Sensible pricing of left bank red Bordeaux

I have only given a score of 100 to 1 left bank red Bordeaux wine (the 1982 Leoville-Las Cases bought for $34.97 c. 1986 and consumed with family on the last day of 1999) and a few years ago i would have paid a maximum of $160 for such a wine. Today I would pay $170 (haha). For each point down I would divide the price by 1.108, and for each half point down I would divide the price by the square root of 1.108 (1.0526).. Theoretically I would pay up to $36.51 for an 85 point wine, but in practice it would probably cost much less. Things are much worse at the top end, and it is unlikely that I would find a wine scoring above 96.5 points within my sensible pricing guidelines.

The 1.108 was derived as follows: the QPR article of Nov.15, 2006 giving average red Bordeaux prices for 2000-2004 (both banks, but I drink some right bank red bordeaux and equal prices should mean equal quality) gave an average price for 85 point wines of $25 and an average price for 88 point wines of $34. 34/25 = 1.36, which to the power of 1/3 = 1.108 .

Later I did some research into the quality-price relationship going back as far as c.1820 and as late as a study ending in 2014,
but I will refrain from giving details unless someone is interested. The 1.108 worked really well in each case.
Best wishes to the main moderator and every member of this Discussion Group, Richard L

As these days there are many bargains in such wines in those scoring 85-90, and i can find no prices that seem reasonable to me in LB red Bdx scoring 97 or higher, I believe that prices were far more reasonable years ago and that something like a "quality-value" relationship, unlike the "quality-price" relationship has stayed fairly constant. Despite all the changes in terroir, climate, winemaking methods, etc., it seems very possible that the DIFFERENCE in points between properly ranked classes has also stayed fairly constant. I never buy in quantity such wines that i rate below 90.5, and the great bulk of the wines in our "collection" are rated by me between 92.5 and 96.5 inclusive. Richard L

[Jenise]

You are prodigious.

I personally do not assign point scores nor do I shop according to those from the usual suspects. Since the critics with better accessibility and palates than I rarely come up with the same number who am I to decide if a wine is really a 92 or a 94--what I care about is how well a given wine worked with dinner that night and pedigree is not always the most important factor. I'll bet my '98 Moutons got relatively low scores owing to the unpopular vintage, but in recent years I haven't been given better euphoria than I got from the one I opened about a year ago and in the end that's all that matters to me. I'm not buying more Firsts, in fact I'm not buying more Bordeaux these days.

So that's all I have to offer on your topic. It's interesting to know what others think, of course, but as a non-pointy type I can't converse.

[Robin Garr]

So that's all I have to offer on your topic. It's interesting to know what others think, of course, but as a non-pointy type I can't converse.

I think that represents a tendency among forumites, Jenise. There's room for all persuasions here, but generally most of us aren't focused on points or what the Big Name Critics thought but on what tasted good, what went well with dinner, and looking for reall good value.

To Jenise and Robin Garr: Many thanks for the comments. To a very large extent I agree with both of you, but i am terrible at descriptions and the points i give seem to agree very well with critics I respect, which seems very fortunate. Our friends seem to like wines to which I give a score of 92.5 or more (the bulk of our collection), and from the way they drink the wines (with enthusiasm) I do not think they are just being polite. I may be a bit eccentric, but the way i do things seems to work well for my wife and me. I do not think we have any wine that i do not find enjoyable (at least). As for what we have with the wines, I like the modern slogan "Eat what you like, drink what you like" more than detailed advice about what to drink with specific foods. Best, Richard L

To Jenise: I would not worry about the quality of your 1998 Mouton, as Parker gave it 96. Of course to most people (including me) the QPR was really bad, but you are fortunate. Best wishes, Richard L

[Jenise]

I'm not worried about the quality, Richard; and that was really my point. 96 pts or 86, doesn't matter to me at all: I've tasted the wine and it's incredible. Happy to have a few more bottles.