2 April 2015 As the tastings of 2014 en primeur grind to a close in Bordeaux and the Bordelais go off to reflect on pricing over the Easter weekend, we thought it might be salutary to republish these reflections by one of the biggest players in the market on their last sales campaign.
13 May 2014 Here's what the biggest fine-wine traders Farr Vintners, based in London and Hong Kong, circulated yesterday as their 'last word on the 2013 Bordeaux primeurs campaign'. The bolding is mine:
Château de Fargues 2013 was released today at £1,300. This is a ridiculously high price when you consider that we still have the 2001 vintage available at £780 per case, so we won't be listing it. Having not made a wine in 2012 it looks like they won't be selling their wine in 2013.
Château d'Yquem have just announced that they will not be selling their 2013 vintage en primeur but instead will wait until two years after the vintage – as they did with their 2011.
Château Certan de May have also announced today that they will not be selling their 2013 en primeur.
And so, 2013 en primeur staggers to an end, collapsing in a heap just before the finish line. Farr Vintners has endured its smallest en primeur campaign since the 1997 vintage – made worse, no doubt, by our refusal to promote wines that we felt were over-priced and low in quality. However, we have sold over 900 cases of the remarkably good wines made by Denis Durantou [of Église-Clinet in Pomerol etc – JR], decent quantities of Lynch Bages and Domaine de Chevalier and very little else. The Bordeaux wine trade has once gain shot itself in the foot as most proprietors have failed to listen to their customers and have released mediocre wines to an uninterested clientele at the wrong prices.
We're publishing these comments just because they reflect the experiences of virtually all wine merchants. Should you wish to see what else we published on the topic of Bordeaux 2013, see this guide to our coverage.