If you follow wine news, then you’ll likely know this year’s En Primeur campaign started at the end of April. The 2023 vintage is generally of quality, but prices have decreased in comparison to last year. For those of you who are not as familiar with the ins and outs of the En Primeur system, we have another blog article that explains this Bordeaux sales tradition.
But what is En Primeur all about ?
En Primeur wine is essentially a futures market – buy a Bordeaux wine in 2024 that comes from the 2023 harvest, which won’t be bottled until 2026, and will be ready to drink in, say, 2043. Sounds complicated? Maybe, but serious enthusiasts all over the world are itching to get started!
The grand Bordeaux estates are gearing up for a week of tasting events next week when journalists, professionals and critics from around the globe descend on the region to judge the quality of the 2023 vintage.
And why should you bother investing in wine in this way, we hear you ask?
The campaign is for those looking for wines that will appreciate in their cellar and in their glass. Purchasing wine from négociants and merchants comes with a number of benefits and, of course, we’re about to dive into reasons. Are you ready?
This system offers a long-term investment opportunity. These grand cru wines won’t reach their peak uncorking window for around 20 years, meaning that you can invest the money now and it, along with the wine, will develop over time. And if you don’t believe us, we did some research using the iDealwine Price Estimate and found that Cheval Blanc 2000 has seen a nearly 150% increase on its En Primeur price. And for those of you looking to cash in a bit sooner, we saw that Ducru-Beaucaillou 2016 is now worth 285% more than its En Primeurprice.
There’s no questioning the provenance of En Primeur wines as once they leave the château’s cellar doors, they have a direct route straight to you. You might be thinking “But iDealwine sells En Primeur wines and it isn’t a producer” and you’d be right. See the thing is, the En Primeur campaign takes place through the Place de Bordeaux – a complex, three-tiered trading system between chateaux (producers), courtiers (brokers), and négociants (merchants and retailers). The négociants buy the wines to sell them to wine enthusiasts without ever touching a bottle as the wines aren’t even bottled yet. Most of the En Primeur wines placed up for sale this spring will be unavailable for at least two more years as they continue to age in their casks.
Purchasing wine in advance of its official release, through a pre-sale program like En Primeur, typically leads to advantageous pricing. The En Primeur price tends to be the lowest price seen for these wines and the value of them is likely to go up as the years go by. If you don’t believe us, the number speak for themselves! A 2015 Chateau Margaux sold at auction this February for €1,438, which is over 250% higher than its En Primeur release price of €540.
What makes the 2023 vintage so special?
The first thing we should say before moving on to the talk prices is that this is a quality vintage which is in line with what wine lovers are currently looking for from their wines. Generally speaking, both the red and white wines are balanced and fresh with good acidity. We have written detailed reports on the wines from the Médoc, Sauternes and Barsac, the Right Bank, and Pessac-Léognan to give you a more detailed analysis of each appellation and our tasting notes for the different châteaux. Now about those prices… The drop in prices has nothing to do with the quality of the wine. This is far from a mediocre vintage! The decreases are related to the situation of the general market, which is actually good news for anyone looking to make investments. How many other years see prices drop by up to 40%? Not many that’s for sure! The last time prices reduced by so much was after the 2008 financial crash.
To give you a few examples of the price drops we’re seeing, Château Lafite Rothschild witnessed a reduction of 31% when its bottles were released, Château Cheval Blanc saw a decrease of 18%, and Château Talbot witnessed a drop of 25%. You can find more information about the price decreases in this article too.
Benefits of purchasing through iDealwine
Have we convinced you yet? Well, if not, buying En Primeur wines with iDealwine also unlocks several benefits.
- Enjoy free EU-wide delivery on iDealwine when you spend €1,500(excl. tax) or more on primeurs.idealwine.com
- Receive Loyalty Rewards as En Primeur purchases will earn you rebates on iDealwine.com. You will earn a €50 voucher to use on the iDealwine website that can be redeemed when you place an order of €150 or more there.
- Alerts in real-time as each En Primeur wine is released
What is more, you can sign up to receive an alert when a specific wine you have your eye on is released. - Worldwide shipping on release, or storage in our cellars until you’re ready to uncork the bottles
- Tasting notes, critics scores, and updates on each release
We’ll truly be with you every step of the way!
If you’re still on the fence, maybe we can change your mind with this final remark. Think of purchasing En Primeur wines like tidying away some money or chocolate, completely forgetting about it, only to discover it sometime later. That joy on rediscovery will be what it’s like to uncork a bottle bought during the En Primeur campaign when the wine inside has reached its optimum window!
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