En primeur insights – part 1: the ex-participant

Now the dust has settled, we begin a series of articles looking back at the 2010 en primeur campaign in Bordeaux. Mark Hellyar is the owner of Château Civrac in the Côtes de Bourg, a former participant in the en primeur process but now a vocal opponent of it. He presents his case below.

What is en primeur? And what is the point of it for me, the producer?

These are two questions that faced me when I first started in the Bordeaux wine business in 2005.

To the great and the good of Bordeaux, the primeur cycle is a...