The Bordeaux Release Is Delayed, Vancouver, But All Is Not Lost

Usually around this time of year, BC Wine lovers are anxiously awaiting the annual Bordeaux release, that yearly flexing of BCLDB might that ensures we have access to an always impressive cross-section of claret at, all things considered, pretty reasonable prices (a relative term to be sure when it comes to Bordeaux).

But as everyone knows, we are not living in normal times. Those pesky “global supply issues” have wreaked disproportionate havoc on the shipping of heavy glass bottles filled with water across the Atlantic, meaning that scheduling the launch as usual just simply wasn’t possible.

But there are three bits of good news: the first is that we’re still going to have the release, it’s just going to be delayed until November 19 when they can be confident that all the bottles will be available. Second, it looks like the bottle limits on many wines will be raised from 1-2 bottles to 6, which is not a small thing for collectors and the like.

But the third is the most immediately satisfying—not all 2019 Bordeaux are embargoed until November. Hiding in plain sight are hundreds of bottles of Chateau Daviaud, scattered throughout 75 stores in the Province (you can check locations here).

And notwithstanding its bargain price (under-$20 Bordeaux is rarer than sunshine in June), this is no throwaway wine—it’s from Maison Sichel, the famed Negociant and Producer that owns the Legendary Chateau Palmer (who’s 2019, when it arrives will likely check in at well north of $500 a bottle) and while it doesn’t have the finesse of its august stablemate, it does offer a preview of a 2019 vintage that looks to be excellent.

For starters it offers ample fruit (of the blackberries rolled in cocoa powder variety), balanced by an appropriate backbone provided by the limestone and gravel soils. It’s a bit of an interesting blend (45% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Franc, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Malbec) but the result is a rustic wine that still delivers a signature Bordelaise taste profile. It even looks expensive.

I’m such a huge fan of this wine – its pure wine with a pedigree at a reasonable price — that I made sure there was enough in stock before posting this (I’m a weak man). There is, and if you want to want a sub-$20 crystal ball into what the Bordeaux release has in store, you can span the world and do no better than this.