Winebuzz

First and Second Growth Wines, A World of Difference

Mr. Rene Wong talks about first and second growth Bordeaux wines.

As a French expatriate in Hong Kong for 5 years now, I have observed the beginning of the wine business from back in 2004 when interest for wine was still in embryonic stages, and wine tax was astronomical compared to today. Since then, thankfully this tax has been abolished and wine is now a popular subject of discussion and, of course, consumption. However, some things have not changed and I would like to highlight some common pitfalls I have come across for your benefit.

In my early days in Hong Kong, I was amazed by the plethora of choices available for second wines or second labels in the market. For neophytes, these wines are made from lower quality grape that famous Bordeaux Chateau cannot take the risk to use for their flagship first label or Grand vin.

Knowing this economical reality, in theory it should be obvious to everyone that there is a world of difference between the quality of the first and the second wines, but here in Hong Kong many are still unaware of the quality difference and buy blindly based on the prestige of the house’s name.

I cannot count the number of times I have heard dodgy wine sales representatives claiming that a “Carruades de Lafite 2002” is a much better buy than the “Chateau Lafite Rothschild 2002,” just because it is from the same Chateau. This is a false claim. Let me explain -  just because the bottle carries the label “Lafite” does not mean that the value of the wine is the same. One thing to note is that second wines often do not have the word “Château” in their name, but they frequently sport some other part of their winery’s name to add name recognition.

They are, however, entitled to use the same appellation as the Grand Vin as they originate from the same place. The Carruades de Lafite 2002 actually costs only a third of the first wine and can be drunk straight away. Whereas, according to Robert Parker, you would have to wait another 10 years for the first wine to reach its peak.

So, the lesson to learn here is that, rather than learning how to pronounce the name on the label it is more important to learn what the label means, unless of course you don’t mind paying an unnecessary high price for a lower quality bottle of wine.

• Rene Wong is a Wine Advisor at Bacchus & Century, 30-32 Wyndham Street, LangKwai Fong, Tel:66811825, where they do not sell second wines.