[imagesource: Corbeyran]

In the wise words of Dylan Moran, “old wine is good wine, but expensive wine is good wine, also”.

That’s not always the case, except when it comes to Loïc Pasquet’s Liber Pater, from the Graves appellation in the Bordeaux wine region.

I’ve heard that Liber Pater is very good wine, and ages very well, but will never be able to confirm this because it’s well out of my, and most people’s, price range.

Before we head into exactly how expensive it is, here’s The Drinks Business with some background on where the grapes are grown:

The entire vineyard surface covers just 2.5ha, maxing out at around 1,200 bottles at most a year. Pasquet uses rare ancient grape varieties such as Castets, Tarney-Coulant and Pardotte, and farming methods, making distinct wines that taste like the claret made in 1855, when the region was originally demarcated and pre-phylloxera.

More on those vineyards here.

Pasquet (below) has released only six vintages – 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2015.

When he bottled his 2011 vintage in 2015, he set aside enough for three 18-litre bottles, and one of them just sold for an undisclosed price.

Another is set to be auctioned off next year at a starting price of £210 000 which should give you an idea of what it’s worth.

Image: The Drinks Business

Yeah, that bottle would see me through an evening.

It’s not his only pricy offering.

In 2019, he released 240 bottles of his 2015 vintage at €30 000 per 75cl bottle, making it the world’s most expensive Bordeaux.

Below, Pasquet talks a bit about his wine. He is introduced by New York City Educateur Jim Finkel at the 2020 Commanderie de Bordeaux Educateur Forum held in Los Angeles at the California Club.

Stick around for the odd story about corporal punishment at the start, and then skip ahead to the 22-minute mark to hear Pasquet talk, then give up, and do something else.

I really only popped this in for the connoisseurs and truly dedicated wine lovers out there:

If you love good wine, but don’t have a couple of thousand Euro to toss at a bottle, you should check out these wine specials.

All the quality of superb wine, but you can drink it, and enjoy it, without feeling like you flushed your life savings down the loo.

[source:drinksbusiness]