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Barton defends Bordeaux pricing
August 1, 2007
Oliver Styles
Bordeaux proprietor Anthony Barton has said that high prices for the 2006 vintage are reasonable, comparing the campaign to that of the 1989 vintage.
Writing in the September issue of Decanter magazine, the head of Leoville- and Langoa-Barton said that prices were reasonable - 'when compared with the current prices of the 2005s'.
He added that criticism of the 2006 en primeur reminded him of the 1989 campaign.
He listed warnings that the market was quiet, a hesitant start, an over-enthusiastic reception of the first few offers, frenetic buying by negociants and merchants, and 'habitual complaints' that prices were too high, as parallels between the two vintages.
Barton did admit that 1989 was an 'outstanding' wine compared to the 2006 offering. However, he added that new markets, including the Asian market, would now 'happily pay large sums for famous names'.
Following the superlative 2005 vintage, the campaign for the less-acclaimed 2006s has come under a lot of criticism, not least from merchants and wine amateurs in both the UK and US. Christian Delpeuch, head of Bordeaux negociant Ginestet said the UK and US had been 'very negative' towards the 2006 vintage.
Barton admitted that although the chateaux had not taken the 'sound advice' of UK merchants to reduce their prices, there were reasonable reductions in prices this year.
'Of course, these prices [2006] were even more reasonable when compared with current prices of the 2005s,' he said.
He admitted that there was a feeling that Bordeaux had become a high-end commodity.
'Some feel this new demand means top Bordeaux has now entered the luxury goods market,' he said.
Barton concluded that despite this, in lesser vintages, prices would probably be considerably lower.
In his editorial this month, however, Decanter editor Guy Woodward expressed severe doubts.
'We are told that prices have now been "repositioned permanently"', he said. 'In other words, the Bordelais want a piece of the action. It is the equivalent, though, of the Bordelais having their cake and eating it, an approach which should have been rebutted by the trade in the UK in a year when demand here is low. Instead, fear of riling the Bordeaux giants and missing out on future allocations has seen the trade pass the task on to consumers.'
Hear Decanter contributing editor Stephen Brook, Alison Buchanan of UK wine merchant Corney & Barrow and editor of decanter.com, Adam Lechmere, discuss Bordeaux en primeur on our new podcast service
| Read Anthony Barton's guest column in the September issue of Decanter magazine – OUT NOW |
Have your say...
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 "Head in the sand time" in Bordeaux, I see. Sad how the mighty have fallen. 2006 pricing is greed induced, and only fools are buying.
Andrew Skroback, New York City, USA
This is a free world, you can switch to buy Ch. x, y or z.
On the otherhand, why didn't we set up an OFT and fine them £121.5m as per BA.
Dominic Leung
It's a case of supply and demand - supply is limited, Asian and Russian markets have increased demand and so the prices head the same way. That's pretty acceptable, it's the way any designer label product works and, anyone deny and brand themselves a liar, Big Name wines are fashion-driven as much as they are quality driven. Just like the hand-stitching on your latest catwalk handbag.
For those who are outraged, you hold a fair opinion - just wait another 15 years for Bordeaux to flag in the eyes of these 'new, wealthy markets' and the trend may well diminish.
Or, take a look at why these Big Names are so popular (an easy question) and what marketing has been done to drive them in the first place? Just as Chablis was a minor wine until the 50s and rose to relative supremacy, Grange has been made and sold so effectively that it can compete against Old World blue chips, as just one other example of why Bordeaux is not invulnerable to competition.
James Mac, London, UK
The price in the next 5 – 10 years should drop as the Asian learn that bad or normal Bordeaux years are not good for their image and will make them look and feel stupid and uneducated in front of people that they are trying to impress. Image is everything in Asia and paying big money for normal or bad is not good for your image. I really think this is just a faze and the Bordeaux chateaus are in for a nasty shock. So Mr & Mrs. Bordeaux get down from your high horse or get kicked by it.
Dom
With all due respect, I don't think that these estates and their huge prices are on a 'high horse'. Supply and demand works in exactly this way with almost every other product in the world. You can't imagine that people expect a Mercedes' price tag to be unaffected by the market image of the brand.
Yes, trends will change, but at the moment these are successful businesses and they're hardly being radical by charging extra where customers are willing to pay.
James Mac, London, USA
With all due respect, Asia remains, at present, an insignificant player in comparison to traditional Bordeaux markets. Perhaps a significantly bigger player down the road in ten years time, but, for now, Asia is a big player only in the marketing game whereby Bordeaux and those who sell it try to create a false sense of scarcity in their normal markets to drive that demand. Don't believe the hype.
Andrew Skroback, New York City, USA
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