Looking from a different angle at the 2011 Bordeaux En Primeur campaign…

Ever since last year’s very successful (read profitable) 2010 Bordeaux en Primeur campaign people have been speculating about what would happen with the 2011 wines. So when vintage conditions proved to be rather challenging last September, a steady “end of the world as we know it” buzz started gaining momentum. Bring on Robert Parker, who brushed off the vintage before the En Primeur tasting week even started and then Chateau Latour deciding to leave the En Primeur system and all at once the talk of wine town became the collapse of the Bordeaux’s dominance and it’s En Primeur system and with it the 2011 vintage has just about been written off…

Before I continue let’s take a closer look at how it all started. The 2010 vintage had been acclaimed as potentially the greatest vintage of the decade, maybe even better than the near perfect 2009, obviously creating a big demand. Bring to the equation a thriving Chinese wine market with a great interest for Bordeaux and money to spend wanting their piece of the pie. This resulted in the biggest upwards spiraling of En Primeur prices ever – with several Chateau’s pricing their wines at over 1000 Euro/bottle. Whilst this may seem crazy, it is in fact very normal market behaviour – i.e. prices significantly increase when there is a big demand and a small supply. The amount of wine had virtually stayed the same, but all at once there were a lot more buyers many of whom where willing to pay whatever it took which meant the system went more than a little crazy.

When all was set and done, the initial confidence started to wane and buyers were doubting they were going to make money on their investment. Furthermore several major counterfeit wine cases had been in the news and all at once en Primeur wine did not seem such a good investment any more. Following the 2011 vintage conditions, which proved to be more than a little challenging, opinion leaders thus started to predict large decreases in the 2011 En Primeur pricing.

So what exactly does En Primeur stand for? En Primeur is a system whereby one pre-sells the wine at the best possible price – read cheapest it would ever be – when the wine is still in the making. The fine Bordeaux’s in this system are wines which require lengthy aging in barrel as well as in bottle before they really come into their own. En Primeur buyers commit to the wine by paying for it upfront and will receive the wine once it has been bottled 1.5 to 2 years later. In a way the system is a win win situation: the Chateau gets paid earlier which eases pressures on the cash flow and the consumer gets a “bargain” as the release price a few years later will be significantly higher.

This notion of consumer “bargain” is extremely important for the system to work well. We can see the impact right now with a lot of consumers feeling the 2011 wines are “overpriced” which has been seriously hampering the 2011 En Primeur campaign. This leaves us with the million dollar question “what would be a fair price for the 2011 vintage”?

Ultimately this boils down to how good are the 2011 wines and what is their aging potential?

As we already mentioned the 2011 vintage was rather difficult, yet with careful attention and a lot of sorting work in the winery some excellent elegant wines were made. I have been very fortunate to be able to analyse Xavier Leclerc tasting notes. Xavier is a very respected French wine buyer and wine judge who received the prestigious Revue de Vin de France “Hypermarché de l’Année” price this January. Xavier’s notes were extremely interesting as he had comparative notes for the last 3 vintages. He also told me he had compared his notes with Robert Parker’s with whom he had some interesting discussions on some of the wines. As a wine buyer for a large hypermarket, Xavier’s customers are always on the back of his mind, so these points hopefully will also reflect some of the better deals around. I have listed here below some of the top scoring wines as well as their release price (when available) taken from Millésima or another other reputable En Primeur resellers as a reference. Please note that these wines are not ordered in any particular way but they all scored above 92 points and initial thoughts indicated that they are best consumed between 2019 and 20130.

• L’Egregore 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Petrus Gaïa 2011 – €13.36 per bottle
• La Croix de Perenne 2011 – price not released yet
• Domaine de l’A 2011 – €18.80 per bottle
• Château De Pressac 2011 – price not released yet
• Lucia 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Fombrauge 2011 – €17.25 per bottle
• Château Magrez Fombrauge 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Grandes Murailles 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Clos Saint Martin 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Larcis Ducasse 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Clos Fourtet 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Pavie Macquin 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Beau-Séjour Bécot 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Beauséjour-Duffau-Lagarrosse 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Figeac 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Angelus 2011 – price not released yet
• Château La Gaffeliere 2011 – €39 per bottle
• Le plus de La Fleur de Boüard 2011 – €63.33 per bottle
• Château Le Gay 2011 – price not released yet
• Château la Croix saint Georges 2011 – price not released yet
• Château le Bon Pasteur 2011 – no price in Euro’s found, just under £33 UK under bond price
• Château Feytit Clinet 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Clinet 2011 – price not released yet
• Petite Eglise 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Eglise Clinet 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Petit Village 2011 – price not released yet
• Château La Conseillante 2011 – price not released yet
• Clos Vieux Taillefer 2011 – price not released yet
• Château La Tour Carnet 2011 – €22.80 per bottle
• Château Poujeaux 2011 – €19.60 per bottle
• Château De Fieuzal 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Smith Haut Lafitte 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Haut Bailly 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Pape Clement 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Du Tertre 2011- €23.80 per bottle
• Château Kirwan 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Marquis d’Alesme 2011 Becker – €23.33 per bottle
• Château Rauzan Gassies 2011 – not released yet
• Château Malescot Saint Exupery 2011 – €37.90 per bottle
• Alter ego de Palmer 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Palmer 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Talbot 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Léoville Barton 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Lynch Bages 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Pichon Longueville Contesse de Lalande 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Mouton Rothschild 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Lafite Rothschild 2011 – €490 per bottle
• Château Pichon Longueville Baron 2011 – price not released yet
• Château Cos d’Estournel 2011 – €115 per bottle
• Chateau Pontet Canet 2011 – €75.90 per bottle

I do know that this list however interesting it may be still does not answer my million dollar question from above. So let me try here: after having spoken to several Bordeaux experts and having done quite a bit of research online, I know the 2011 vintage is comparable to the 2008 and 2001 vintages – both well performing underdogs:-) In price terms I would suggest that any pricing around the 2008 mark would be fair with a bit of lee way for inflation. I personally think that some of the wines are very well priced for the quality and are well worth the investment in our future pleasure! I feel with all of this talk of investment it is important to remember that wine is ultimately there to be ENJOYED and to give us pleasure