2009 Bordeaux 'could reach €1,000 per bottle this year'
The top-rated Bordeaux wines from the 2009 vintage, such as chateaux Cos d'Estournel and Lafite, could rise as high as €1,000 (£869) per bottle before summer is out, according to experts.
Successive releases of stock from the major producers will inflate prices, which are already expected to be high following widespread glowing reviews for the vintage, decanter.com reports.
In particular, the price gap between the first growths and other wine will rise to "enormous" levels, the website reports Jean-Guillaume Prats of chateau Cos d'Estournel as saying.
Robert Parker agrees. In a statement on his bulletin board, he said: "Expect 2009 Lafite at €1000 by September."
And the managing director of chateau Mouton-Rothschild Herve Berland, speaking at the en primeur tastings earlier this month, noted that the industry will have to examine "very carefully" what the consumer is prepared to pay for what all agree is an exceptional vintage.
In contrast, Anthony Rose wrote in the Independent earlier this month that the lower end of the wine scale is set to benefit from the extraordinary quality of the 2009 vintage, as even the cheaper brands will be "deliciously drinkable".