Everyday the top chateaux are declaring the prices and offering 20-50% ‘discounts’ by announcing the massive cut from the previous year’s vintage; in many cases the drop has been even higher than predicted by some punters.
Chateau Angelus, one of the top wines of St Emilion was the first one to release its price on the 2008 vintage. At €50 a bottle it was 40% lower than last vintage and was same as the 2004 En Primeur price announced in 2005. It was also released on April 5th, coinciding with the end of the period during which wine trade professionals and journalists had tasted the wines from the barrel. This was 3 weeks earlier than the usual practice. In fact, it is not unusual for some of the chateaux to announce the price at the bi-annual Vinexpo during the years when it is held- like this year in June.
Chateau Latour was the first of the First Growths to announce the release price of €110, nearly half the price of its 2007 wine. This translates to around €130 a bottle from the negociants according to Decanter. It has been regarded as one of the successes of the vintage.
Chateau Mouton Rothschild, another First Growth released its 2008 prices the following day and they are the lowest so far of the First Growths at €100 a bottle. This is exactly half the price of the 2007 vintage, which was 26% lower than the 2006.
The move has been welcome by the industry but has ‘nothing to do with quality and everything to do with the world market, which is in a very bad situation,’ according to the owner Baroness Philippine de Rothschild.
Chateau Laffite Rothschild, the First growth owned by another branch of the Rothschild family also released the price yesterday on its 2008 at €110.
The Second Growth Chateau Leoville Barton, based in St. Julien, discounted its 2007 prices by only 15% from €27 last year to €23 per bottle when Anthony Barton, the owner announced this Wednesday on April 15, and was able to sell 85% of its production according to Decanter.
Another Second Growth, Chateau Gruaud Larose, also in Saint Julien, released the whole production on the same day, at €19.50 (almost 20% below the price of €24 in 2007).
It would be interesting to see how much reduction will be announced by Cos d'Estournel, the Second Growth under the circumstances. Jean Guillaume Prats, the President, had made a statement earlier in the month that the best course for him would be to release very small quantity of wine at a price close to the 2007. With the current trend he may not be able to sell any, at those prices and he may be forced to keep all his stocks and wait for a better economy and firmer prices worldwide.
By the time new prices are announced by other premium producers, there would be a wider choice available across the board at cheaper price and making find Bordeaux ‘affordable’ again. Many people advise that these prices are likely to go up soon after the current economic conditions change for the better. |