I recently came across the fascinating term: "Shadow Vintage". No these are not wines produced by some clandestine vigneron organization that only harvests at night using truffle pigs and costs $10,000.00 per bottle.
Shadow Vintages are those years that are caught near other highly regarded vintages and are over-shadowed by them.
And the poor 2004 Bordeaux and 2006 Rhone vintages are prime examples. Both were almost immediately eclipsed by the legendary vintages that came next. Robert Parker has called both the 2005 Bordeaux and the 2007 Rhone vintages, "...the greatest vintage produced during my 30-year career..."
But, shadow vintages can offer great value and do have great wines. The best "inside information" regarding "shadow wines" is that they often get the best juice that would normally go into a Grand Vin from Bordeaux or the Reserve bottling in the Rhone.
Here are my picks for two of the best Shadow Wines. One is from 2004 Bordeaux and the other is from 2006 Rhone. Both are in-stock and ready to ship.
2004 Clos du Marquis: As noted above in 2004 this second wine of Leoville Las Cases received much of the juice that would have gone into LLC if the vintage was just a little bit better. You're literally getting Leoville Las Cases at a serious discount. And since the 2004 was still in the barrel while the hype was already being generated about the 2005 everyone at Leoville knew they could put more of the Grand Vin into the second wine. All because they knew the 2005 would sell quickly and at a premium, which of course it did. This really is a great wine and a fantastic value.
2006 Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape: Imagine a highly rated (95 RP & WS) Rhone wine from one of that region's greatest producers selling at a discount! Again the 2006 CDPs are living in the shadow of the 2007 vintage and even though Beaucastel made a GREAT wine in 2006 it sells for $25 per bottle cheaper than the 2007. Ahh - the power of the reviewer. Here again Beaucastel decided to skip production of its reserve bottling the ultra-expensive "Hommage a Jacques Perrin". So this regular bottling got ALL of juice that would have gone into their reserve. Again another great wine and fantastic value.
Grab the Clos du Marquis to drink and get a case or two of the Beaucastel to lay down for a year or two.