News from the vineyard 6/12/20

by Edouard Bourgeois

It is a busy week for the Bordelais as they just started the Primeurs!

As you may know, in Bordeaux a ‘vente en primeur’ is the sale of a grand cru classé wine before the final product has been finalized. The wines are then matured for 18 months in barrels inside the storehouses. This tradition ties the Château to the merchant. The Château ensures that its cash flow is guaranteed and buyers can obtain a discount on the final price of the wine, which is only marketed two years later. 

It's been a rough last couple years for Bordeaux between Brexit, the Hong Kong protests and of course now, Covid-19. The global export has plummeted while, ironically, Mother Nature has been quite generous with around 660 million bottles produced on average in 2018 and 2019. Automatically today, Bordeaux is sitting on a lot of wine to sell. Although received with great enthusiasm by the press and collectors, the 2018 vintage already suffered a weak "En Primeur" campaign. 2019' campaign is not so much more flamboyant with Château Pontet-Canet setting the pace, selling its 5th growth Pauillac 68 euros a bottle, a 30% decrease from the 2018 vintage...

The pandemic obviously is not helping, forcing the Châteaux to plan a different strategy by sending samples all around the world and limiting the number of clients during tastings in their cellar.

Is it the right time to buy and drink more Bordeaux?