Top Bordeaux wines are in danger of falling off restaurant wine lists because of high prices according to Texture owner Xavier Rousset.

The twice-over UK Sommelier of the Year says soaring prices in the en primeur market are becoming a barrier to entry for restaurants.

Rousset said: 'We cannot buy 10 cases because we can't compete. Top producers will eventually drop off the wine list. I'm just concerned we'll be left with what's left over – instead of getting the top vintages we’ll only get the second vintage.'

Rousset's comments came today at the Fine Wine 2010 conference, hosted by the Consejo Regulador de la Denominación de Origen of the Ribera del Duero region in Spain, and organised by London-based Wine Intelligence.

El Bulli sommelier Ferran Centelles told the conference that fine wine should be seen through the eyes of the customer, not the restaurant industry or critics.

'It's the customer who tells me what fine is,' he said. 'Torres Vina Sol is a fine wine if a customer thinks it is, and that means I have to treat it that way. All the wines on our list are treated as fine wine and get the same tender loving care.'

El Pais food critic José Carlos Capel said there was some 'crazy' wine pricing and incidents of customer demand, citing as an example a Las Vegas restaurant that couldn't sell Ribera del Duero's Vega Sicilia for $500, but sold out when they ramped the price up to $3,000.

News item from Imbibe.com, 29-04-2010