How to Buy Bordeaux

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/30/AR2007103000332.html

Conde Nast Traveler senior wine correspondent Joseph Ward recently penned an excellent and informative article on buying Bordeaux on a budget for the Washington Post.

He offers the following four strategies for purchasing this world class wine:

Even if you already have a trusted wine source, you might need to branch out and find a good wine merchant that buys value, not just highly rated wines. Joseph Wards test? Tell your merchant that you love Bordeaux but are troubled by the high prices. If he recommends a Chilean cabernet, find another merchant;

Buy the best wines you can afford, but purchase good, rather than great, vintages, including 2001 and 2004. These wines already have a few years age on them, so they will be ready to drink before the 2005 vintage;

Wait for the dollar to recover, rest assured, 2005 will not be the only "vintage of the century," and

Look for undervalued great wines from earlier vintages. Ward recommends choosing Medoc wines from the 1996 vintage and St. Emilion and Pomerol wines from the 1998 vintage.