The Wertheimer Portfolio, 2022
This is the final report from a tasting of wines which featured a variety of Bordeaux châteaux, held back in October 2021. Previous reports from this tasting have featured wines from some highly regarded names, such as a quartet from Château Pontet-Canet, sixteen recent releases from Stephan von Neipperg including four wines each from La Mondotte and Château Canon-la-Gaffelière, and a dozen from the Bouygues family including eight recent releases from Château Montrose.
And that’s just for starters. There have been others.
Even so, you could argue that with this final report, featuring twelve wines from Château Rauzan-Ségla and Château Canon, that I have saved the best for last. The justification for such a statement? Well, this report does include the highest score I gave to any wine at the tasting, and it is difficult to argue with that.
The history of the Wertheimer family (who just happen to own Chanel) in Bordeaux is a relatively recent one, at least if compared to the long histories of the châteaux in which they decided to invest. Having initially expressed an interest in Château Latour in 1993, they were beaten to the deal by François Pinault. They went on to acquire Château Rauzan-Ségla (pictured above) in 1994, and Château Canon in 1996. Both have since been the subject of huge investment, something I was reminded of when in the region a few weeks after this tasting, in December 2021, when I drove past Château Berliquet en route for an appointment in St Emilion. The latest Wertheimer acquisition, Château Berliquet was wrapped in temporary plywood cladding and cowered under towering cranes, as it undergoes the same sort of restoration these other properties experienced. It will be an interesting property to follow over the next decade or two.
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