Bordeaux 'In Distress' Dozen

Deep in the historic vineyards of the south of France, the venerable vignerons of Bordeaux are grappling with a crisis some call existential. Historic over-production is colliding with both dwindling domestic consumption and export markets like China losing the taste for French red wine. On the flip side, it means there is seriously good claret to be had at uncommonly fair prices…

This special deal mix not only has a secret Réserve claret from a Premier Grand Cru chateau in the village of Pauillac from the widely hailed 2019 vintage. (Premier Grand Cru of course means First Growth, the exclusive status conferred on just five estates in Bordeaux, three of them in Pauillac … so we know this is from one of Lafite Rothschild, Mouton Rothschild or Latour.)

There’s also a 12-year-old Cru Bourgeois Haut-Médoc grown in the shadows of two of the Premier Grand Cru estates, and a merlot-rich red from another great vintage and crafted by Christian Mouiex, a winemaker previously at the helm of Chateau Petrus. Then add a 91-point Cru Bourgeois Haut-Médoc from an estate in the same family for more than 125 years and a stone’s throw from the esteemed Bordeaux appellations of Margaux and St-Julien. Then do a double-take at the price – just $36.99 a bottle across the case, saving you $141 – discounted by almost a quarter.