The autumn release programme from La Place de Bordeaux continues to expand with each passing year, but what were the new additions this time and what proved popular?
- Philipponnat and Penfolds were among those new to La Place this year.
- Joseph Phelps Insignia 2018 has proved a popular release in the secondary market already.
The number of releases coming through the Bordeaux négociants each autumn swells with every passing year.
Originally an outlet for New World wines looking to boost their international image and distribution, it’s now a major re-release time for several Bordeaux estates and a growing collection of other European producers.
Every year brings a fresh round of producers choosing to distribute their wines via La Place de Bordeaux.
To the extent, that a recap of the newest arrival is sometimes required.
New arrivals 
There were a good dozen brand new wines that were released through Bordeaux this month, including Italian, American, Spanish, Chilean and Australian labels and even the first Champagne to choose the historic platform.
The big name new additions were Penfolds, Philipponnat and “Yjar”. Leading Australian brand Penfolds earmarked its Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon “Bin 169” to be sold through Bordeaux in future.
Its 2018 vintage was given 96-points by critic Jane Anson in her La Place report.
Champagne house Philipponnat meanwhile was another new convert to the system. It released two vintages of its prestige cuvée Clos des Goisses; the new 2012 and a re-release of the 1996.
Anson rated the 2012 94-points while the re-released 1996 she gave a rare 100.
Finally, two Spanish wines made their debut on La Place this year, one from Rioja and the other from Ribera del Duero.
VivaltuS from Ribera is a new project that boasts Jean-Claude and Jeff Berrouet as consultants. But the wine that caught most of the headlines was “Yjar”, the brand new wine from Telmo Rodriguez.
Anson rated the inaugural vintage (the 2017) 98-points and said it was, “an outstanding first outing that you should be following”.
Top traded
Few wines sold through La Place this year went to develop much of a secondary market footprint soon afterwards.
The exception was Joseph Phelps’s 2018 “Insignia”. Rated 97-points by Anson and 97+ by Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, the Napa Valley wine quickly began trading smartly.
So much so in fact that the 2018 was the top traded single wine (LWIN11) traded by volume and value in September, while Joseph Phelps Insignia overall was the fourth most traded label (LWIN7) by value and second most-traded by volume this month.
The other active label as a result of its new release was Bibi Graetz. The up-and-coming Tuscan producer released his 2019 Colore and “Testamatta” labels this September.
Overall the Colore has been the fifth most-traded LWIN7 by value in September and the third by volume.
Although the 2019 has seen some trade, however, it has been a the 2016 that really drove the label’s activity – with a similar score to the 2019 but with bottle age and currently a slightly cheaper average price on most lists.
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