What’s the best time to purchase Bordeaux from the outstanding 2015 vintage? It’s Saturday Sept. 29 at Signature BC Liquor stores, especially at 39th and Cambie in Vancouver or Brighouse and Ironwood in Richmond.
At 9:30 a.m., the doors open for collectors and wine drinkers who want to have first pick of the 200 wines from one of France’s premium wine regions, Bordeaux. Master of wine Barbara Philip is the manager for European wines and chose the 200 different wines.
“I love the vintage. It’s bright, it’s structured, and it’s the greatest vintage we’ve seen in five years,” says Philip proudly.
If money is no object, buy one of the rarest and most expensive red wines from France, Château Pétrus ($3,500,100 points) in Pomerol on the Right Bank. Unlike most Bordeaux, it’s not a blend but 100 per cent Merlot and is intense and complex.
Expect to experience waves of black cherries, plums, blackberry, tapenade, licorice, and chocolate seducing your senses. Best between 2024 and 2058!
Another perfect scoring Bordeaux is the Château Haut-Brion, Pessace Léognan ($1200, 100 points). Like most red Bordeaux it is a blend; this one is 50 per cent Merlot, 42 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon, and 8 per cent Cabernet Franc.
Château Haut-Brion is one complex and elegant wine with a bouquet of black cherries, pencil shavings, cigar wrapper, plums, cassis and some savoury notes. On the palate it displays blue and black fruit with hints of beef drippings and forest floor. There are fine tannins with a velvety texture, a freshness, balance, and persistence of flavour that is remarkable. Drink from 2024 to 2064.
On the Left Bank is the commune of Pauillac, known for its Cabernet Sauvigon dominant reds with plenty of structure for aging. The appellation is characterized by blackcurrant, cedar, and cigar box.
Pauillac is home to three of the five first growths in Bordeaux: Château Latour, Château Lafite Rothschild ($1500, 100 points), and Château Mouton Rothschild.($1200 and 99 points).
If those prices are not in your budget, I suggest the 2015 Château Lynch Bages Pauillac ($250, 96 points). It is a Fifth Growth Bordeaux and Vinous online wine publication describes it as “one of the finest Pauillacs of 2015, rich, racy, and voluptuous. This is a stellar showing for Lynch-Bages.”
While these top end wines with more fruit, tannins and oak aging will benefit from long-term cellaring, even the moderately priced wines are very good and are ready to drink. Check out my previous column on the Bordeaux in the $25 to $65 range at https://www.richmond-news.com/living/column-a-perfect-time-to-buy-2015-bordeaux-for-your-cellar-1.23438928
If you want to do even more in-depth research before you choose your 2015’s, click on the BCLS’s Bordeaux 2015 website: http://www.bcliquorstores.com/announcement/2015-bordeaux-release.
In it you will discover all the store locations in BC and the brochure, which describes every wine, its rating, and whether it’s drinkable immediately or how long you should cellar it.
Many of the premium wines are limited to one or two bottles, but the ones under $100 don’t have those tight restrictions. Here’s to 2015!
Eric Hanson is a wine educator and journalist.
