Bordeaux’s second wines are on the move – both in terms of price and, fortunately, quality – not least because of the increasing rivalry between châteaux and their owners’ insatiable desire to prove that their wines can fetch higher prices than their neighbours. The emergence of third and even fourth wines has enabled ever stricter selections, not just for the grands vins but for the second wines too. Bordeaux buyer for Berry Bros & Rudd, Max Lalondrelle, reports that they started to sell a much higher proportion of second wines from the 2015 vintage.
Sometimes it seems as though every...