The story appears on

Page B13

June 4, 2015

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » Feature » iDEAL

The uncertainty of en primeur week

Some wineries offer wonderful tours of the vineyard and the barrelling room. And Of course, they also offer a chance to taste some lovely wines. Customers who like the wine often opt to buy several bottles, maybe even a few cases.

However, in Bordeaux this is not possible. More specifically, chateau in Bordeaux will not sell wine directly, even if a customer wants a large amount. Those who want to buy a Bordeaux wine are left to find a merchant or try to buy en primeur.

En primeur refers to wine sold before it is bottled. This has long been a practice within the wine trade, but end consumers, however, only started taking part in the late 20th Century. Until the first half of the 20th century, chateaux in Bordeaux did not even bottle their own wines. This was the négociant’s job. Négociant bought wine from chateau, then matured, blended and bottled it before selling the wine to their clients.

Sometimes négociant even bought grape juice from vintners and did the winemaker’s job. In the second half of the 20th century, things began to change. A few top chateaux began to bottle their own wine since they were skeptical about what was being done to their wines. There had long been rumors about négociant blending different wines together and selling it under a top Chateau name. Thus a Chateau Lafite from the first half of the 20th century may not have been 100 percent Lafite.

By the 1980s, nearly all chateaux in Bordeaux bottled their own wines. This changed everything. Négociant no longer did the winemaker’s job. They started receiving an allocation from each chateau. Then the wine passed down to importers, distributors, retailers, and finally, consumers. Since so many middlemen were involved and each was looking to fetch a profit, consumers ended up paying ridiculously high prices.

En primeur buying was created to make great vintages more affordable. While it started out as a cheaper option, buyers assumed more risk since there was no guarantee the wines they were buying would become highly sought vintages.

En primeur has since become more common among buyers looking for a good investment rather than getting good wines at affordable prices. However, a poor vintage can lead to heavy losses. Thus investing in en primeur wines requires knowledge about each winery. Some chateaux, even in a great year, still show a very low return on investment.

The attraction of en primeur buying is also partly about feeling like a part of the inner-circle, or part of an exclusive club. But this can be a dangerous game since few people even taste the wine before they place an order. No one can predict what will happen to a wine 18 months after it’s been bottled. This is why en primeur week, held annually in late spring, attracts so much attention around the world.

During en primeur week, Bordeaux becomes crowded. Wine critics, journalists, merchants and private clients arrive to taste the new vintages. Chateaux host big events to welcome customers. However, even if you taste this wine during en primeur week and read as many reports as you can, it does not guarantee making the right decision. It’s an open secret that chateaux always do everything they can, such as choosing the best barrel, doing micro-oxygenation and using American oak so that the wine tastes fabulous during en primeur week. After a year-and-a-half of maturation and blending, the wine in the bottle can be completely different from what you taste during en primeur week. Moreover, judging a wine at such a young age (six months) can be really risky. The 1995 vintage is a perfect example. When this vintage came out it was widely considered the wine of the century. Fast forward 10 years and no one mentions it.

After en primeur week, wine scores from influential critics and journals will come out. Chateaux wait until after to release their prices. Chateaux in Bordeaux may release the first tranche (slice) of wine to test the market. In a good vintage, the price of the first tranche is likely to be cheapest. After the first tranche is snapped up, they will release a second, a third, and so on. Prices rise as high as the market will bear.

In Bordeaux, the score sometimes means everything. Quoted by the famous wine writer, Oz Clarke: “Over 95, order Ferrari. Over 90, confirm the chalet booking at St-Moritz. Less than 90, sack your consultant and enter therapy.”

To some extent, Bordeaux’s fate can be tied closely with Robert Parker, the most influential wine critic in the world. When Parker praises a vintage, the price goes up. When Parker sniffs at the vintage, the price goes down.

Parker is not attending this year’s en primeur week, passing on scoring and reviewing duties to his protege Neal Martin. The wine world is curious to see how Bordeaux chateaux will react to this change.

Still this may not be the biggest concern. Despite a series of ordinary vintages, chateaux have ignored market warnings and have been unwilling to lower prices. This has driven some consumers away. En primeur, nowadays, has lost much of its attraction. What’s worse, in 2011, Chateau Latour dropped out of en primeur buying beginning with the 2012 vintage. Some chateaux have complained they earn less profit than people later in the chain, especially in a good year. Another problem is that they have no idea where their wine finally ends up since chateaux allocate wines to numerous négociant, making it hard to manage their brands.

So is en primeur worth it? It depends. For regular customers its best to do some research and find a reliable wine merchant before purchasing en primeur. Don’t just pick the cheapest or the most expensive merchant, do business with a company you trust.




 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend