September 2003 Newsletter Extra :

We, at Dunbar Fine Wine have been of the opinion that the 2002 Bordeaux vintage has not been one to buy from. This was borne out by so many wines being of a quality that we would not recommend our clients to buy. However, the Medoc wines and in particular the commune of Pauillac have developed particularly well and with the seal of approval of Robert Parker Jnr they are destined to move up quite sharply over the next few weeks.

See below for the extract from the interview.

We therefore recommend the following:

• Château Lafite 2002 approx 748 GBP plus commission
  
• Château Latour 2002 approx 850 GBP plus commission
  
• Château Lynch Bages 2002 approx 223 GBP plus commission

If you wish to order, then please do not delay as these prices will be moving up very quickly.
For the wine drinkers out there this will be a great opportunity of buying a First Growth to consume, if you purchase a few cases then it will not be out of the bounds of possibility that you could sell off all but one case and get it for "free."

Robert Parker Jnr, who is currently in Bordeaux tasting the 2002 vintage, gave a brief interview to the French newspaper Le Sud-Ouest this week. The brief opinion he gives of the vintage is as follows:

"Some pleasant surprises: the Indian summer saved the vintage, and the Cabernet Sauvignon really benefited from it. Pomerol seems to me to be the weakest appellation. Many St Emilions are over-extracted and, as there was not as much fruit as in 1998 or 2000, some of the wines are rather astringent. The red Graves are good across the board. And the vintage is a real success in the Medoc where there are some great wines. The First Growths of Pauillac are splendid - not far behind the 2000s. As far as the whites are concerned, I still prefer the 2001s - there are some good whites in 2002, but none are exceptional."

August 2003 Newsletter: The trials and tribulations of a long hot summer...

STOP PRESS: BRAND NEW SELECTION Click here a selection of fine wines for purchase, some as a case that you can mix yourself from a superb selection and some in case quantities. They are all great quality wines from some of the best and most prestigious merchants in the UK. The wines are made by very well respected and hugely talented producers from around the world and can be delivered to your door in just a few days, sometimes less than 24 hours! Try us, you will not be disappointed.

The FT100 is currently at 4237 and the Dow Jones is at 9306 displaying a very small recovery of 3% and 1% respectively over the last few months. I read as much as anyone with respect to the markets and there are those out there who are "confidently" predicting a rise of up to 15% in the next few months, others predict a "market rout."

The Eurozone is stagnating whilst Germany is in recession; growth forecasts for major economies are being revised downwards and there is still some dispute as to which direction interest rates are going. The problems between Israel and the Palestinians go on, with little real sign of settlement and the US seem to be getting set for the long haul in Iraq with estimates of one billion dollars per week as the cost of remaining in that troubled country. You toss the coin as to which way it is all going to go, because your guess is probably as good as mine. I am however struck with the thought that if all these so called experts are as good as they say; then why aren't they lying on a Caribbean beach having made millions using their so-called expertise rather that attempting to persuade us to buy into their self serving theories - it was just a thought, that's all!!

The weather has been fantastic in the UK and Europe and this has had it's upside and downside in all sorts of different ways. It has been great to experience a fabulous summer and this has great prospects for the 2003 vintage in Bordeaux where they have started picking at Haut Brion on the 13th of August. It was in 1893, according to local records, that the vendage commenced several days later on 15 August and you have to go back to the days of the French Revolution for indication of a similarly early harvest. There are some problems however, with news that due to the extended hot dry summer, the younger vines have started to shutdown (blocked) due to a combination of heat and drought. The older vines with established deep roots that have access to moisture are doing much better, but fingers crossed that 2003 has at this stage to be an absolute cracker. News is similar in Burgundy where they are one full month ahead with a high quality crop in prospect and the Rhone valley looks quite exceptional as well. I mentioned the downside; well we at Dunbar Fine Wine stopped moving clients wine around 3 weeks ago due to the high temperatures, fine wine that is exposed to the sort of heat that we have experienced of late can be irrevocably damaged. The evidence will be corks that slightly protrude and of wine leakage past the capsule that leaves stains in the box and sometimes on the labels. I have heard of wine that has been literally "cooked" in transit and this is a great shame and totally avoidable given some thought and patience by the merchant or shipper.

The UK wine market has been active with Bordeaux 2000 and 2002. Stocks of the 2000's have arrived in the UK and demand is still strong for the very best wines. We have sold significant quantities of Petrus, Lafleur and good quantities of the 1st growths especially Latour. Château Hosanna 2000 has become very difficult to obtain with the current market price at just over the £1000 mark with one Bordeaux speculator asking over 1300 GBP per case for a 3 case lot! Clients who have purchased that wine will be surprised to hear that NO 2002 was released as the Château considered that the wine was not of sufficient quality. This was a brave and very expensive decision to make but in time when Hosanna achieves its place in the Bordeaux hierarchy, history will applaud this decision. On the question of a Château not releasing a particular vintage, Vieux Telegraphe did the same for their 2002, you may remember that Châteauneuf-du-Pape suffered dreadful storms last autumn and this vineyard was turned into a lake. I have great admiration for owners of properties who put quality before profit, this very rare in a world that is increasingly avaricious.
Some merchants have been selling huge quantities of Bordeaux 2002 and touting it as a very good investment. I have great reservations about this, there was some good wine made - of that there is little doubt; but purchasers of some very well known properties will I suspect have problems unloading their wine in 2-3 years time. Robert Parker has yet to make an assessment of 2002 and there may be quite a few tears shed when the scores finally appear.
The prices of the top 2000's from Bordeaux are starting to make great wine from 1982, 1986, 1990 and 1996 look positively inexpensive. If you are offered some of these wines then please obtain condition reports as well as cast iron provenance, there are significant quantities of wine that the words "barge and pole" most certainly apply to.
The 2001 Rhones have come onto the market and the quality is quite stunning in a number of instances, Beaucastel and Chapoutier quite excelled themselves, the former having a great upside for fabulous drinking and investment potential. Look out for the Beaucastel Hommage 2001, as it will almost certainly be a 100-point wine and a veritable legend.
In the last few weeks we arranged the sale of some Rayas 1990, which was purchased at 280 GBP in 1994, it went to the Far East at over 4200 GBP. Another example of wine that became too expensive to consume, even for wine lovers.
Penfolds Grange 1998 is still a great seller, we have access at 1720 GBP but sadly only 4 cases, so it's first come, first served. Robert Parker Jnr gave it 99/100, the very same score as The Wine Spectator and as they say the rest is history. Demand for Grange has been frenetic at times, little wonder as it is said to be the best Grange that has been produced since 1986!

Some wine that is about to hit the open market is Loire 2002, Chablis 2002, Beaujolais 2002 and Burgundy 2002. Wines from these regions are all very good, but the Burgundy is an absolute corker!

If you wish to purchase any of the wines mentioned in the Newsletter or any other wines that you would like to have then please complete the form in the Contact section

Please be aware that we can assist in the disposal of unwanted or surplus wine. I said that we obtained in 4200 GBP per case for some 1990 Rayas, well the lowest offer that we obtained was a pathetic 3000 GBP from one very high profile UK merchant who lists the same wine at 100%+ mark up, so that was an attempt at daylight robbery that failed. Note that very often the merchant one purchases the wine from is not always the one that will pay the best price on selling. Some companies offer to broker the wine and list it, but very often the wine can take an inordinate amount of time to finally be sold and not at the price first agreed. Please ask us to quote; we will endeavour to make sure that you are not disappointed. We are also able to help with wine collections that are not case quantities, but bottle collections, you may be surprised at what sort of sums can be realised.


STOP PRESS: BRAND NEW SELECTION Click here a selection of fine wines for purchase, some as a case that you can mix yourself from a superb selection and some in case quantities. They are all great quality wines from some of the best and most prestigious merchants in the UK. The wines are from very well respected and talented producers around the world and can be delivered to your door in just a few days!

If you wish to discuss the acquisition or disposal of wine, please complete the form in the Contact section.
We are available if you wish to call on the phone number listed below.

Check out our Investment Section to see for yourself how fine wine has historically been a first-class and consistent investment, when the wine is sourced from reliable suppliers and not some of the cowboys that have given our business problems in the past.