Fine dining · classified growths · older vintages
Wine for a fine dining restaurant: classified growths at maturity, without keeping them ten years
A fine dining restaurant does not buy volume, it buys specific bottles: a classified growth in its drinking window, a vintage the list promises, six bottles of a year a customer asked for. What a Bordeaux wine merchant brings to that table is the stock of ready-to-drink vintages you don't have to finance yourself.
What a merchant's stock changes
A fine dining list that wants to offer a 2010 Pauillac or a 2005 Pomerol has two ways of doing it: to have bought it en primeur fifteen years ago and kept it in the cellar, or to buy it today from someone who did. The first ties up tens of thousands of euros per list. The second is the wine merchant's trade: buying from the châteaux and brokers, storing at a constant temperature, selling on when the wine is good. Transvins, a wine merchant (négociant) in Bordeaux since 1986, keeps older vintages in stock; the list by year and by appellation is confirmed on request, because it changes.
Classified growths at maturity
Médoc, Pessac-Léognan, Saint-Émilion: bottles 8 to 20 years old, in their window. The vintages to drink in 2026 page says which.
Small lots
Three, six, twelve bottles of a specific year. No minimum case on older vintages: the bottle is what counts, not the volume.
Second wines by the glass
The great name by the glass without opening the grand vin: the second wines of classified growths, at a third of the price, carry a Michelin-starred restaurant's by-the-glass list.
Large formats
Magnums and larger in the vintages that produced them, for chef's tables and private dinners. On request, lead time to be confirmed.
Allocations, prices, lead times
For the great names and great years, stock is limited and quantities are allocated. We talk about it frankly: what is available straight away, what is available in a few weeks, what we won't find. Prices follow the Place de Bordeaux market, not a catalogue price list; they are written on the quote with the vintage and, for older bottles, the fill level and the condition of the label. Lead time is one week by parcel for what is in stock, and about a month for a search on the Place. A sommelier who plans the seasonal list three months ahead never gets a nasty surprise.
What we don't do, said up front
- Bordeaux first. Outside Bordeaux, a few great names from Burgundy, the Rhône and the Loire, sometimes in older vintages, and champagne. The rest of your list, including your wines from around the world, stays with your other suppliers; no exclusivity is asked.
- No guarantee on a forty-year-old wine. A 1982 bottle is bought with its provenance and opened with the risk that goes with it. We say so on the quote; you don't find out at the table.
- No returns. Unopened cases are not taken back. With small lots chosen for a list, the question rarely comes up.
- No wine named on this page. The châteaux are on the quote, with the vintages in stock that month.
How we work
Samples on request for by-the-glass wines; for older classified growths, it is more a matter of a bottle to open together. Quote within 48 working hours, wines named, vintages, prices excl. and incl. VAT, shipping specified. Delivery to the restaurant, by parcel, since a pallet makes little sense at this level. A contact who knows your list, and who calls you when a year you were looking for comes into stock. How we work in general is described on the wine for restaurants page. For the structure of the list itself, number of wines, split by colour and price bands, see the wine list generator.
Tell us the appellations and years you are looking for. Reply within 48 working hours.
Does a wine merchant sell older vintages in small quantities?
Yes, it is in fact the most common case for these wines: three or six bottles of a year, for a list or a table. The case is not a minimum on older vintages; it still is on everyday wines.
How are classified growth prices set?
On the Place de Bordeaux market at the time of the request, vintage by vintage. They appear on the quote with the condition of the bottles for older years. They are not published here because they change.
What can a fine dining restaurant serve by the glass without opening the great wines?
The second wines of classified growths: same estate, same winemaking, a third of the price. They put a name the customer recognises on the by-the-glass list without sacrificing a €150 bottle for two glasses sold.
What is the lead time for a vintage that is not in stock?
About a month for a search on the Place de Bordeaux, with no guarantee of success on rare great years. The quote says what is in stock, what is being searched for, and what is better replaced.