As for the Grands Crus Classés of Bordeaux which often produce several hundred thousand bottles a year, their place is not here, their very high prices do not come from their rarity but from a strong demand, in particular on the Asian market. .
Instead, I'm going to offer you an overview of small estates, little-known appellations, rarely used grape varieties or original winemaking methods.
And, with a few exceptions, I will rather target French wines, because there are very many wines that are "rare in France" but which are very easy to find in their country of origin, for example wines made from the "Arena" grape variety. , classics in Armenia.
How can a wine be rare?
- Rarity by the size of the domain,
- by name,
- by the grape variety used,
- by the grape variety used taking into account the appellation,
- by vintage,
- by the type of vinification,
- by the method of aging the wine,
- by the philosophy of vine cultivation,
- by the type of bottle used,
- by the history of the domain,
- etc
Quite a program!
The following paragraphs will give you some examples and, I hope, the desire to dive into them and perhaps, who knows, never come back...
Blog articles will complete and clarify all this information.