2009 Chateau La Gaffeliere Saint Emilion Grand Cru 750 ml

Parker: “One would have to go back to the 2005, 1947 or 1961 to find this level of quality"

In the spring of 2010, on the eve of the release of the colossal 2009 Bordeaux, American importers turned tail and ran, scared off by the FX markets and Chinese speculators. Stateside collectors turned a cold shoulder towards the Right Bank of the Gironde, opting instead to their invest their dollars on the Silverado Trail.

Now, six years later, however, the tables have turned. Here’s why.

The price of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon has skyrocketed in recent months. After plentiful harvests in 2012 and 2013, and average yields in 2014, the harvest of 2015 was extremely short, down by as much as 50% depending on the AVA. Yesterday, we learned that asking prices for 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon from the valley floor begin at $8,500 per ton, roughly DOUBLE the prices of May 2010!

Suddenly, the highest-rated 2009 Bordeaux — particularly those that are perfectly aged, still resting in the same cellars where they were bottled in 2011 — seemed “cheap.” In the second week of April, on the days before and after our private tasting of the superb 2015s, we visited a half dozen of the top performers of 2009 (and 2010), hoping to scrape out small allocations of the châteaux’s remaining inventory. Of the deals we cut on the spot, from both a qualitative and value perspective, the fabulous 2009 La Gaffelière was the most extraordinary.

Off 22 hectares planted on the Côte Pavie, just outside the walls of Saint-Émilion, La Gaffelière turned out what Robert Parker suggests is one of the château’s four greatest wines since 1947! The Wine Advocate wrote of “compelling elegance, tremendous intensity and opulence… Lots of kirsch, licorice, incense, truffle, asphalt, blackberry and cassis notes dominate the aromatics and flavors of this full-bodied, viscous, fabulously pure, flamboyant St.-Émilion … Anticipated maturity: 2012-2052.”

Rated three times by Parker: 94-96 points, 95+ points, and most recently 96 points. 120 bottles are up for grabs, all drawn directly from the château’s cellar in St.-Émilion. Just $130/bottle — as one of the finest St.-Émilions of the great 2009 vintage now looks like a bargain compared to its Napa Valley counterparts.