First growths must 'send a shockwave' by releasing their prices straight after the en primeur tastings in order to save the 2008 campaign, a prominent negociant has said.
Philippe Tapie, managing director of negociant HMS Bordeaux, told local paper Sud Ouest that first growth chateaux must jump start the campaign by releasing prices immediately after the tasting week held for buyers and journalists in early April.
'The top Bordeaux need to return to pricing for drinking rather than speculation,' Tapie said.
Charles Chevalier of Chateau Lafite told decanter.com that he did not wish to take a stand on this.
'In the current climate, everyone is deciding what is best to do, and it is too early to be certain – but the eventual pricing decision will be taken by Baron Eric [de Rothschild] and Christophe Salin.'
However, Tapie said because the first growths are the market drivers, their cooperation in this matter is critical.
'This is the only solution to regain clients that we have alienated. They could shock the rest of the market into action by releasing their prices in early May, just after the en primeur tastings and before the critics publish their scores. This early timing is essential to get the market going this year. If the campaign fails, the situation will become far more difficult and long-lasting.'
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The world is funny to say it, mildly. Each and every person with vested interest in wine world, refuse to say and admit GREED is their underlying character and their ultimate downfall. Just like the bankers that brought to us the misery of the financial crisis. They will only say it to their maker, in their native language, in their last encounter that they were indeed. Are they going to bring their wealth with them when they died?
There are too much vested interest. All want a hand, or both hands in the wine (money) pie to make more than the last vintage. Never mind their weak and feeble protests vintage after vintage. Wine merchants can and should do all a favour by buying less collectively. Wine critics should stay away and not assess any wine that were assembled for pre-matured drinking until wines are ready bottled. Consumers just have to make up their mind, if they have one, what to buy based on their judgment.
Do the right thing, I beseech you. We had have enough.
Jerry Loo, Singapore
It is an excellent suggestion and I agree with the sentiments of Philippe Tapie, managing director of negociant HMS in Bordeaux. This would be an ideal starting point - but would this alone 'kick start' demand for the 2008 vintage or past vintages, help an ailing industry to get off its knees or look after those who supported the 2007 vintage with the prices of 2008s at 2002 levels?
We are dealing here with a macro problem and I feel this only provides a micro solution. You just have to look at the comments made under Jane Anson's article 'Moueix of Petrus: 2009 en primeur campaign at risk on the 11th Dec 2008 here on Decanters site to see that people will not be buying the 2008 vintage at any price!
If the Bordeaux Wine Industry is going to survive, more radical changes have be introduced other than merely lowering the prices of the forth coming vintage. Look what happened to the worlds stock markets recently …we are facing unprecedented market forces within an industry that doesn't like change.
Little (which I think this suggestion is) or no change within the industry now could result in disaster not only for chateaux but all those whose livelihoods depend on it. Change management is what is needed - a complex subject which is built on behavioural attitudes but I have felt for a number of years now that talking to Chateaux owners about change would be like 'herding cats'. If they want to initiate change they have to change their attitudes first and go beyond their current comfort zones. This will be their biggest challenge. Once they have overcome this hurdle the rest could be plain sailing! I just wonder if they are up to it?
Nick Stephens, Bordeaux Undiscovered, UK
With pricing released in early May, the First Growths should be able to reverse pricing trends of recent years and come out around 100 Euro per bottle right across the board, thereby 'giving back to the market'. This would create a sense of bullishness amidst the gloom and doom, as most buyers would participate at that pricing level, taking into account the weakened Euro. It would also boost the chances of moving some 'dead' stock of 2007 and even 2006 at Vinexpo this summer, even if they have to be discounted or priced to sell.
Alltogether a good an positive attitude that should be shared by most Bordeaux Negociants and certainly the Chateaux.
Gil Lempert-Schwarz, Las Vegas, Nevada
As an independent wine writer, I ceased going to Bordeaux to taste "primeurs" after the 2005 campaign. Too many things seen and heard then shocked me, and the subsequent speculations on that vintage did little to allay my fears. I feel in total agreement with Jerry Loo that one should not, as a writer talking to a wide public, comment and rate wines that are not finished and in bottle, simply because there can be no guarantee that what is tasted is what people will get.
On the pricing issue, the only way that the 5% (at the most) of Bordeaux châteaux who live by selling futures can regenerate any interest in this activity this year is indeed by a massive drop in prices. And I think it would be a strong signal for the first growths to lead the way and to do it fast.
But, as Nick Stephens rightly points out, the whole futures issue, including the price levels for the super-rich, is a minor one alongside the general one facing Bordeaux and indeed French wine in general. In a nutshell, French wine has never been so good, but its image never so poor. This problem naturally has to be solved on a far wider scale, but anything that contributes to moving in the right direction, including making the top wines seem less remote and aloof, is worth doing. Perhaps the next stage would be to abandon the practice of selling futures altogether.
David Cobbold, Paris, France
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The world is funny to say it, mildly. Each and every person with vested interest in wine world, refuse to say and admit GREED is their underlying character and their ultimate downfall. Just like the bankers that brought to us the misery of the financial crisis. They will only say it to their maker, in their native language, in their last encounter that they were indeed. Are they going to bring their wealth with them when they died?
