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Fine wine buyers face paying more for top Bordeaux wines as prices for the early 2015 harvest en primeurs have jumped more than 20 percent after wine critics and expert declared it as an exceptional vintage.
The rise has been particularly strong for the Top Ten estates like Chateaux Margaux, Mouton Rothschild, Haut-Brion, Lafite Rothschild (all First Growths of the Left Bank in Medoc) and Cheval Blanc, Angelus, Ausone, and Pavie in St. Emilion on the Right Bank where the prices gained 54 percent on average, far above the 22.8 percent rise calculated on 350 chateaux, say the Bordeaux brokers according to the report in Reuters. Chateau Latour has stopped participating in the event.
The sale of primeurs is a special feature of the Bordeaux region where the prices are fixed for wines still ageing in the barriques and will be delivered only between 18 months and two years later. Prices vary widely from one year to another depending on the quality of the wine as perceived by the chateaux owners, buyers and wine critics.
The 2015 vintage is likely to age to be the best vintage this century, surpassing the highly rated 2005, 2009 and 2010 harvests.
Primeurs of Cheval Blanc (Saint-Emilion) were traded at a pre-tax price of €450 a bottle and were expected to reach €750 at the time of the delivery, according to the brokers, known as negociants proclaiming 2015 to be a great vintage.
Lower-rated 'grands crus' –including Second Growth to Fifth Growth were also on the rise but at a smaller extent, up by between 10 to 15 percent from last year.
Producers fix their prices based on the ratings of about 5,000 wine tasters and buyers making a tour of the wineries, including nearly all the most famous chateaux, in the Bordeaux and Gironde region.
For the 2-Part analysis of the 2015 vintage by our Bordeaux expert, please visit:
Bordeaux Vintage 2015: Analysis, Composition and Structure
Bordeaux Vintage 2015: Part 2- Analysis of Weather |