Bordeaux 2016: Alter Ego and Clerc Milon

The en primeur campaign moved up a gear yesterday and this morning with the releases of Alter Ego de Palmer and Clerc Milon.

The second wine of Château Palmer was released yesterday (10 May) at €49 a bottle ex-négociant, an 11.3% increase on its 2015.

Margaux is generally agreed to be not quite at its very best in 2016 but the wine is somewhat divisive with Neal Martin rating it 89-91 while James Suckling was more generous with a 95-96 point spread.

On the strength of Martin’s score then the asking price £560 a case may seem a bit steep when there are better-scored back vintages available for less (the 2015 and 2014 for example) or for only a little more (the 2910, 2009 and 2006).

Clerc Milon meanwhile is out this morning at €50.4 p/b ex-négoce, 17.2% up on the 2015 release – the biggest price hike seen so far this campaign.

Listed as potentially one of the best value wines of the vintage by Liv-ex’s global members on the condition it was available for under £500 a dozen, the £575 price tag may count against it.

Then again, it has the critical clout on its side, other vintages such as 2015 and 2014 may be cheaper but they’re 92-rated while the 2016 sits in the 92-94 category and the similarly scored 2005, 2009 and 2010 are more expensive.

Also out yesterday was Ormes de Pez at €21.60 p/b, a 9.1% increase on its 2015 price.