The Top 10 Bordeaux Wines to Collect Right Now
In the 1300s, King Edward I demanded that Bordeaux wines—Saint-Émilion, specifically—be shipped up to England for his pleasure. Ever since then, the reds, whites and sweet Sauternes of Bordeaux have been collected and traded by kings and queens, nobles and notable wine aficionados.
There’s the grand chateaux of the Left Bank—the Lafites and Margauxs, all classified first growth during Napoleon III’s Classification of Bordeaux Wines in 1855. Then there’s the Sauternes region on the banks of Garonne, where botrytis-afflicted grapes transform into wildly ageable dessert wines. And there’s the Right Bank, where the legendary producers of Saint-Émilion and Pomerol usher Merlot into perfect ripeness.
“Bordeaux is the region for aged wine,” says Nick Daddona, advanced sommelier and founder of Wine Key. “Reds begin to develop secondary characteristics at about five years; dusty earth, cedar, white mushrooms and herbs. Even whites are meant to age—the Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc wines develop beautifully with age, and oaked blends of this nature are rare around the world.”
But while Bordeaux has over 6,000 wineries within its borders, a select few offer incredible age-worthiness and investment potential. To analyze the state of blue-chip Bordeaux, we gathered insight from some of the country’s top Bordeaux experts and secondary market data from Liv-Ex, the global marketplace for the wine trade, and Cult Wines, a wine-specific investment platform.
We considered wines whose first vintage was at least 20 years ago, those known to improve over decades, ones traded most frequently in the U.S. market and bottlings with high price appreciation, calculated by comparing release prices and future and present resale figures compiled by Liv-ex and Cult Wines.
Read on to discover the region’s most defining bottles, with consideration of year-over-year appreciation, recent market prices and heritage.
10. Château Latour Pauillac Premier Cru Classe Red
Appellation: Pauillac
Classification: First Growth
First Vintage: 1848
Current Release: 2017 ($469)
Current Owner: Artémis Domaines
Average Ten-Year Appreciation: 39.8% (Liv-Ex), 18.18% (Cult Wines)
Average Recent Market Prices: $8,300 (2000), $4,800 (2001), $21,255 (1982)
As Eddy Le Garrec of Empire State of Wine, a New York wine shop with a deep well of great Bordeaux, will say, “Latour is always on top.” The chateau was one of four wines to be declared a first growth in the Bordeaux classification of 1855, “and the tradition has continued,” says Daddona.
Latour lies on Pauillac’s southern boundary, and the name nods to the medieval fortress built on the land in the 13th century. Wine production began in the 16th century but at the time, lack of storage meant all had to be drunk within the year. In the 1700s, the property was acquired by Alexandre de Ségur, who also oversaw Château Lafite in the northern reaches of Pauillac. (In the 1987 edition of Modern Encyclopedia of Wine, Hugh Johnson noted that the two wineries complement each other: “Lafite is a tenor, Latour is a bass. Lafite is a lyric, Latour is an epic. Lafite is a dance, Latour a parade.”)
Today the family still owns a small sliver, though major control is held by Artémis Domaines, parent company to Kering (Gucci, Saint Laurent).
9. Château Margaux/Pavillon Blanc du Chateau Margeaux
Appellation: Haut-Médoc
Classification: First Growth
First Vintage: 1709 (Chateau Margaux), 1924 (Pavillon Blanc du Chateau Margaux)
Current Release: $455 (2023 Chateau Margaux), $154 (2023 Pavillon Blanc du Chateau Margaux)
Current Owner: Alexis Leven-Mentzelopoulos
Average Ten-Year Appreciation: 38% (Liv-Ex), 22.93% (Cult Wines)
Average Recent Market Prices: Chateau Margaux: $4,600 (2003), $6,200 (2005), $5,921 (2010)
Pavillon Blanc du Chateau Margeaux: $411 (2022), $314 (2015)
Like Pétrus, Château Margaux has become the poster child for rare Bordeaux, cited in the works of Edgar Allan Poe, the script of Downton Abbey and in movies such as Batman v Superman. It’s one of the original first growths from Bordeaux’s 1855 classifications, born from vineyards on a mound in the largely flat Margaux.
The allure largely lies in its unchanging nature. Over the last 400 years, only five hectares of vines have been added, and innovation has been restricted to anti-counterfeiting measures: laser-etching on bottles was established in 1989, and in 2011 the chateau added bubble-coded security labels to verify authenticity.
But as its celebrity status will hint to, Château Margaux is a tricky bottle to acquire, so the chateau’s second wine—Pavillon—has grown in popularity. It’s been produced since the 18th century and earned its current name, Pavillon Blanc, in 1920. The vines are on average 35 years old and aged in 100% new barrels—fresh, finessed and complex.
8. Château Mouton Rothschild
Appellation: Pauillac
Classification: First Growth
First Vintage: 1852
Current Release: 2023 ($411)
Current Owner: Rothschild family
Average Ten-Year Appreciation: 28.59% (Cult Wines), 44% (Liv-Ex)
Average Recent Market Prices: $1,777 (2000), $661 (2022), $4,199 (1997)
Château Mouton Rothschild is often closely associated and identified by its founder, Baron Philippe de Rothschild—who took it over as a neglected second growth property and nursed it back to health. It took fifty years but his work earned the chateau its current first growth status—the only change ever to occur to the 1855 classification. “It’s one of the top properties, and focuses on power and fruit characteristics,” says Daddona.
Rothschild was a renaissance man—a Grand Prix motor racing driver, a playwright and a poet—and his love of the arts extended into the winery. Every year, a different artist was commissioned to design the labels, from David Hockney in the aughts to Dali in the 1950s, Henry Moore in the 1960s and Picasso in the 1970s. All add to the allure of collecting Rothschild’s wines.
The winery’s second wine, Le Petit Mouton de Mouton Rothschild, also performs well in the secondary market.
7. Château Haut-Brion
Appellation: Pessac-Léognan
Classification: First growth
First Vintage: 1525
Current Release: 2023 ($397)
Current Owner: Domaine Clarence Dillon
Average Ten-Year Appreciation: 25% (Cult Wines), 56% (Liv-Ex)
Average Recent Market Prices: $821 (2010), $601 (2022), $12,249 (1982), $3,600 (2008), $1,700 (2011)
While the earliest recorded mention of vines at Château Haut-Brion was 1423, legend goes that grapes were grown on Haut-Brion’s land as early as Roman rule.
Haut-Brion is full of other firsts. In 1663, author Samuel Pepys penned a diary entry: “Off to the Exchange with Sir J Cutler and Mr Grant to the Royal Oak Tavern in Lumbard Street…and there drank a sort of French wine called Ho Bryan, that hath a good and most particular taste that I never met with.” It’s considered the first known tasting note ever recorded.
Château Haut-Brion was one of the first wineries to receive first growth classification in 1855. In the 1800s, Haut-Brion was also one of the first wineries to bottle its own wines and in the 1990s, it began making its own barrels. In the 1950s, the winery was among the first to use tractors in the vineyard, and in the 1960s, it was one of the first producers to adopt steel fermentation tanks. These aren’t trend-chasing changes—any shifts in practice for the historic winery are made for the long run.
“This is one of the most classic First Growth wines,” says Daddona. “A favorite of Thomas Jefferson, this wine’s subtle flavors and elegant, long mouthfeel are legendary. When it hits 25 years of age, it’s absolutely the top.”
6. Château Lafleur
Appellation: Pomerol
Classification: N/A
First Vintage: 1875
Current Release: 2023 ($776)
Current Owner: Guinaudeau family
Average Ten-Year Appreciation: 43.51% (Cult Wines), 52% (Liv-Ex)
Average Recent Market Prices: $2,079 (2000), $1,931 (2005)
Just across the way from a little property called Pétrus lies Château Lafleur, a 4.5-hectare vineyard owned and operated by Jacques and Sylvie Guinaudeau. There’s not much you can do with that little land, so production is limited to roughly 1,000 cases a year, making it one of the world’s rarest wines. If you can finagle a bottle, Christie’s Anthony Hanson MW noted its one of the most reliable labels for fine wine returns—a “jewel” and “insider’s secret.”
The estate was founded in 1872, when Henri Grelaud split his property, Château Le Gay, between his two sons. It was passed down from generation to generation, but no one felt driven to build the fame of the property and it remained a tiny and tight production. In 1975, Robert Parker stopped in and sang his praises, shooting the winery into the spotlight.
Lafleur typically blends Merlot and Cabernet Franc equally, resulting in an intensely perfumed wine that only blooms over decades.
5. Château d’Yquem
Appellation: Sauternes
Classification: Superior First Growth
First Vintage: 1959 (dry white wines), mid-1700s (first vineyards planted)
Current Release: 2021 ($340, Sauternes)
Current Owner: LVMH
Average Ten-Year Appreciation: 40% (Sauternes, via Liv-Ex), 59.79% (Y, via Cult Wines)
Average Recent Market Prices: $2,592 (2007, Sauternes), $4,600 (2001, Sauternes), $3,134 (2010, Sauternes)
Château d’Yquem makes indisputably the greatest and most celebrated sweet wine of France. Even Thomas Jefferson visited the chateau and was so enamored he ordered cases of the 1784 vintage to be shipped back to America.
Sauternes’ misty mornings and warm afternoons push the grapes to shrivel, sweeten and concentrate under noble rot. Workers pace through the vineyards over and over again, until every grape has lost half its weight and is ready for clipping—at a yield of one glass per vine. The resulting wine sits for a minimum of three years in barrel, and can lay in a cellar for ages. “They will more than likely outlast you!” says Daddaro. “These bottles are a treasure—when you can find them.”
The chateau also makes a dry white wine, Y, which continues to perform well in the secondary market.
4. Château Trotanoy
Appellation: Pomerol
Classification: N/A
First Vintage: 1918
Current Release: 2023 ($192)
Current Owners: Jean-François Moueix
Average Ten-Year Appreciation: 42.43% (Cult Wines), 39.8% (Liv-Ex)
Average Recent Market Prices: $2,540 (2010), $1,800 (2008)
Known as Pétrus’s little brother, “Trotanoy is probably one of the greatest kept secrets in Bordeaux,” says Le Garrec. The chateau is one of the oldest wine-making properties in Pomerol, owned by the Giraud family for two centuries until it was sold and landed in the hands of Jean-Pierre Moueix (owner of Pétrus). It’s not an easy property to work with—the name Trotanoy is derived from the French phrase for “too annoying,” a nod to the thick gravel and clay soils that are a huge headache to maintain.
The Moueix family now oversees both Trotanoy and Pétrus, with the former run by Jean-Pierre’s son Christian and grandson Edouard. Trotanoy remains undervalued in the public but beloved by those in the know and continuously high-scoring. (If Pétrus is unfathomable in price, Trotanoy is spendy but considerably less so—you could buy a case for the price of one bottle of Pétrus.)
3. Chateau Palmer
Appellation: Margaux
Classification: Third Growth
First Vintage: Early 1800s
Current Release: 2021 ($319) Current Owner: Sichel and Mähler-Besse
Average Ten-Year Appreciation: 60% (Liv-Ex)
Average Recent Market Prices: $2,100 (2011), $2,327 (2008), $2,250 (2012)
In 1814, a young British officer named Charles Palmer was awarded a promotion and a small fortune after valiantly battling Napoleon in Spain. With his newfound bounty, he purchased Medoc’s Château de Gascq— a winery whose Clarets were known to rival Lafites. He established the estate and, thanks to his ties to British nobility, it quickly became beloved by England’s upper crust.
An exceptional 1961 vintage from Chateau Palmer helped coin the term ‘Super-Second’: a class of second- and third-growth producers who have proven themselves worthy of the (unofficial) first growth classification.
Today, Chateau Palmer is fully biodynamic in practice and “consistently performs as one of the top producers in the region,” says Daddaro. He’s also keen on their second wine, Alter Ego de Palmer.
2. Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
Appellation: Pauillac
Classification: Second Growth
First Vintage: 1855
Current Release: 2024 ($141)
Current Owner: Frédéric Rouzaud
Average Ten-Year Appreciation: 79% (Liv-Ex), 47.29% (Cult Wines)
Average Recent Market Prices: $1,300 (2008), $1,550 (2003), $1,700 (2009)
The name of this chateau doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue easily, but there’s a reason for that—the property has long been overseen by various sons and daughters of Barons de Pichon-Longueville. As the years went on, the estate diverged and the names lengthened to distinguish it from the sister estates (like neighboring Château Pichon Baron).
“This property is a member of an exclusive club commonly referred to as a super second: a wine classified in 1855 as a Second Growth, but that meets or exceeds some of the top wines in all of Bordeaux,” says Daddona. “These wines need some time, and are best popped at 10 years of age or more.”
Now, it’s owned by the Roederer group (of Champagne fame) and they’ve invested heavily into the winery and vineyard. This includes overseeing a slow swap to biodynamic farming—it’s laborious, but for a several-hundred year old estate, time is on their side.
1. Pétrus
Appellation: Pomerol
Classification: N/A
First Vintage: 1897
Current Release: 2023 ($3,607)
Current Owner: Jean-François Moueix
Average Ten-Year Appreciation: 59.79% (Cult Wines), 89.7% (Liv-Ex)
Average Recent Market Prices: $4,358 (2020), $16,900 (2016), $8,900 (2005)
The name Pétrus immediately signals allure and prestige, so it’s no surprise the Pomerol estate still commands a high price tag—which can confuse many, as the wine has never technically been classified under the Bordeaux systems. Nonetheless, collectors will agree it's worthy of its esteem, even just for the meticulous care put into the vineyards alone.
The Moueix are ruthless with selection, and grapes are never picked before lunch to avoid diluting the juice with dew. The vineyards themselves sit on a 20-hectare boutonniere (or buttonhole) of clay soil on a high terrace of Pomerol. “It’s an expensive bottle, but a life-changing experience,” says Daddona.
While most of Bordeaux’s elite bottles rose to prominence during the Bordeaux Classification of 1855, Pétrus gained notoriety during the Paris Exhibition of 1878, when it won gold and helped herald in a new wave of recognition for the wines of Pomerol.
Wines to Watch
While the above wines have performed well in the resale market over the last few decades, Bordeaux experts will also stock up on the sleeper hit bottles of the region—ones that are less noteworthy in name but over deliver in value. Here’s what they purchase:
Belair-Monange St-Emilion Grand Cru
Empire State of Wine’s Eddy Le Garrec has his eyes on this brand, a semi recent acquisition from Christian Moueix. “His dad, the owner of Pétrus, told him that this is the best parcel on the St-Emilion plateau to look into.” Wine Enthusiast Writer-at-Large Roger Voss described the wine as “structured and dense; a wine that has power, rich fruit and layers of firm tannins.
$ Varies Westgarth Wines
Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion
Le Garrec finds this incredible value—”it’s still around €200 a bottle, and it’s been scoring 100 everywhere,” he says. “Plus there’s been big investment in the winery, and they have top notch terroir.”
$ Varies Wine.com
Château La Clotte-Cazalis
“This female-owned producer makes one of my all-time favorite Sauternes from Barsac,’ says Daddona. “It’s not known on the US market, but infinitely collectible—they have some of the oldest Sémillon vines in the region at over 90 years old. It’s a property you will absolutely see more of in the coming years.”
$ Varies MillesimaMore Collecting Coverage
- These are California's top ten wines to collect right now.
- In "Building a Wine Collection? Choose the Road Less Traveled," says Wine Enthusiast Writer-at-Large Aleks Zecevic.
- Only wines from a handful of producers achieve the coveted blue-chip status. Here's why that's boring and problematic.
- Do you need a single zone or dual zone wine fridge? Read up on the differences.
- "Why Does Some Wine Get Better with Age?" David W. Brown explains.
- Wondering if an air-conditioner works for cooling a cellar? Wine Enthusiast's Chief Education Officer Marshall Tilden III digs into the details.
In the Shop
Flex Your Collection
Transform your home into a wine lover's paradise with a custom wine cellar. From design to functionality, Wine Enthusiast can create the perfect storage solution.
The post The Top 10 Bordeaux Wines to Collect Right Now appeared first on Wine Enthusiast.
