Tag Archives: Ch. Gloria

The Real Influencers of the Wine World

Earlier this month, the Drinks Insight Network published their top ten influential wine experts in the beverage industry. They highlighted 10 Twitter accounts with 17,000-245,000 followers and a ranking of at least 54 on GlobalData’s “influencer score”.

Photo by Dantadd. Uploaded to Wikimedia Commons under CC-BY-2.0

Yes, that is Kevin Bacon.

I follow all these accounts on Twitter and it’s not a bad recommendation to check them out. But I only actively interact and read 2-3 of them–Jamie Goode (@jamiegoode), Robert Joseph (@robertjoseph) and Ken Alawine (@alawine). I follow Goode and Joseph for their engaging dialogue about wine topics while Alawine’s feed is a nice diversion of fun memes and infographics.

I don’t think I’ve ever been influenced to buy a wine mentioned by any of them.

And I’m an active social media user who is already motivated to seek out wine stuff.

If I’m so minorly influenced by the most prominent influencers, then what kind of influence do these folks (as well as other influencers/bloggers) really have on the typical wine consumer?

Do You Want The Brutal Truth? 

Very little.

I know this post is not going to make me friends among my fellow bloggers or “influencers”. But I can’t forget about my past life before I really started blogging. In addition to several years working wine retail, I studied winemaking at the Northwest Wine Academy with thoughts of one day opening up my own winery.

Bottling wine

One of my favorite photos from winemaking school. Featured here is my mentor, Peter Bos.

While I’ve moved on from that goal, I still have many friends who work at or own wineries in the Pacific Northwest. When I talk to them about my experiences working in the trenches selling wines like theirs, I’m not going to bullshit them.

I know how tough it is for a small winery to compete in a saturated market. With time and money scarce, I’m not going to encourage my friends to waste either chasing the favor of “influencers”–especially if it’s not really going to help them sell wine.

Yeah, this is a self-defeating post for a blogger to write. Oh well. But I will share with you the same advice I give my winemaker friends. While this is, of course, anecdotal, it’s drawn from my years of helping tens of thousands of consumers while working as a wine steward at a major grocery store chain and a big-box retailer.

It’s also the advice that I would put into practice myself if I started my own winery. There are real influencers out there that drive people to a store looking for wines. But few of them would rank an “influencer score”.

The #1 Influencer — Friends and Family

In over seven years working on the floor, I’ve never had a customer come in with a blog post, Instagram or tweet on their phone looking for a wine. Again, anecdotal, but that is the stark truth.

However, every single day I would have multiple customers come in looking for a wine that a friend or family member recommended to them. These personal recommendations are, by far, the most valuable currency in the industry—and not just in wine.

Of course, friends and family are on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can consider some social media influence from outside sources. But the reach of a blogger or “influencer” is going to be indirect and weaken with each link away from that personal connection.

The Bacon number of wine

A Few Good Men and some Sleepers

Essentially if we want to “Kevin Bacon” this, your best influencers are going to be the folks with a Bacon number of 1. When you start getting 2 steps or more removed from the consumer, the amount of influence dwindles considerably.

Advice for Wineries

Remember, keep your eye on the Bacon.

Personal recommendations from friends and family are more valuable than 90+ points from a famous critic. Wineries should seek these recommendations out every bit as aggressively as they court a high score.

Many wineries allow wine club members to bring guests to the tasting room for free. But I can’t think of many who do “friends and family” wine club events. Most events allow their members to bring only a single guest who is usually going to be a spouse.

How does that help you grow your clientele list? Think about expanding that allowance to 3-4 guests as well as promotions that reward current customers for referrals.

#2 Restaurant By-The-Glass Programs

While Millennials tend to be more adventurous than previous generations, there is always a risk in accepting a recommendation. For many, the risk of paying $7-20 for a glass pour of wine at a restaurant is more appealing than spending $25+ for a full bottle at a store.

After personal recommendations from friends and family, the second biggest driver of consumers to my wine shops was the desire to find something they had at a restaurant. Once in a while, a customer would be seeking something they ordered a bottle of but the vast majority of the time it was something they had from the BTG list.

Advice for Wineries
Photo by Iwona Erskine-Kellie. Uploaded to Wikimedia Commons under CC-BY-2.0

There is a reason why the big mega-corps focus so heavily on their on-premise accounts.

Getting on restaurant wine lists should always be a priority for small wineries. In many ways, it is the perfect setting for people to have their first experience with your wine–with great food and great company.

Placement on the BTG list is even more valuable than being on the general wine list. The intimidation factor is less while the openness to explore is greater. Of course, well-run programs will have talented sommeliers that can hand sell the entire list. However, there are very few consumers (like me) who indulge in things like playing the Somm Game.

Plus, for those consumers who are open to recommendations, the odds are better for your wine getting a BTG recommendation from the sommelier than getting one of your bottles recommended from the full list. Think about it. You’re competing against a dozen or so options by-the-glass versus potentially hundreds of bottle options.

I know competition for placement in these programs is high and brings a lot of challenges. But I firmly believe that the effort pays more dividends than chasing online influencers.

#3 First-Hand Winery Experience

While the influencers above drove more people to my shops, this is the area where wineries most control their destinies. Of course, the quality of your wine should be of paramount importance but second only to that should be the type of experience guests get in your tasting rooms.

Photo by Georg Botz. Uploaded to Wikimedia Commons under CC-BY-SA-3.0

I know the sight of a “Bridesmaid Brigade” fills tasting rooms with dread. But they are all prospective customers, even if they don’t buy jack on that first visit.

Living so close to Woodinville Wine Country and within driving distance of all the major wine regions in the Pacific Northwest, I’ve seen the best and worst of tasting room experiences. I’ve also heard on the floor, from consumers, the best and worst as well.

The best experiences give people a reason to be excited about a winery. Often people visit 2-4 wineries on a trip, so the goal should be to stand out positively. Every tasting room is going to be pouring wine. That’s old hat. The memorable wineries are the ones that give their guests something more than just booze.

Advice for Wineries

I can not emphasize enough the importance of making sure you have a great staff working your tasting rooms. Pay the good ones well and work like hell to retain that talent. They are truly the difference between bringing home the bacon or burning it to a crisp.

I can’t count how many times I recommended a wine only to have a customer recount a bad tasting room experience that they (or friends and family) had. Even if it was several years ago when the winery was owned by someone else, it was a non-starter.

If I started a winery, I would take this Maya Angelou quote and frame it in my tasting room.

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. — Maya Angelou

#4 Published Media “Best of…” lists and Wine Competition Awards

My last retail holiday season was 2017 but I remember it quite well. This is when all the “Top Wines of the Year” and “Best of….” lists come out. It seems like every newspaper and magazine publishes some year-end compendium.

For retailers, these lists are both blessings and a royal pain in the ass. They’re easy sales because consumers come in ready to buy and you can fill their basket in 3 to 5 minutes—that is, if you happen to have the exact wine and vintages. The pain in the ass comes from nearly all these lists featuring wines of limited availability (sometimes even winery-only) or from a vintage long sold out.

Advice for Wineries
Photo by Wine Enthusiast Magazine. Uploaded to Wikimedia Commons under CC-BY-4.0

Customers coming into a wine shop with an actual print copy of a wine magazine is becoming rarer and rarer.

I ranked this one #4 but it could have easily been #5. The influence of traditional print media is certainly fading. When I first got into retail, I would almost weekly have customers coming in with the latest copy of Wine Spectator or the local newspaper critic’s column. Now it seems mostly concentrated on these year-end lists.

I’ve also noticed that the clientele that actively uses these lists skew older as well. Again, only anecdotal, but I suspect that the influence of these media sources will only continue to wane with the growing prominence of Millennials and Generation Z in the market.

Likewise, I see less excitement and influence surrounding wine competitions every year. But there is still some fight in the old girl. Personally, I don’t think they should have much any influence but people like shiny things. Wine competitions dish out lots and lots of shiny things.

For my own winery, I would still be entering competitions and sending samples out to the traditional print media. However, I wouldn’t put all my eggs in these baskets and focus more on the top #1-3 influencers above.

But you ultimately can’t discount the easy sales that a winery can get with prominent list placement. Nor can you downplay the influence that even a silly bronze medal sticker has in making a wine stand out on the shelf.

#5 Wine Apps

Wine apps with Yelp-like rating systems are another thing that I think shouldn’t hold much influence–but they do. As I described in my post Naked and Foolish, I think these apps are incredibly gameable and ripe for misuse.

My apprehensions aside, I realize that wine consumers (particularly the younger set) are downloading and using them. It’s not yet a considerable quantity, hence my #5 ranking, but it is growing. Before I left retail, I would see maybe a handful of customers a week whipping out their phones and scanning bottles to see how many “stars” something got. I can only expect that number to increase.

Advice for Wineries
Wine Searcher screen grab

While not necessarily a rating app itself, I often saw consumers on the floor using WineSearcher to check prices and critic scores.

While I doubt that wine apps would ever supplant the top 3 influencers, it is nonetheless a Bacon number 1 influencer that shouldn’t be ignored.

At the very least, I would recommend that wineries download these apps and pay attention to what scores their wines are getting from consumers. For small wineries that aren’t likely to get many inputs, it is probably not a bad idea to upload nice pictures of your labels. That way when someone is searching for your wines they can find them more easily.

I would avoid the temptation to add your own ratings and take part in the easy gaming of these apps. But that’s just me.

#?? Recommendations of Wine Stewards/Sommeliers

As a steward on the floor with face-to-face contact with consumers, I carried a Bacon number of 1. But how influential I truly was depended on a lot of factors. This makes it difficult to give a blanket ranking on how influential stewards (and in the same vein, sommeliers) really are.

For customers that I interacted with often and built a relationship, my influence would be only behind that of the #1 influencer–family and friends. I earned trust by learning their palates and backing up my recommendations with my knowledge.

But more broadly, my influence probably fell in the #3-5 range depending on the consumer’s personality (i.e. willingness to seek out a recommendation) as well as their past experiences with other stewards and wine shops. It’s very easy for a consumer to feel burned by a bad recommendation that they received one time, from one person, and then be skeptical about any recommendations they get–from anyone.

The hiring prowess and training programs of a wine shop/restaurant have an immeasurable impact on how influential their stewards and somms will be.

Advice for Wineries
Picture with Jean Triaud of Ch. Gloria

A pic from my retail days where I had a chance to meet Jean Triaud, the grandson of Ch. Gloria’s founder Henri Martin.
Trying the wine was nice, but I was able to introduce many more consumers to Ch. Gloria’s wines through the stories and insights that Jean shared.

After family and friends, wine stewards and sommeliers have the potential to be the second most potent influencer selling your wine. I would give the nod to a winery’s own tasting room staff vis-à-vis, but when you add up how many people visit your tasting room versus the numbers that visit wine shops and restaurants, the potential is higher with the latter.

It is undoubtedly in a winery’s best interests to influence these influencers. These are the folks that are in the trenches presenting your wine to consumers. They have the potential to move far more cases of your wine than a blogger like me ever will.

But it is not just about getting wine stewards and sommeliers to try your wines. Keep in mind that they’re likely getting samples, trips and other perks from dozens upon dozens of other wineries.

You need to sell them on what makes your winery unique and distinctive, just like you do to a consumer face-to-face. Successful wineries reach out to wine stewards and sommeliers and give them tools (great stories, behind-the-scenes insights, etc.) that they can share to the thousands of consumers they interact with yearly.

I’m not saying that bloggers and social media influencers have zero influence, though.

I don’t want to come across as slamming my fellow bloggers or denigrating their efforts. I know we’re all working hard to make original and useful content that people will want to read. Believe me; I feel the same flutter of excitement and gratification looking at page views and subscription numbers as you do.

But the truth is, is that we are, at best, Bacon number 2s when it comes to the true reach of our influence. We have some influence, but it is quite limited.

We can contribute content that shows up on Google searches when an already engaged and intrigued consumer looks for more info on a wine. Indeed, this is the area where we probably exert the most influence which is why creating original and compelling content is critical.

But that audience of actively engaged consumers is still relatively small. And those prospective consumers needs to be initially “engaged” by something else before they start searching–often by things in the Bacon number 1 realm like sommeliers and wine stewards.

Photo from Renee Comet of the National Cancer Institute. Uploaded to Wikimedia Commons under PD-author

Engage bacon is by far the most influential bacon.

Now bloggers and social media influencers can certainly influence those sommeliers and wine stewards. Stepping back and thinking about my retail days, I most certainly read blogs and got intrigued by wines.

However, when I step back further and look at the blogging and “wine influencer” scene–when I look at what I’m doing–I realize that we are mostly just influencing ourselves.

Spend any amount of time scanning the comments and likes on Instagram of notable wine influencers and you start seeing a pattern.
It’s the same people talking to each other.

Now, truthfully, that is great because this is a community that abounds with terrific friendships. One of the most edifying results of attending the Wine Bloggers Conference was meeting fellow bloggers that I could geek out with.

But we can’t mistake shared passion for influence.
Photo by J.Dncsn. Uploaded to Wikimedia Commons under CC-BY-SA-3.0

Non-engaged bacon.
This is how I view my blog posts. They’re an ingredient that needs to be “cooked” before its sweet aroma influences anyone.

Wineries that invest hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars sending out samples to influencers are not getting their money’s worth. Especially compared to the return on investment they could get focusing on the Top 3 influencers I noted above.

Preaching to the choir will never bring people off the streets and into the pews. And getting people off the streets to check out wines is the whole point of marketing. It’s what wineries need to do in order to survive.

That is why when my good friends with wineries approach me about sampling their wines for review, I’ll accept them–but I’m not going to mislead them about my “influence.” I know that there are better ways that they could be spending their time and money.

And sharing that might be my real influence.

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Bordeaux Futures 2017 — Beychevelle, Talbot, Clos du Marquis, Gloria

Photo by Tracey & Doug. Uploaded to Wikimedia Commons under CC-BY-SA-2.0After hitting Pessac-Léognan in our last post, we’re are going to continuing our overview of the 2017 Bordeaux Futures campaign by heading to St. Julien to look at the offers for the 4th Growths Ch. Beychevelle and Talbot, Clos du Marquis made by the Delon family of Château Léoville-Las Cases and the well-regard unclassified estate of Ch. Gloria.

First time visitors to the series are well served by starting with our very first Bordeaux Futures 2017 post covering the offers of Palmer, Valandraud, Fombrauge and Haut-Batailley. That post lays the groundwork out for our approach here at Spitbucket with buying futures for the 2017 vintage.

At the bottom of the page there are links for additional posts in this series. You can also subscribe to SpitBucket to get the latest entries delivered right to your email.

Now onto the offers.

Ch. Beychevelle (St. Julien)

Some Geekery:

The origins of Beychevelle dates back to 1565 when it was owned by a member of the Foix Candale family who owned the historical estate of Ch. d’Issan in Margaux.

However, the name “Beychevelle” came about during its time under the ownership of Jean Louis de Nogaret de La Valette, the Duke of Epernon, who as Admiral of France commanded high respect with ships lowering their sails in tribute as they passed by his estate on the Gironde. The local terms for “lower the sails”, becha vela and baisse voile, eventually became Beychevelle. The estate pays homage to this history with the sail boat featured prominently on the label.

Photo by PA. Uploaded to Wikimedia Commons under CC-BY-SA-4.0

The beauty of the Chateau at Beychevelle has prompted comparisons to the “Versailles of Bordeaux”.


Over the next couple centuries Beychevelle would see a series of owners (including Pierre-François Guestier of Barton and Guestier fame) until the 1980s when it was sold to a group that included Japanese whiskey maker Suntory and the negociant firms Barriere Freres and Oenoalliance.

Today Ch. Beychevelle is part of a portfolio that includes the 3rd Growth Château Lagrange, large Haut-Medoc estate Château Beaumont, German wine producer Weingut Robert Weil, the Suntory Tomi no Oka Winery in the Yamanashi Prefecture as well as joint ventures with Champagne house Laurent-Perrier, sparkling wine producer Freixenet, Georges Duboeuf, Domaines Barons de Rothschild and E & J Gallo.

The Suntory group brought Philippe Blanc in as technical director with Romain Ducolomb, formerly of Ch. Clinet in Pomerol, joining him in 2012. Since 2008, the estate has been in the process of converting all its vineyards to organic and sustainable viticulture and have earned ISO 14001 certification for the property.

Ch. Beychevelle’s 14 plots of vineyards are scattered throughout the commune of St. Julien and includes a small plot that is technically outside the AOC boundaries in the Haut-Medoc commune of Cussac. However, due to the estate’s historical use of the vines dating back before the 1855 classification, they have been grandfathered into permitted use for Beychevelle’s Grand Vin and second wine, Amiral de Beychevelle. Other parcels include neighboring plots that border the 2nd Growth estates of Ducru Beaucaillou, Léoville-Barton and Gruaud Larose.

The 2017 is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot, 4 Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc. Around 25,000 cases a year are produced.

Critic Scores:

93-95 Wine Enthusiast (WE), 92-95 Vinous Media (VM), 93-94 James Suckling (JS), 90-93 Wine Spectator (WS), 90-92 Wine Advocate (WA), 94-96 Jeff Leve (JL), 92-94 Jeb Dunnuck (JD)

Sample Review:

Only 52% of the production went into the 2017 Château Beychevelle (they normally shoot for 60%), and the blend is 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot and the rest Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc that’s still aging in 60% new oak. This inky purple-colored beauty gives up loads of blue fruits, black cherries, underbrush, and a touch of minerality in a medium to full-bodied, pretty, elegant package that’s very much in the style of the vintage. This estate has been on a serious roll lately, and the 2017 isn’t going to break the trend. — Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com

Offers:
Wine Searcher 2017 Average: $77
JJ Buckley: $75.94 + shipping (no shipping if picked up at Oakland location)
Vinfolio: No offers yet.
Spectrum Wine Auctions: $443.94 for minimum 6 bottles + shipping (no shipping if picked up at Tustin, CA location)
Total Wine: $79.97 (no shipping with wines sent to local Total Wine store for pick up)
K&L: $74.99 + shipping (no shipping if picked up at 1 of 3 K & L locations in California)

Previous Vintages:
2016 Wine Searcher Ave: $95 Average Critic Score: 93 points
2015 Wine Searcher Ave: $96 Average Critic Score: 93
2014 Wine Searcher Ave: $100 Average Critic Score: 92
2013 Wine Searcher Ave: $81 Average Critic Score: 90

Buy or Pass?

I wholeheartedly agree with Dunnuck that Beychevelle has been rocking it for the last decade or so, making several bottles (like the 2009 WS Ave $121) that I would put on par with many 2nd Growths. Sadly (for consumers) this success has not been a well kept secret so the prices have risen quite a bit over the past several years.

That’s what makes seeing a 2017 average under $80 such a surprise and a very solid Buy that I’m going to jump on. I wouldn’t be shocked to see the price of this one rise when the bottles finally hit the market closer to the $90-100 mark that the 2014-2016 are fetching now.

Ch. Talbot (St. Julien)

Some Geekery:

Photo by Peter I. Vardy. Uploaded to Wikimedia Commons under PD-self.

The tomb of John Talbot who died fighting against the French in the Battle of Castillon.


Named after John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, who died in 1453 in the decisive Battle of Castillon during the Hundred Years’ War, it is not exactly known what the English commander’s connections were to the St. Julien property. Clive Coates notes in Grands Vins: The Finest Châteaux of Bordeaux and Their Wines that there is no evidence that Talbot owned any property at all in the Medoc.

However, with the English being such avid consumers of Bordeaux wines, many Bordelais during the 15th century had English sympathies during the war so it’s possible that the estate was named in honor of those sympathies.

The modern history of Talbot began in 1917 when it was purchased by the Cordier family who were notable negociants. For several decades, the Cordiers bypassed the Place de Bordeaux and en primeur system by selling their wines directly (and exclusively) through their negociant firm. But now Talbot is available through several firms and merchants.

The same year the Cordiers bought Talbot they also purchase a stake in the 2nd Growth Ch. Gruard-Larose which they later sold in 1997 to Jacques Merlaut. In 1999, the family acquired the Haut-Medoc estate Chateau Senejac which was ran by Lorraine Cordier until her death in 2011. Today both Talbot and Senejac are managed by Lorraine’s sister, Nancy Bignon-Cordier with Stephane Derenoncourt and Jacques Boissenot as consultants. In 2017, Jean-Michel Laporte (formerly of La Conseillante in Pomerol) was brought on as technical director.

Among the unique viticultural practices of Talbot is the use of Genodics technology that uses electromagnetism and sound waves emitted into the vineyard to control growth.

Unlike many other Left Bank estates with their many scattered parcels, the vineyards of Talbot are essentially one large block of 102 ha (252 acres) neighboring the trio of Léoville properties Las-Cases, Barton and Poyferré.

Photo by Mike Case. Uploaded to Wikimedia Commons under PD-self

I’ve not had this 2000 Talbot but given my experience with this estate, I’m willing to bet that this wine still has a lot of stuffing and life.


The current ratio of red grapes planted is 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc with the amount of Cabernet Sauvignon in the vineyard steadily decreasing since the 1990s in favor of the other three varieties. Around 25,000 cases a year are produced.

Critic Scores:

92-93 JS, 91-93 WE, 90-93 WS, 90-92 VM, 87-89 WA, 90-92 JL,

Sample Review:

The 2017 Talbot is powerful and dense, but also a bit rough around the edges, with burly tannins that add to that impression. It will be interesting to see if the 2017 acquire more finesse during aging. Based on the wine’s persistence, there is a reasonably good chance that will happen. Intense blue/black fruit, gravel, smoke and licorice add to the wine’s dark personality. Tasted two times. — Antonio Galloni, Vinous

Offers:
Wine Searcher 2017 Average: $57
JJ Buckley: $56.94 + shipping
Vinfolio: No offers yet.
Spectrum Wine Auctions: $335.94 for minimum 6 bottles + shipping
Total Wine: $56.97
K&L: $54.99 + shipping

Previous Vintages:
2016 Wine Searcher Ave: $62 Average Critic Score: 92 points
2015 Wine Searcher Ave: $70 Average Critic Score: 92
2014 Wine Searcher Ave: $50 Average Critic Score: 91
2013 Wine Searcher Ave: $55 Average Critic Score: 89

Buy or Pass?

While I’ve enjoyed many bottles of Talbot over the years, these are not wines for the impatient. Even the very warm and ripe 2003 vintage (WS Ave $81) needed at least a decade to finally open up and start delivering pleasure. I probably won’t even think about touching another of the 2005s (WS Ave $124) in my cellar till at least 2020.

Perhaps Laporte’s influence and the increase of Merlot in the vineyards will gently shift Talbot to a more approachable style but that remains to be seen. But for now and with my goal of seeking more short-term “cellar defenders” from 2017, I’m going to Pass.

Clos du Marquis (St. Julien)

Some Geekery:

Originally created by the Delon family as a second wine of the 2nd Growth Léoville-Las-Cases in 1902, today Clos du Marquis is its own entity with its own second wine, La Petite Marquis.

The vineyards for Clos du Marquis are separate and distinct from the Léoville-Las-Cases parcels. Located in the northern end of the commune they are flanked by neighboring vines of 2nd Growths Léoville Poyferré, Léoville Barton as well as Pichon Lalande across the border in Pauillac.

However, the estate is still worked by the same viticulture and winemaking team as Léoville-Las-Cases with Jean Hubert Delon managing the property and Bruno Rolland as cellarmaster.

The 2017 vintage is a blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc. Between 4000 to 8000 cases are produced each year.

Critic Scores:

93-94 JS, 91-94 WS, 91-93 WA, 90-93 VM

Sample Review:

This takes its time, has a fairly hefty structure and unfurls at its own pace. The last day of harvest was 4 October, but the overall growth cycle was early so they were able to wait for full ripeness, and even though the fruit flavours are savoury, they are intense. It certainly has some bounce and energy, and the balance is there too. An enjoyable wine that should be ready to drink within four to six years, but the low pH and good freshness suggest it should also age well. 55% new oak barrels. 80% of production, with the rest going into the second wine. (90 points) — Jane Anson, Decanter

Offers:
Wine Searcher 2017 Average: $51
JJ Buckley: No offers yet.
Vinfolio: No offers yet.
Spectrum Wine Auctions: $305.94 for minimum 6 bottles + shipping
Total Wine: $49.97
K&L: $49.99 + shipping

Previous Vintages:
2016 Wine Searcher Ave: $58 Average Critic Score: 91 points
2015 Wine Searcher Ave: $65 Average Critic Score: 92
2014 Wine Searcher Ave: $50 Average Critic Score: 92
2013 Wine Searcher Ave: $54 Average Critic Score: 90

Buy or Pass?

Photo by Tomas er. Uploaded to Wikimedia Commons under CC-BY-SA-3.0

While thought of as a “second wine”, Clos du Marquis is really its own estate with dedicated vineyards.

Even though Clos du Marquis isn’t an official second wine, you can still taste the “baby brother” resemblances to the hulking, well-structured style of Léoville-Las-Cases. This is a wine that regularly drinks like it could be a 3rd growth itself and is often a pretty stellar value for its pedigree.

But it does usually need adequate time in the cellar to truly show its stuff. While Anson seems optimistic that it will come around in 4-6 years, for around the same average price I’m much more incline to pick up more bottles of the 2014.

This is always a solid wine and would be a good buy for Bordeaux drinkers who want to build up a cellar and get a “baby Léoville-Las-Cases” (2017 WS Ave $197) for nearly a quarter of the price. But for me, and my buying objectives this vintage, I’m going to Pass.

Ch. Gloria (St. Julien)

Some Geekery:

While I’m sure the audience would mostly be made up of just wine geeks, I would love to see a movie about the life of Henri Martin. The mayor of St. Julien during World War II, Martin dreamed of owning a top Bordeaux estate and started piecing together what would become Ch. Gloria in 1939.

Jean Triaud, the grandson of Ch. Gloria’s founder Henri Martin.


With the advice and encouragement of his close friend Jean-Charles Cazes of Ch. Lynch-Bages, Martin would buy, barter and trade parcels of vines over the next couple decades from nearly every classified growth in St. Julien. Today Ch. Gloria is made up of 50 ha (124 acres) of vines that originally belonged to the 2nd Growths of Ducru Beaucaillou, Gruaud Larose, Léoville-Barton, Léoville-Poyferré, 3rd Growth Ch. Lagrange and 4th Growth Ch. Beychevelle at the time of their classification in 1855. He even acquired some vineyards from the Pauillac estate Duhart-Milon that they owned in St. Julien.

The estate is still owned by Martin’s daughter Francoise and by her husband Jean Louis Triaud with their children, Vanessa and Jean, actively involved. The Martin-Triaud family also own the 4th Growth Ch. Saint Pierre and Ch. Bel Air in the Haut-Medoc.

The 2017 is a blend of 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 8% Petit Verdot. Around 20,000 cases a year are produce.

Critic Scores:

91-94 WS, 91-94 VM, 91-93 WE, 90-91 JS, 89-91 WA, 90-92 JL, 90-92 JD

Sample Review:

While this wine has plenty of wood flavors, the fruit weight justifies it. It is rich with good spice and balanced acidity. It will develop relatively quickly, drink from 2023. — Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast

Offers:
Wine Searcher 2017 Average: $40
JJ Buckley: $39.94 + shipping
Vinfolio: No offers yet.
Spectrum Wine Auctions: $227.94 for minimum 6 bottles + shipping
Total Wine: $39.97
K&L: $39.99 + shipping

Previous Vintages:
2016 Wine Searcher Ave: $46 Average Critic Score: 92 points
2015 Wine Searcher Ave: $54 Average Critic Score: 91
2014 Wine Searcher Ave: $45 Average Critic Score: 91
2013 Wine Searcher Ave: $41 Average Critic Score: 88

Buy or Pass?

It’s hard to hide my affection for Ch. Gloria. As I noted in my review of the 2009 Ch. Gloria, these wines are almost always criminally under-priced with how consistently delicious they are.

They can easily be priced like many 3rd and 4th growths but due to the quirks of the Bordeaux market and lasting legacy of the 1855 classification (not to mention the Martin-Triaud family’s apparent lack of ego), they remain one of the best bangs for the buck in the wine world. Always a solid Buy.

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60 Second Wine Review — 2009 Ch. Gloria

Some quick thoughts on the 2009 Chateau Gloria from Saint Julien.

The Geekery

According to Stephen Brook in The Complete Bordeaux, long-time St. Julien mayor Henri Martin began piecing together the estate that would become Ch. Gloria in 1939.

Clive Coates noted in Grands Vins, that Martin was able to add pieces of vineyards to Gloria that originally belonged to the Second Growths of Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou, Ch. Gruaud-Larose, Ch. Léoville-Barton, Ch. Léoville-Poyferré, the 3rd Growth Ch. Lagrange and 4th Growth Ch. Beychevelle. He even acquired parcels of vineyards in St. Julien that was owned by Ch. Duhart-Milon.

Today the estate is around 124 acres and ran by Henri Martin’s son-in-law, Jean-Louis Triaud, who also manages the 4th Growth estate Chateau St. Pierre.

The 2009 is a blend of 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 6% Petit Verdot. The yearly production of the estate is around 250,000 bottles with a second wine, Ch. Peymartin, also produced.

The Wine

Pop and pour, medium plus intensity nose with dark fruits like black plum and black current and a sweet floral note. After 45 minutes in the decanter, it becomes spicy with a combination of tobacco spice and oak spices like cinnamon and clove

By Pollinator - Own workAssumendTransferred from en.wikipedia, CC BY 2.5,on Wikimedia Commons

Right now the 2009 Gloria has more of a fresh tobacco leaf spiciness to it. With more age I can see it become more cured cigar tobacco spicy.

On the palate, those spice notes still dominant, adding loads of layers that you want to unfurl with your tongue, piece by piece. Medium plus tannins and medium plus acidity compliment the mix of dark and red fruits. Very long finish adds a Christmas fruitcake note.

The Verdict

This wine is still fairly young but it is in a beautiful spot right now. It could go easily another 10-15 years without blinking an eye.

At around $60-65, the 2009 Chateau Gloria is criminally under priced for how good it is. From a blockbuster vintage, this wine is going toe to toe with 3rd and 4th Growth wines that are 20-55% higher in price. If you find this wine, grab it.

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