Have your say... To post your comments, tasting notes, thoughts and anything else you might have to say regarding this year's en primeur campaign, email us at news@decanter.com
As a seasoned en primeur buyer I guess my philosophy would be as follows. Stick to the top makers who have employed developed wine making skills, investment in good winery hardware & rigorous selection. None of us needs to buy this year after a pretty decent run of good to excellent vintages stretching back over the last decade with a very few exceptions. That requires some kind of price concession as the investors are gone and the vintage is not uniform. We are likely back to the traditional buyers of Bordeaux. Hurrah!. I am hearing/reading that some wine makers have triumphed significantly against the mixed conditions in 2008. If they have the cash flow I would not blame them for delaying release BUT I clearly would not expect to pay top dollar if/when they do release either. The economic environment has changed permanently for the worse for the next 5 years at least. My decision rules will be: will it last 20 years or more (my own pet obsession)? Is it 90+ Parker points (a personal benchmark – perhaps a bit one dimensional – but you have to have some quality decision rule)? Is the price close to 2004 levels (reasonable concession reflecting the mixed vintage and market conditions)? Do I already own a lot of back vintages of that particular Chateau? Can I get better value by buying prior vintages of the same Chateau out of wine merchants' existing inventory? Clearly everyone's parameters will be slightly different but I think that at least provides some kind of structure to the thought process. No doubt I will lose control at some point and buy too much as usual!
Gerard Fox
As a seasoned en primeur buyer I guess my philosophy would be as follows. Stick to the top makers who have employed developed wine making skills, investment in good winery hardware & rigorous selection. None of us needs to buy this year after a pretty decent run of good to excellent vintages stretching back over the last decade with a very few exceptions. That requires some kind of price concession as the investors are gone and the vintage is not uniform. We are likely back to the traditional buyers of Bordeaux. Hurrah!. I am hearing/reading that some wine makers have triumphed significantly against the mixed conditions in 2008. If they have the cash flow I would not blame them for delaying release BUT I clearly would not expect to pay top dollar if/when they do release either. The economic environment has changed permanently for the worse for the next 5 years at least. My decision rules will be: will it last 20 years or more (my own pet obsession)? Is it 90+ Parker points (a personal benchmark – perhaps a bit one dimensional – but you have to have some quality decision rule)? Is the price close to 2004 levels (reasonable concession reflecting the mixed vintage and market conditions)? Do I already own a lot of back vintages of that particular Chateau? Can I get better value by buying prior vintages of the same Chateau out of wine merchants' existing inventory? Clearly everyone's parameters will be slightly different but I think that at least provides some kind of structure to the thought process. No doubt I will lose control at some point and buy too much as usual!
