When it comes to red wine, Bordeaux offers no surprises – or does it?
Bordeaux has always projected an image of stability. It's wines tend to be reliably consistent; so much so that they have become a kind of global benchmark for red wine.
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A lot of that goes back to the 1855 classification of Bordeaux, that ranked the top Left Bank properties into five crus, according to their perceived quality. And since then, little has changed, apart from the addition of Château Mouton Rothschild to the top echelon in 1973.
However, things have changed globally in the meantime. Italy's wines have won admirers, as have the wines of the New World. Climate change has affected winemaking hugely, and the rise of phylloxera also led to new approaches to grapegrowing. You can't say wine stood still in 1855 and that the Bordeaux classification is necessarily still relevant to consumers.
Nonetheless, Bordeaux remains a benchmark – and a relatively affordable one too, even at the highest levels.
Interestingly, availability doesn't seem to impact price in Bordeaux the same way it does in Burgundy, where small vintages led to massive price increases across the board, but particularly at the top end. Bordeaux has enjoyed a run of good vintages that have left it with plenty of wine – and plenty of good wine, at that – without really hitting the producers too badly on price.
Looking at the most expensive Bordeaux wines shows there is a certain tension that remains in the region, particularly between the Left and Right banks. While the 1855 classification only considered Left Bank properties, the Right Bank was ignored. How the Right Bank producers responded in the intervening years is interesting.
Saint-Émilion seemed almost pathetically keen to have its own classifictation, an ambition that led to inevitable wrangling, arguments and court action. Pomerol decided it was in the business of making money rather than garnering prestige and never bothered with awarding itself any more status than the appellation title itself.
And looking at the list of Bordeaux's most expensive wines, Pomerol's approach has worked.
The Most Expensive Bordeaux on Wine-Searcher:
| Wine Name | Score | Ave Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petrus, Pomerol | 96 | $4421 | |
| Le Pin, Pomerol | 96 | $4063 | |
| Saute-Loup Reserve de la Famille, Pomerol | N/A | $1737 | |
| Château Angelus Hommage à Elisabeth Bouchet, Saint-Émilion | 100 | $1591 | |
| Château Lafleur, Pomerol | 96 | $1080 | |
| Château Lafite Rothschild, Pauillac | 96 | $979 | |
| Château Haut-Brion Blanc, Pessac-Léognan | 95 | $931 | |
| Château Latour, Pauillac | 96 | $819 | |
| Château Margaux, Margaux | 96 | $786 | |
| Château Cheval Blanc, Saint-Émilion | 96 | $773 | |
| Château Ausone, Saint-Émilion | 96 | $773 |
As mentioned above, Pomerol's focus on wine rather than rankings has paid off handsomely. While the global average price for a bottle of basic red Bordeaux sits at around $15, the equivalent Pomerol price sits at $95. That said, Saint-Émilion's global average price per bottle sits at $91, while Pauillac's is a whopping $215.
However, Pomerol is comfortably out in front at the top price level, thanks to two producers: Petrus (which also produces the Saute-Loop) and Le Pin. Add in three wines from Saint-Émilion and it's suddenly a six-four split in favor of the Right Bank. Perhaps that dusty old classification doesn't really mean that much after all.
And it would be remiss not to mention one wine that would have sat comfortably at the upper levels of this list: maverick winemaker Loïc Pasquet's Liber Pater. The Graves red has a global average price of just above $4300 – and its 2015 vintage has an average price tag of more than $34,000 – but because Pasquet does not abide by Bordeaux's rules (in fact, he openly mocks them), his wines are labeled "Vin de France" instead.
Bordeaux might appear to be gliding serenely across the turbulent waters of the wine world, but there's still a lot of frantic paddling going on beneath the surface.
