Second wine or second label (French: Second vin) is a term commonly associated with Bordeaux wine to refer to a second label wine made from cuvee not selected for use in the Grand vin or first label. In some cases a third wine or even fourth wine is also produced. Depending on the house winemaking style, individual plots of a vineyard may be selected, often those of the youngest vines, and fermented separately, with the best performing barrels being chosen for the house's top wine and the other barrels being bottled under a separate label and sold for a lower price than the Grand vin.
In less favorable vintages, an estate may choose to release only a second label wine rather than to release a smaller than normal quantity of its Grand vin or a wine that would not be consistent with past vintages under that name. The practice has its roots in the 18th century but became more commercially prominent in the 1980s when consumers discovered these wines as a more affordable way to drink the product of a First growth or classified Bordeaux estate without paying the premium for the estate's label and classification.[1] The opposite phenomenon, of only releasing a top wine in exceptional years (rather than in most years) is seen in Iberia (Spain and Portugal) in "Gran Reserva" reserve wine and vintage port.
From the producer's point of view, a second wine allows the winery to use a stricter selection for its Grand Vin, while still capitalising on its name and distribution channels in selling the second wine, which will be much more profitable than selling off lesser wine "anonymously" to be used in e.g. negociant bulk bottlings.
The practice of establishing a second wine began in the 18th century as way for Bordeaux winemakers to be more selective of the wine going into their estate label wine without wasting the remaining wine. According to records, Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande shipped its "second wine" of the 1874 vintage to the 1891 Exposition française in Moscow, although La Réserve de la Comtesse would not be for sale to the public until 1973.[2] [3] Château Brane-Cantenac may have had a second label some time in the 18th century according to Decanter, but more evidently, Château Léoville-Las Cases first produced its Clos du Marquis in 1904, and Château Margaux followed with Pavillon Rouge produced from 1908.[4]
Château Mouton Rothschild released the poor 1927 vintage, then named Carruades de Mouton, followed in 1930 by Mouton Cadet as a second label, selling wine from previous difficult harvests considered unfit as château Grand vin vintage at reduced prices, eventually to successful response.[5] [6] The estate has since expanded with more labels pushing Mouton Cadet further down its portfolio,[1] with Le Petit Mouton de Mouton Rothschild currently the estate's second wine and Mouton Cadet evolving into its own brand with a distinctly different marketing strategy.[5]
In the drive to higher quality that has taken place in recent decades, additional Bordeaux châteaux have added second wine. With the increased market competition since the 1980s, estates became more selective in the assemblage stage, making greater parts of the production disposed to be either sold off in bulk, or blended into second (or third) wine.[7] [8] For example, since the 2009 vintage, Château Margaux has produced three wines that are bottled, and a fourth wine which is sold in bulk.[9]
Having a second wine is generally a part of the recipe prescribed by Michel Rolland and similar wine-making consultants. As an example, Château Kirwan, a Third Growth in Margaux, added their second wine Les Charmes de Kirwan in 1993, after Rolland was brought in.[10]
In many ways the production of a second wine mirrors the production of estate's Grand vin being made from the same vineyard, with the same blend of grapes and by the same winemaker. Some selection takes place already after harvest, when plots that are often underperforming or are planted with younger vines will be earmarked for the second wine, which means that they receive a "cheaper" treatment with a lower percentage of new barrels. Additional selection will be done after the barrel aging when the winemaker will isolate the best performing barrels that most reflects the house style of the estate label with the remaining wine being bottled under second or even third and fourth labels.
The second wine may have some hints and characteristics of the estate wine but is typically less polished and structured than the estate wine. An estate will rarely promote its second wines and most wine labels will not even mention the parent estate because of the desire to keep the estate solely associated with its Grand vin.[11] However, some high end producers market their second wine as a "wine for earlier consumption" (i.e., quicker to mature) rather than "a lesser wine".
Second wines often do not have the word "château" in their name, but they frequently sport some other part of their winery's name to add name recognition. The second wines of classified growths, since they are different wines, are not themselves part of the 1855 classification or other classifications. They are, however, entitled to use the same appellation as the Grand Vin, as they originate from the same terroir. As an example, Les Forts de Latour is an AOC Pauillac just like Château Latour, but is not a First Growth or any other kind of classified growth.
| First Growth estates | Second wine | Third wine | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Les Forts de Latour | Le Pauillac de Château Latour[12] [13] | ||
| Pavillon Rouge de Château Margaux | Margaux de Château Margaux[14] | ||
| Château Mouton-Rothschild | Le Petit Mouton de Mouton Rothschild | ||
| Le Clarence de Haut-Brion (previously Château Bahans Haut-Brion)[15] | |||
| Château Lafite Rothschild | Carruades de Lafite-Rothschild | ||
| Second Growth estates | |||
| Ségla | |||
| Chevalier de Rauzan-Gassies (previously Enclos de Moncabon) | |||
| Le Petit Lion de Marquis de las Cases (replaced Clos du Marquis since 2007) | |||
| Château Moulin Riche | |||
| Château Léoville Barton | La Réserve de Léoville Barton | ||
| Vivens de Durfort-Vivens (previously Domaine de Curebourse) | |||
| Sarget de Gruaud-Larose | |||
| Chevalier de Lascombes | Château Segonnes | ||
| Baron de Brane | |||
| Les Tourelles de Longueville | |||
| Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande | Reserve de la Comtesse | ||
| La Croix de Beaucaillou | Le Petit Ducru de Ducru-Beaucaillou | ||
| Les Pagodes de Cos[16] | |||
| La Dame de Montrose | Le St-Estèphe de Montrose | ||
| Third Growth estates | |||
| Château Kirwan | Les Charmes de Kirwan | ||
| Château d'Issan | Blason d'Issan | ||
| Les Fiefs de Lagrange | |||
| Lady Langoa[17] | |||
| La Sirène de Giscours | |||
| La Dame de Malescot | |||
| Brio de Cantenac-Brown | |||
| Jacques Boyd | |||
| Alter Ego de Palmer (replaced Réserve du Général in 1998)[18] | |||
| Moulin de la Lagune | |||
| Initial de Desmirail | |||
| Château Marquis de Calon | |||
| Les Remparts de Ferrière | |||
| Château Marquis d'Alesme Becker | Marquise d'Alesme | ||
| Fourth Growth estates | |||
| Château Talbot | Connétable de Talbot | ||
| Duluc de Branaire-Ducru | |||
| Moulin de Duhart | |||
| Château Pouget | Antoine Pouget | ||
| Les Douves de Carnet | |||
| Les Pélerins de Lafon-Rochet | |||
| Amiral de Beychevelle | |||
| La Cloître Prieuré-Lichine | |||
| Les Gondats de Marquis de Terme | |||
| Château Saint-Pierre | Esprit de Saint-Pierre | ||
| Fifth Growth estates | |||
| Les Hauts de Pontet-Canet | |||
| Château La Tour l'Aspic | |||
| Lacoste-Borie | |||
| Prélude à Grand-Puy Ducasse | |||
| Echo de Lynch-Bages | Pauillac de Lynch-Bages | ||
| Château du Tertre | Les Hauts du Tertre | ||
| La Bastide de Dauzac | Château Labarde | ||
| La Chapelle de Bages | |||
| Fleur de Pédesclaux | Le Haut-Médoc de Pédesclaux | ||
| Diane de Belgrave | |||
| La Closerie de Camensac | |||
| Le Charme Labory | |||
| La Tourelle de Croizet-Bages | |||
| Les Allées de Cantemerle | Baronne Caroline | ||
| Château Clerc Milon | Pastourelle de Clerc Milon | ||
| Château Batailley | Lions de Batailley | ||
| Château Lynch-Moussas | Les Hauts de Lynch-Moussas |
| First Growth estates | Second wine | |
|---|---|---|
| Les Charmilles de Tour Blanche | ||
| La Chapelle de Lafaurie-Peyraguey | ||
| Château Clos Haut-Peyraguey | La Gourmandise de Clos Haut-Peyraguey | |
| Madame de Rayne | ||
| Castelnau de Suduiraut | ||
| Chartreuse de Coutet | ||
| Cyprès de Climens | ||
| Petit Guiraud | ||
| Carmes de Rieussec (previously Clos la Bere) | ||
| Lieutenant de Sigalas | ||
| Second Growth estates | ||
| La Demoiselle de Doisy | ||
| Château Petit Védrines | ||
| Prieuré d'Arche | ||
| Esquisse de Nairac | ||
| Les Erables de Caillou | ||
| Saint-Hélène | ||
| Château Andoyse du Hayot | ||
| Les Tourelles de Lamothe | ||
| L'ouest de Lamothe-Guignard |
| Graves classed estates | Second wine | Third wine |
|---|---|---|
| Château Bouscaut | Les Chênes de Bouscaut | |
| La Croix de Carbonnieux,[19] Château Tour Léognan[20] | ||
| Domaine de Chevalier | L'Espirit de Chevalier[21] | |
| Château Couhins | Couhins La Gravette | |
| Château de Fieuzal | L'Abeille de Fieuzal | |
| Haut-Bailly II[22] | HB | |
| Lagrave-Martillac[23] | ||
| Château Malartic-Lagravière | Sillage de Malartic[24] | |
| La Chapelle de la Mission[25] | ||
| Château Olivier | La Seigneurie d'Olivier du Chateau Olivier[26] | |
| Le Clémentin du Pape Clément | ||
| Château Smith Haut Lafitte | Les Hauts de Smith[27] | |
| Saint-Émilion classed estates | ||
| Chapelle d'Ausone[28] | ||
| Le Petit Cheval | ||
| Carillon de L'Angélus | No. 3 d'Angélus | |
| Château Pavie | Aromes de Pavie | |
| Château Beauséjour | Croix de Beauséjour[29] | |
| Château Beau-Séjour Bécot | Tournelle de Beau-Séjour Bécot[30] | |
| Château Canon | Clos de Canon[31] | |
| Château Figeac | Petit Figeac[32] | |
| Clos Fourtet | Closerie de Fourtet[33] | |
| Château Larcis Ducasse | Murmure de Larcis Ducasse[34] | |
| Château La Fleur Morange | Mathilde | |
| Clos La Gaffelière[35] | ||
| Château Magdelaine | Les Songes de Magdelaine (previously Château Saint Brice)[36] | |
| Les Chênes de Macquin[37] | ||
| Château La Tour Figeac | L'Esquisse de La Tour Figeac | |
| Mondot | ||
| Château Trotte Vieille | La Vieille Dame de Trotte Vieille[38] | |
| Château Canon-la-Gaffelière | Côte Mignon La Gaffelière[39] | |
| Château Grand Corbin-Despagne | Petit Corbin-Despagne[40] | |
| Château d'Arsac | Kid d'Arsac[41] | |
| L'Héritage de Chasse-Spleen and L'Oratoire de Chasse-Spleen[42] | ||
| Château MacCarthy[43] | ||
| Domaine Zédé and Z de Zédé[44] | ||
| Franck Phélan[45] | ||
| La Chapelle de Potensac (previously Château Lassalle)[46] | ||
| La Salle de Poujeaux[47] | ||
| Moulins de Citran | ||
| Unclassified estates | ||
| Château Beauregard | Le Benjamin de Beauregard (previously Domaine des Douves)[48] | |
| Château La Conseillante | Duo de Conseillante[49] | |
| Château L'Évangile | Blason de L'Évangile | |
| Château Gazin | l'Hospitalet de Gazin[50] | |
| Château Peymartin[51] | ||
| Château Lafleur | Les Pensées de Lafleur[52] | |
| Château Mazeyres | Le Seuil de Mazeyres[53] | |
| Fugue de Nénin | ||
| Le Jardin de Petit Village | ||
| Vieux Château des Templiers | ||
| La Demoiselle de Sociando-Mallet[54] | ||
| Espérance de Trotanoy | ||
| Virginie de Valandraud and 3 de Valandraud[55] | ||
| Vieux Château Certan | Gravette de Certan[56] | |
| Château l'Église Clinet | La Petite Eglise |
| Winery | First wine | Second wine | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opus One | Overture | ||
| Dominus Estate | Dominus | Napanook | |
| Screaming Eagle | Screaming Eagle | The Flight | |
| Harlan Estate | Harlan Estate | The Maiden | |
| Grace Family | Grace Family | Blank | |
| Scarecrow | Scarecrow | M. Etain |
| Winery | First wine | Second wine | Third wine | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ornellaia (Tenuta dell'Ornellaia) | Ornellaia | Le Serre Nuove | Le Volte | |
| Masseto (Tenuta dell'Ornellaia) | Masseto | Massetino | ||
| Tenuta San Guido | Sassicaia | Guidalberto | Le Difese | |
| Tenuta Luce della Vite | Luce | Lucente |
| Vega Sicilia | Unico | Valbuena 5o | ||
| Alvaro Palacios | L'Ermita | Finca Dofi | Les Terrasses | |
| Marques de Murrieta | Castillo Ygay | Marques de Murrieta Gran Reserva | Marques de Murrieta Reserva | |
| Bodegas Numanthia | Termanthia | Numanthia | Termes | |
| Bodegas Contador | Contador | La cueva del contador | Predicador | |
| Dominio de Pingus | Pingus | Flor de Pingus | PSI |