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The joy of collecting Bordeaux
Published: 9th May 2024
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At Berry Bros. & Rudd, Bordeaux wine is not just a product that we sell. Many of our colleagues are passionate collectors, with cellars of their own – of all shapes and sizes. Here, a handful of them consider the magic of Bordeaux.
Philip Moulin
Wine Quality & Authentication Manager
When I first started at Berry Bros. & Rudd, the 1994 Bordeaux vintage had just been shipped.
I bought as many cases as I could on my monthly staff allowance. I can’t remember the exact prices, but I know that most of the Second Growths – your Léovilles and your Pichons – were less than £15 a bottle (including VAT!). I have one bottle left: 1994 Cos d’Estournel. It’s certainly not the greatest Cos vintage of all time, and I should drink it sooner rather than later. But I can’t quite bring myself to pull the cork.
To my mind, Bordeaux is the easiest of the classic regions to collect.
So much has been written about Bordeaux, and it’s all been codified for you already (by the 1855 classification). So, although it’s a big region, it’s easy to learn about. And the quantities made mean that you can always find something of interest in your price range. By comparison, Burgundy is an absolute minefield. My early experiences with Pinot Noir were marred by disappointment because I didn’t really know what to look for. Bordeaux consistently delivered, and just seemed so much more logical – and affordable.
I’ve often thought about what made me start with Bordeaux.
Looking back on it now, I think it was working at the Chewton Glen Hotel, just out of school. I was a lowly hall porter, but the late, great Gerard Basset was Head Sommelier at the time. He must have taken pity on me, and late one evening, as he left, he plonked a decanter beside the Porter’s Lodge. He said he hoped it would make my night shift bearable. It was the last quarter of a bottle of 1976 Ch. Mouton Rothschild. I looked it up in the wine list and, when I saw the price, savoured every last drop.
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01: Cos d’Estournel always leaves an impression
02: Ch. Mouton Rothschild, a destination in Pauillac
At university, I spent all my spare cash on odd bottles of Claret, bought from the bin-end sections of Unwins, Victoria Wine and, most often, Oddbins.
I still have the little book in which I looked up all my treasured purchases, Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book (1992 edition). It majored heavily on the Old World classics, with a few pages at the end to talk about Australia and South Africa. One purchase at the time stands out, although the wine was drunk years ago: I bought six bottles of 1990 Carruades de Lafite at Safeway’s (remember them?) in 1993. It put me over my overdraft limit, but even then it was worth it: “Half price, for one week only, £4.99 per bottle”.
Looking back at them, all the best wine memories are about a moment in time, and the people you are with.
I can remember all of the “best wines”, because it’s my job. But the best memories are different. On one of my first trips to Bordeaux, a group of us stayed the night at a well-known château in Pauillac. After dinner the owners, who must have taken leave of their senses, left us the keys to the château and bade us a cheery good night, as they had to stay in Bordeaux for an early flight the next morning. This was one of the all-time great nights, and I can still taste the 1990.
Sarah Pither
Senior Creative Designer
I started collecting so I could capture special moments and enjoy them in the future.
When I joined Berry Bros. & Rudd, my wine knowledge was non-existent. Wineries were just words on a bottle. And it may be down to my creative mind, but if I saw a nice label, I assumed it must be a good wine. But since working here, I have had the opportunity to learn about regions like Bordeaux, to meet and speak with these amazing producers at events like our annual Bordeaux En Primeur tasting. To hear their stories and see the work they are doing in creating their remarkable wines, it helps you understand and appreciate wine in a totally different way.
Each case in my cellar is a reminder of a different moment in my personal wine journey.
The first cellar I ever stepped foot inside. A case from the vintage of the first Bordeaux publication I designed and printed. The first case of Bordeaux I ever bought was 2020 Ch. Batailley. The branding, the label, is so iconically Bordeaux and I am pleased to have it in my cellar. Each case holds a different memory for me. I look forward to the day that I open each of these bottles with friends and family, transporting me back to those special moments. The most standout memories come from my first ever visit to Bordeaux in 2022.
The first Bordeaux winery I visited was the legendary Ch. Cheval Blanc.
We were handed the keys to the cellars and given the opportunity to explore. I was like a child in a toy shop, discovering the crisp, smooth design of the vat room, with glass windows that create shadows that look like art. Or the beautifully created cellar, sitting under the waves of concrete, that forms a wild garden. Standing on the roof, with the wind blowing, looking down on the vines surrounding the château, you try to take it all in. Later, in a small dining room tucked behind some vats, we ate with directors Pierre-Olivier Clouet and Arnaud de Laforcade, listening to their stories and understanding the vision – and what had gone into the wine that I was holding in my hand.
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03: The Christian de Portzamparc-designed cellar at Ch. Cheval Blanc
04: Véronique Sanders has achieved wonderful things at Ch. Haut-Bailly
Another fond memory involved not a glass of wine, but a cup of freshly made black tea, sitting on the sofa at Ch. Haut-Bailly with Véronique Sanders.
We had spent the afternoon looking around the estate, admiring the beautiful architecture of the newly built vat rooms and cellars, hidden under a carefully sculpted mound that blended into the landscape. We had just finished taking a portrait of Véronique in the vines when she said that if we had a picture of her, she must have one of us. We laughed together as she took our picture. She then kindly invited us inside for a cup of tea; she wanted to know as much about us as we did about her.
At Ch. Grand Mayne in St Emilion, we were greeted by Jean-Antoine Nony, who is the most amazing character.
In the cellar, looking down over the barrels, a picture of Jean-Antoine’s grandfather takes pride of place. This showed me how much family is ingrained into the wine here, as it is at Berry Bros. & Rudd. A video interview with Jean-Antoine proved to be, quite literally, a bigger task than we had anticipated. We knew he was tall, so we lined up the tripod. But it was too low. We got a bench, set it up, and still found it was too small. After a few moments of thinking creatively, we got the shot, with the camera on the shoulder of our photographer, Krystian Krzewinski. It was teamwork at its best: Krystian balancing on this old bench, us holding him up to make sure he didn’t fall off, and all of us laughing as we did it – including Jean-Antoine.
For me, Bordeaux is so iconic and there is so much to discover and learn.
Each time I talk about it, and with such a range of amazing, talented producers, I am just excited to be part of it. Each place has opened its doors, as if we were part of the extended family. It’s moments like this when you see what an important role Berry Bros. & Rudd has as the bridge between the châteaux making these fantastic wines and our customers who enjoy them. There are so many magical stories to be told, and I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to tell them.
Alex Weller
Account Manager
Like many people, Bordeaux was my gateway into the world of fine wine.
Two very different bottles spring to mind: a bottle of 1996 Ch. Lafite Rothschild, my first encounter with a First Growth; and a 2007 Ch. Belle-Brise, Pomerol. I quickly became fascinated by the divide between the Left and Right Banks. On the one hand you had these huge, towering, architectural wines, that needed decades in the cellar. And on the other were these highly sensuous and seductive wines that required minimal cellaring, but equally could go the distance.
There is a universality to Bordeaux.
I know my friends and family would love me to open some old bottles. And if I’m meeting someone for the first time, Bordeaux is a safe bet. There is such a wide array of styles in the reds alone, then you have the dry whites and the sweet wines, all of which lend themselves well to food. Another part is the availability of the wines, especially in the UK, where we’ve been cellaring Claret for centuries. We’re never too far away from a bottle – whether in a restaurant, a shop or a friend’s cellar.
We all have that shelf of opened bottles that we can’t quite let go of (don’t we?).
On said shelf: a duo of 1995 and 1996 Lafite; a 1989 Ch. Curé Bon La Madeleine (the estate was sold to Ch. Canon in 2000); as well as a 2000 Ch. Magdelaine, which was also sold, becoming part of Ch. Bélair-Monange after the 2011 vintage.
Bordeaux ages so well and so reliably.
It offers a window into the past, essentially a form of time travel, allowing you to experience the joys of years gone by, whether that’s the arrival of a godchild (or your own); a wedding anniversary; or simply indulging yourself in your birth-year vintage.
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05: Ch. Pichon Baron is one of Bordeaux’s most distinctive sights
06: Olivier Berrouet has the most daunting job in wine: making Petrus
Vintage variation is inherently fascinating.
How two consecutive years can produce such different wines: 2014 versus 2015, for example; or perhaps more intriguing are the subtle differences between two very similar consecutive years, such as 2009 and 2010.
Most of my Bordeaux memories are inextricably linked to people as much as they are to the bottles themselves.
Some more recent memories include a Petrus masterclass with Olivier Berrouet; tasting four vintages of Ch. Ausone over dinner with Edouard Vauthier; a Ch. Pichon Baron imperial dinner; hosting a Ch. Figeac dinner with Madame Hortense Idoine Manoncourt; or a nine-vintage vertical tasting of Lafite. All of which were very special. But simpler moments stick out, too. A friend introducing me to the wines of Ch. Bel Air-Marquis d’Aligre for the first time. Or an evening spent with friends, “Coravinning” 25 different bottles in a quest for the ultimate reasonably priced château. Or driving around Pomerol with family, knocking on doors for impromptu tastings.
Sarah Adwalpalkar
Senior Marketing Executive
I spent four years living in Paris before I worked at Berry Bros. & Rudd, which was when I developed an interest in Bordeaux.
I was struck by how you could get mature vintages relatively inexpensively, and the diversity that I found. When I moved back to the UK and started working here, I began to add to my collection. The first case I bought was 2021 Ch. Giscours, which I was charmed by at my first En Primeur tasting. I’m looking forward to my patience being rewarded when I withdraw it.
I have a case of 2008 Ch. d’Yquem that I bought when I was at university.
I knew next to nothing about wine at the time, except that it would potentially appreciate in value – and certainly gain in quality and complexity. I’ve sat on the bottles this long, and I’m now too intrigued to let them go.
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07: A case of liquid gold: Ch. d’Yquem
08: Anne Le Naour leads the charge at Ch. Meyney and Ch. Grand-Puy Ducasse
For me, collecting Bordeaux is about the accessibility of the region.
I’ve never been attracted by big names and appellations, but Bordeaux has something to offer at lots of different price points. I want to build a time capsule of wines that I can draw from in years to come, that have a story or memory attached to them. That is an experience which is characteristic of collecting that you don’t get with buying a bottle off the shelf.
A wise colleague told me that you shouldn’t wait for an occasion to drink a wine, you should make the occasion – which I certainly stand by.
I’ve been lucky enough to visit Bordeaux with Berry Bros. & Rudd a couple of times and have many fond memories of meeting different producers.
One treasured memory is having lunch at Ch. Meyney, overlooking the vines and tasting both Meyney and Ch. Grand-Puy Ducasse with winemaker Anne Le Naour. Anne and her team were so hospitable, and it was a privilege to be in the company of inspirational women within the industry in an intimate context.
