Bordeaux 2015: Clos Marquis and Clerc Milon

Clos du Marquis, Clerc Milon and Rieussec have added their names to the growing list of en primeur releases but the increases are getting bigger.

The Barrel Hall (Photo Mathieu Anglada)

Both Clos du Marquis and Clerc Milon have added increases of over 20% on the opening prices of their 2014 wines and while Rieussec didn’t change it’s price at all, it’s still well above many back vintages which, being Sauternes, have struggled to hold their value in the secondary market.

Clos du Marquis was described by Neal Martin as being a wine with “swagger”. He scored it 91-93 and it has scored strong 91-94 points from most major critics (and a 17 from Jancis Robinson MW).

Like Palmer’s Alter Ego, Clos du Marquis is meant to be a more “affordable” taste of its parent estate (in this case Léoville Las Cases). At €36 per bottle ex-négociant – a 22% increase on its 2014 release – does it perhaps have “too much ‘swagger’”? Liv-ex has asked.

Over the last decade’s worth of wines, only the 2005 is more expensive and even then only just, while the 93-point 2009 (as rated by Robert Parker) is £25 cheaper, while the 2014 which is rated 90-92 by Martin (so not hugely different to the 2015) is a full 30.5% cheaper – being under £300 a case.

That said, Clos du Marquis is increasingly less of a ‘second’ wine for Las Cases and this role has been taken by ‘La Petite Marquise’ which is also out today at under £200 per dozen.

Clerc Milon meanwhile, following in the footsteps of its cousin, Armailhac, has released at €43 p/b a full 28% more expensive than the 2014 opening price of €33.6 p/b.

Like Clos du Marquis it has received scores across a 90-95 range from most critics and 17.5 from Robinson, although James Molesworth’s initial spread was 89-92.

Wait for Batailley and Grand-Puy-Lacoste, “where, hopefully, there will be better value for money,” advises Farr Vintners.

A look at Rieussec compared to past vintages is also quite depressing. With a 95-97 spread from Martin who called it a “top-tier Rieussec that hits all the right buttons,” the fact it hasn’t changed its price at all is commendable.

Unfortunately, its 2014 got exactly the same score from Martin yet has declined to under £400 a case since release last year.

So, while the 2015 has been released at €42 p/b like the ’14, it is already 11.3% more expensive.

Only the 2013 is more expensive over the last 10 years but the 97-point rated 2009 (also one Martin rated) at under £300 a case is a full 35% less expensive.

Slightly more encouraging buys, at least from the point of view of Corney & Barrow, are the red and white from Larrivet Haut-Brion which “pass the price inspection police” and Croizet-Bages which, it notes, is a winery “on the up”.