So the wines from my last post are called Petit Chateaux. The tiny half bottles behind the giant cat. These are the inexpensive wines from Bordeaux that can be really terrific values. To give you some perspective, Bordeaux is the largest AOC (appellation controlled wine region) in France, with something like 10 thousand producers. They churn out around 660 million bottles of wine, mostly red, a year. In a good vintage, lots of good wine is produced and ready to drink now. The nice part about Bordeaux is that you can also hold onto it for like five or so years. Even the cheap stuff. (In a good vintage) Not that it lasts in our house for that long, but more on that later.
So, let's see. The 2009 Bordeaux started to arrive here in the U.S.A. in October of 2010. I started to show them in Delaware in September. Wine buyers tend to love these wines. because they are quite simply, cheap and really good. As a wine rep, I'm really not supposed to use the term cheap. I'm supposed to say "good value" during a sale. One of my favorite things in the world is tasting an account on an inexpensive, high quality Bordeaux. First, they swirl and sniff the wine. The eyebrows go up in surprise. Oooh. Nice. Lots going on here, I see. We chat about the kids, how's business, any trips planned? Then they taste, spit, take a look at the bottle. I can see they like what they are tasting. I tell them whatever info I have on the producer, region, grapes used. Then...they ask me, how much? This is my favorite part. When I show them a Bordeaux that will retail for between $10 and $15 dollars, they smile. They order wine for the shop/restaurant. I order wine for the house. Everyone is happy.
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