Jeff Leve has kindly consented to a Guest Contribution for Bordeaux-Undiscovered and his article features good value 2009 wines from the renowned wine consultant, Stephane Derenoncourt. Most of these wines are under £20 a bottle and are well worth seeking out. Jeff is highly respected in the wine world as an internationally renowned wine writer and … Read more
Chateau Lascombes, Margaux’s largest vineyard – and one of the biggest in Bordeaux – has been sold to French Insurer Mutuelle d’Assurances du Corps de Sante Francais (MACSF) for 200 million euros. Lascombes has been for sale by the investment group Colony Capital since 2007 and apparently attracted several bidders, including Asian buyers. However Colony Capital … Read more
Chateau Clerc Milon has a new label for the 2010 vintage, inspired by the chateau’s brand new chai (more to come on the rash of new chais amongst the Bordelaise chateaux in a later blog) and designed by the famous scenographer Richard Peduzzi. Richard Peduzzi is the interior set designer for the Louvre and d’Orsay museums in Paris … Read more
It’s been reported by Bordeaux Wine News that Chateau Canon has purchased Château Matras, a classified grand cru St Emilion estate, for 8 million euros. Interestingly Liv-ex pointed out in their June Market Report that over the past decade chateaux have been expanding their vineyards: “Looking at just 20 of the major brands in the neighbouring Medoc AOCs of Pauillac, St Estephe and St … Read more
Bordeaux-Undiscovered’s new website is now live and I am really pleased with its new look! Please check it out and see what you think! It has lots of new features and a whole range of new wines to add to our favourites. We have made the site easier to navigate and you can search for a wine by … Read more
You won’t be surprised to learn that two Bordeaux chateaux have commissioned fashion designers to create labels for their wines. After all Chateau Mouton Rothschild has commissioned contemporary artists every year to create an original work to illustrate the label since 1946. Fashion and Wine go hand in glove – in 2009 fashion designer Donna Karen of DKNY designed Chandon’s … Read more
A query earlier this month got me thinking. It was about an unidentifiable bottle dating from the 1870s being overwhelmed by fresh pine and resin flavours. The query was raised by the team (@teamdb on Twitter) at Drinks Business (Europe’s leading drinks trade publication) who had asked if it was plausible that some Bordeaux producers used pine barrels in … Read more
I spotted a report from Idealwine which piqued my interest as it concerned a battle between Chateau Lafite Rothschild and Chateau Lafitte (note the extra ‘t’). The story hails from Pierre-Henri de Menthon’s Blog at Challenges in which he noted that the Court of Appeal at Toulouse noted the withdrawal of the parties (Chateau Lafite Rothschild versus Max Mengin, owner of Chateau Lafitte) on January … Read more
César Compadre has reported in the French newspaper Sud Ouest that Castel, the top French producer , has bought several chateaux in Bordeaux and 50% of Chateau Beychevelle. Castel was founded in 1949 and over the past 60 years, under the guidance of Pierre Castel, current Founder and President, the status of the company has evolved from that … Read more
I am not a packaging expert but it doesn’t take much to clock the importance of making your wine relevant to its potential consumers. We have had both Lafite and Mouton embellish the packaging (read bottle) for the 2008 vintage in order to appeal to the Chinese market. Lafite’s 08 features an embossed red character … Read more
