- People used to make money, but now they are often better off waiting until wines are in bottle with certain exceptions (e.g., tiny production Pomerols)
- No longer has the same sense of urgency
- Tranche system - release a small amount of wine at one price, then release more later at higher prices
- non-Bordeaux wines price more consistently than Bordeaux wines
- Latour dropping out of en primeur, they wanted to store wines and release them when best for consumers
- Chateau Palmer - sells 50% en primeur, 50% 10 years later
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