Bordeaux En Primeur: what are the risks and rewards of buying Bordeaux wines before they’re even in the bottle?
In this episode of Le Grand Voyage, Joe Fattorini explains ‘en primeur’ and the risks and rewards of this way of buying wine.
Across the Bordeaux wine region, en primeur week is an annual gathering of wine journalists keen to assert their authority – and wine merchants keen to sell a lot of wine. It’s a time of rivalry, speculation and slightly tricky language. So how can you make sure you’re buying an excellent Bordeaux wine?
Joe has a few tips to translate the sales language of these merchants and to make sure you know what you’re likely to find when the wine is bottled. After all, was it really the ‘perfect vintage’? How do you know whether to buy something that might ‘reward time in the cellar’?
Most of all, however, it’s important to remember the real reason to buy quality Bordeaux wines: wine is for drinking, for sharing, and for enjoying.
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What is Le Grand Voyage?
Beginning in August 2020, Le Grand Voyage will take you on a Bordeaux wine tour unlike any other. You’ll discover the reason cork is the preferred wine bottle closure, why wine tasting needs the right glassware, and how the region’s most famous grapes found their place. You will also hear the stories (and controversies) of French wine classification, and even a few tales of war and conflict that have helped shape and define Bordeaux and other French wine appellations over the last few centuries.
But it’s not just about wine: Le Grand Voyage is about stories. Joe’s love of Bordeaux wine (and French wine appellations in general) is as much about the history of the region as it is about the wines themselves. You’ll find out why Bordeaux is the wine of American presidents; why Irish and English names grace famous French wine labels; and why a sailing ship graces ours.
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We are Château Malartic-Lagravière, a Cru Classé de Graves of the Pessac-Léognan appellation in Bordeaux, France.
Our vineyards sit on the finest gravelly soils of Léognan, south of Bordeaux city. Much of our plot is dedicated to the red wine grapes made famous by the Bordeaux appellation, but our terroir also holds the key to one of the region’s best-kept secrets: first-class Bordeaux white wines.
Château Malartic-Lagravière’s history dates back to the 18th century. We were one of only six wine producers in Bordeaux to enter the 1953 Graves classification for both red wine and white wine. These same varieties are still grown in our vineyards today: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon.
The Bonnie family now takes care of the vines and wines using traditional techniques and
modern sustainable agriculture practices to produce wines of incomparable character,
complexity and sophistication.
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