Discerning drinker: Bordeaux 2011

You might imagine that any château that can charge £353 a bottle would be laughing. And indeed Château Lafite Rothschild, which last week released its 2011 vintage at that price (€420) will do quite nicely, thank you, out of even a middling vintage like this one.

Still, that sum represents a 30 per cent drop on the release price last year of the Pauillac first growth’s much-lauded 2010, and many leading producers are taking similar-sized hits. More troubling for Bordeaux, by far the world’s greatest source of fine wine, are more fundamental challenges this year to the way it does business.

At issue is the en primeur system, whereby – via a somewhat arcane network of négociants, or middlemen – Bordeaux sells its fine wines the spring after the vintage, long before the wines are even bottled. It is essentially a form of futures trading, which works primarily to the advantage of producers by improving their cash flow.

This year, on the back of a vintage seen as disappointing after the fireworks of 2009 and 2010, there was mounting criticism of the en primeur system, which effectively forces critics and trade buyers to judge unfinished wines. There was residual anger too over the outrageous price hikes of 2009 and 2010, driven in large part by burgeoning new markets in Asia.

Now merchants report sluggish consumer interest in the 2011s, no doubt partly due to downbeat assessments of the vintage and economic woes. And last week, Pauillac first growth Château Latour announced that it will no longer sell its wine en primeur at all, releasing vintages only when they are ready to drink.

Actually I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the weight and balance of the few dozen 2011s I’ve tasted so far (my top 2011 bargain tip: Haut-Médoc Cru Bourgeois trooper Château Cissac, £90/case in bond). You can judge for yourself at The Sampler, 35 Thurloe Place, SW7 and 266 Upper Street, N1, which is offering affordable tasting samples of more than 40 en primeur 2011s until the end of next week. As for Bordeaux’s crisis – well, it may look less troubling with a glass of the crowd-pleasing 2009 in your hand. And in a vintage like 2009, even some of the humblest clarets are leant a patina of sophistication – as the following bottles suggest.

Château Paret 2009, Côtes de Castillon (Waitrose, £9.79 reduced to £6.46 until 8 May)

The Côtes de Castillon, at the eastern end of Bordeaux’s Right Bank, has become a reliable source of affordable claret. This is quite firm and fresh for a 2009 but well balanced – and amazing value while on offer.

Château La Tulipe de La Garde2009, AOC Bordeaux (Sainsbury’s, £9.99, or £7.50 - 25 per cent off - when you buy any six bottles, until midnight next Tuesday, 1 May.)

Dutchman Ilja Gort is an unabashed eccentric; his merlot-dominated claret, made with the help of legendary Pomerol consultant Michel Rolland, is similarly unashamed in its richness and lushness. It’s a bit too plush and obvious, but hard not to like nevertheless.

Héritage de Pierre Lurton 2009, AOC Bordeaux (M&S, £10.99)

A big, ripe, oaky, merlot-dominated wine from Right Bank vineyards, made under the imprimatur – but I doubt with the personal involvement – or the great Pierre Lurton of châteaux Cheval Blanc and d’Yquem.