This pesky virus part 2 - The 2019 Bordeaux vintage

The Covid19 virus is playing havoc with the wine investment market. In general commodity prices follow the economy. Wine and Oil prices even seem to follow one another. I am not a wine investor and with the state of the economic conditions at the moment I would not get involved even if I had pots of spare cash to invest. If you invest in wine then you do it for the long term if you do not want to take too much of a risk. You also need to invest in wines which you know have staying power. You need to invest in wines which are prestigious - such as Château Petrus or Château Latour.

The 2019 Bordeaux vintage was a good one but many of the prestigious wines are being sold at a discount, so now could be a good time to buy especially as the lockdown prevented wine buyers going to Bordeaux to taste and assess the wines before they were bottled. If you decide that now is a good time to buy then make sure that you choose a supplier who is honest and will give you sound advice and that any wine you buy enters into your possession. You could buy a wine contract from an unreliable supplier if you are not careful, and end up losing your money and your wine when, or if, they go bust either unintentionally or intentionally.

If the wine price flops in the long term then you could drink your wine if you have no one to leave it too. I believe that wine should be bought for the pleasure of keeping it to drink rather than to make money.

All investments are risky, including wine, so it might not be wise to borrow money to invest as you could lose all the value of the wine while still having to pay back the loan.

If you are risk averse and have some spare cash you could consider gold sovereigns which tend to increase in value when other markets are risky and they have tax advantages, but once again make sure you have possession of the gold, rather than buying contracts for gold that may not be honoured. You need somewhere safe to store physical investments so wine needs to be stored in a secure location where it can mature slowly in the bottle.

On a less risky note I have seen bottles of 2019 Bordeaux on the supermarket shelves , normally even  a standard bordeaux does not appear on the shelves until 2 years after the vintage. I haven't tried a bottle of 2019 Bordeaux yet but watch this space. If you do buy some 2019 Bordeaux for drinking it will probably be best to keep it for a couple of years before opening.

2011 Château Tour Saint Germain - Red Bordeaux

This wine was a true bargain, we had two bottles left from half a case that we bought donkey's years ago. The wine was ready for drinking and had matured nicely. It goes to show that you do not need to pay a fortune for wine that will keep and mature well in the bottle, provided that you keep it on its side in a dark cool place.

This wine is typical of the Bordeaux region. It is difficult if not impossible to pin down to Blaye but it is readily recognisable as a good Bordeaux wine.

We drank the wine with roast beef one day and roast lamb a few days later. It is worth searching out and represents outstanding value for money.

The fresh fruit flavours of plum and cherries reminiscent of a young Bordeaux had matured and the wine tasted more of preserved fruits. The tannin was still present but in a softened form. The wine was dry and of medium to full body with well integrated acid. The tastes were concentrated and complex and remained on the palate for a long time. It had all the hallmarks of a good wine.