Why buy en primeur Bordeaux? by Patrick Bernard, Founder & CEO Millesima SA
En primeur, sometimes called wine futures, is a way for anyone to buy the most highly-demanded Bordeaux wines 1-2 years before they are bottled and released on the market. Each spring, thousands of wine professionals visit Bordeaux for the opening of the Primeur campaign.
Over 150 of the top estates welcome journalists, buyers, importers, retailers and other wine professionals from all over the world to taste barrel samples of their latest vintage. Estates use the feedback they receive about the quality of the wine and vintage to estimate demand and set initial prices. In May, the estates release their prices and allow wine merchants to buy their future wines. However, not just any wine merchant can buy these wines directly from the estates. Only those who are registered within the Bordeaux area can do so. These 400 wine merchants or negociants as they are called in France, are known as the “the Place de Bordeaux” and represent the estate owners in promoting and distributing the wines all over the world.
“The biggest advantage of buying wine futures is price.”
Even if you aren’t a wine professional, you can still benefit from buying wine before it is bottled and released on the market. The biggest advantage of buying wine futures is price. The en primeur price of a wine is almost always lower than the release price on the market. Buying wine futures also allows you to buy the most highly demanded wines that may be virtually impossible to find when they are released on the market in a variety of different formats such as half bottles, magnums and larger-sized bottles.
If you are considering buying wine en primeur, it’s important to choose a reputable wine merchant. Whenever you buy a product that will be delivered at a much later time, there is a risk you won’t receive your wine. You may have heard stories of merchants who have filed for bankruptcy, stored wine in poor conditions so it spoiled, or engaged in wine fraud. To dramatically lower that risk, look for an established wine merchant who has been in the wine trade for years, is financially solvent, and will store your wine properly.
“one of the 5 biggest buyers of en-primeur wines (70 000 cases ie: 840 000 bottles)”
This is where Millesima has a distinct advantage. Millesima is one of the 400 established wine merchants who participate on the Place de Bordeaux, one of the 5 biggest buyers of en-primeur wines and the second largest inventory of fine wines in Bordeaux. These assets are your best guarantees ensuring the delivery of your future and mature wines. This means your wine travels from the chateau to us to you. Most other wine merchants must legally buy from a negociant, so your wine changes hands at least once more, and often, many times more before it gets to you.
Let’s summarize why to buy en Primeur:
- The biggest advantage of buying wine futures is price!
- Buying wine futures also allows you to buy the most highly demanded wines
- Make sure you will get larger-sized bottles such as half bottles, magnums, imperiales.
- Original wooden case from the chateau
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