I just saw some estimated prices for the much ballyhooed '09 Bdx wines.
It's been a few years since I last paid much attention to new releases
of Bdx, but my first reaction was one of shock. First growth pricing
was consistently at $1000-2000 per bottle and many former (relative)
bargains such as Montrose and Pichon-Lalande are going for $300-350 a
bottle. Granted, there were a few standouts such as Gruaud-Larose and
Leoville-Barton that still had reasonable pricing, but they were the
rare exception. It was not that long ago that most of these wines were
retailing for 1/4-1/5 of their current prices.

Some of this is the result of RMP's hype:
<http://www.independent.co.uk/money/spend-save/wine-investors-raise-a-glass-to-the-2009-bordeaux-7553609.html>

but that only explains a fraction of the overall effect. So, has it
been demand from China that's fueled this rise? Growing demand and
limited supply?

Cornfuzzedly yours,
Mark Lipton

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