An Innocuous joke played by the editors of Decanter magazine on April l made Subhash Arora reflect on the relationship of First and Second Growths of Bordeaux and what it means for wine-connoisseurs and lovers of Bordeaux wines.

Last week I saw a News item on http://www.decanter.com , my favourite haunt to stay tuned to the international wine News. It really perplexed me. A sixth Chateau was being added to the First Growth of Bordeaux by the month-end out of about 10 contenders, it said. And I had no clue about it! But too much is happening in the wine world and it may not always be possible to keep track of all the News. I found nothing amiss as the Chateaux mentioned were highly acclaimed, mostly Super-Seconds.

What thrilled me the most was the inclusion of Cos d'Estournel from Saint –Estephe in Bordeaux in this list. Their wines have been imported in India by kings, their noblemen and wine lovers for over 150 years. I had met the President of Cos (as it is popularly known), Jean- Guillaume Prats in Delhi when he showcased their wines at the French Ambassador's residence and he invited me to his chateau. During my visit to the last VinExpo 2003- the biannual, largest wine show on earth, I took upon his offer. He picked me up from the Show and drove me to the chateau for lunch that included Champagne Crystal Roederer'90 and Cos d'Estournel ‘93 and ‘ 85 , two of their prestigious vintages.

Jean Prats is a gentleman to the core with the impeccable English language and manners. When he did not reply to my congratulatory mail, I knew something was amiss. So I went to the Decanter site again to search for the ‘News' in their Archives. The caption was there but otherwise it was blank! Had I been daydreaming or drunk at noon? That's when it hit me. Of course! This report had been on April 1, the April Fool's Day! And I had been fooled. Well, I was not the only one as I found out later when I sent an apologetic email to Jean Prats. He immediately confirmed my suspicion, adding he had heard from other well wishers as well and had a few laughs.

What would happen to wine prices if it actually were true, I thought? So I decided to analyze the prices of the recent classic beauties of 2000 and 2003 from the five chateaux classified as First Growth in 1855 (I could have also selected the other great years of the nineties-1995, 1990 or 1989). 2003 prices are En Primeur (pre-release prices, as Futures – a common practice for Bordeaux wines). This was a hot year with wines rated as of excellent quality.

Here are the approximate prices sourced from http://www.wine-searcher.com , the most convenient website for tracking international wine prices.

   Chateaux First Growth                     Vintage2000

    1. Ch. Latour Pauillac                         US$ 450-500

    2. Ch. Margaux, Margaux                  US$ 450

    3. Ch. Lafite Rothschild Pauillac        US$ 500

    4. Ch. Haut Brion Graves                   US$ 350-380

    5. Ch. Mouton Rothschild * Pauillac   US$ 380-400

* The only addition/ change, in 1973 since the Classification came into effect.

Then I took a look at the prices for the same vintages for a few Super-Seconds , the chateaux from the Second Growth but pretty close to the quality of the First Growths. In fact, in good vintages they make excellent wines compared to these Premiers Crus . On some occasions they make better wines than some of the First Growths; they are always trying harder. I have purposely selected those with presence in India:

   Chateaux Second Growth                       Vintage2000

   1. Ch. Cos d'Estourne l St. Estephe            US$ 100

   2. Ch. Pichon Longueville Baron Pauillac  US$ 110

   3. Ch. Pichon Longueville Comtesse de

       Lalande Pauillac                                    US$ 150

It is easy to figure out that unless you have been willed a fortune or are on a company account even if it's your own, you may find the top guns a tad too expensive and you can find a great value in these Super-Seconds. For every bottle of the First Growth, you could buy three or even four of these wines.

The buying strategy is even more sharply clear for Vintage 2003 when the quality of the Super –seconds came very close to the First Growths.

      Chateaux First Growth                        Vintage 2003

      1. Ch. Latour                                         US$ 425-450

      2. Ch. Margaux                                     US$ 340

      3. Ch. Lafite Rothschild                        US$ 330

      4. Ch. Haut Brion                                  US$ 320

      5. Ch. Mouton Rothschild                     US$ 320

     Chateaux Second Growth                    Vintage 2003

     1. Ch. Cos d'Estournel                          US$ 130*

     2. Ch. Pichon Longueville                    US$ 70*

     3. Ch. Pichon Comtesse

     de Lalande                                           US$ 105

* rated at 95-100 points by WS, indicate Classic wine

You don't have to be an MW ( Master of Wine , the rare tribe of wine experts; numbering below 300 worldwide, they are as rare as the tigers and should be aptly named as TW , I feel) to imagine what would happen to the wine prices of THE lucky one of these Chateaux listed by the Decanter. With the expected overnight doubling or trebling of the prices of the same bottles, the owners of this sixth first growth would be laughing all the way to the bank at the cost of their faithful clients.

It's just as well that Decanter came up with a joke on some of us… Or perhaps, it was the British way of taking a dig at the French Classification system and wondering whether it still has any relevance in the modern era where wine making has gone through tremendous changes during the last 25 years. My dear friend, you be the judge… and share your verdict with us .

Subhash Arora