The exorbitant pricing of the mediocre 2007 bordeaux vintage marks the end of a fine wine era. Truly great claret vintages such as 2005 will continue to be made, but the likelihood of anyone, except rock stars and speculators, being able to afford Bordeaux’s top wines has become increasingly remote.

With the obscene prices for the good, not great, 2006 bordeaux vintage behind them, Britain’s fine wine merchants expected the worst for the indifferent 2007, and were not disappointed. 2007, after ’05 and ’06, is one of the most expensive en primeur Bordeaux vintages on record. At the lower end, due to the weak pound and strong euro, lesser ’07 clarets such as Chasse-Spleen will cost 10 per cent more than the ’06 vintage. Yet ’07 is a much poorer year.

On the next quality rung up, with third growths and lesser seconds, most ’07s cost roughly the same as the proven, superior ’06s. Madness. A hop up, and claret drinkers can expect minimal savings on starry second growths like Léoville-Barton, renowned for decades for delivering value for money.

Clamber up to rarefied first growths, and prices are down on the year before, but who in their right mind would want to shell out more than £200 a bottle for this average vintage? Clearly, since the watershed 2005 vintage, the top 50 bordeaux properties have positioned themselves as luxury goods with stratospheric prices to match. Celebrated Château Cheval Blanc took the kamikaze step in 2007 of pricing itself almost a third more than its first-growth competitors, at £3,600 a case. To date, there are 22 older, cheaper and arguably finer Cheval Blanc vintages available. Bonkers.

Who will buy the mediocre 2007 Bordeaux vintage at these prices is a mystery. Perhaps the Bordelais are banking on Hong Kong and other Asian markets. Last year, the leading British fine wine trader Farr Vintners sold £35 million-worth of wine there.

If you must buy ’07 bordeaux en primeur, the best bets are the stunning dry whites, with lesser Graves such as Charmes-Godard and Carbonnieux producing wonderful wines. 2001 is a much finer sauternes year, but ’07 Guiraud is still undervalued. The left bank ’07s are better than the right, with St Julien, as usual, worthwhile, and ditto Pomerol. Of the ’07 clarets I tasted, good left bank buys include Belgrave, Haut-Bages Libéral, Léovilles Barton and Poyferré, Beychevelle and Fieuzal, with Clos de l’Oratoire and d’Aiguilhe on the right. Expect to pay £150 to £400 a case for these light, supple, early-maturing wines from specialist Bordeaux merchants.

Buyers beware: several months on, the precocious, average quality ’07s are tasting more like the undistinguished ’99 bordeaux vintage than the toothsome 2004s.

jane.macquitty@thetimes.co.uk

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