Bordeaux 2024: Cheval Blanc cuts price by nearly 30%
St-Emilion powerhouse Château Cheval Blanc and top Pauillac estate Lynch-Bages have become the latest big names released en primeur at a discount to many pre-existing vintages, as the Bordeaux 2024 campaign enters its third week in search of a spark.
Cheval Blanc 2024 was released on Tuesday (6 May) at €276 per bottle ex-négociant. Data from Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, showed it is the lowest en primeur release price for this famous grand vin since the 2008 vintage.
UK merchants offered Cheval Blanc 2024 at around £1,650 per six-bottle case in-bond (IB), around 29% below the debut price of the St-Emilion estate’s 2023 vintage in last year’s Bordeaux en primeur campaign.
Other top names released on Tuesday included Château Lynch-Bages, Château Smith Haut Lafitte and Château La Lagune.
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Cheval Blanc and Lynch-Bages lead way on discounts
Cheval Blanc and Lynch-Bages joined Angélus and Lafite Rothschild in releasing their 2024 en primeur wines as one of the cheapest available vintages on the market.
Liv-ex said Cheval Blanc’s 2021 vintage was currently available for slightly less; £3,240 (12x75cl IB), compared to £3,300 on the 2024 en primeur wine.
However, it noted that Cheval Blanc 2024 has received relatively strong praise from critics in a tricky vintage, and it said the volume of grand vin produced was down 35% year-on-year.
Farr Vintners offered Château Lynch-Bages 2024 at £360 (6x75cl IB) on Tuesday.
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‘This is 25% down on last year and the price is at least 10% below that of any other vintage of Lynch Bages in the market today,’ it said.
‘It’s been a long time since we last saw a £60 bottle of Lynch-Bages.’
Liv-ex said Lynch-Bages 2024 was €60 per bottle ex-négociant, down 14% year-on-year and marking a return to its 2014-vintage release price.
Consultancy group Wine Lister said Lynch-Bages 2024’s price and strong brand ‘might make for an attractive proposition, depending on which critic you follow’.
A subdued early campaign?
Cheval Blanc and Lynch-Bages are often among the most sought-after names during Bordeaux’s annual en primeur campaign.
While it is too soon to judge demand this time around, their arrival comes amid a sense of the 2024-vintage release season still searching for a spark.
Matthew O’Connell, CEO of the LiveTrade trading platform at Bordeaux Index, told Decanter last week that the group saw good demand for Lafite 2024, although buying activity was not ‘frenzied’.
Miles Davis, market expert with Vinum Fine Wines, wrote on LinkedIn, ‘In a normal year [Lafite ’24] would have flown out of the door, but this is no normal year.’
He added: ‘We have been selling Lafite, just not as much as we would have liked.’
He said several factors may have contributed to a relatively subdued start to the Bordeaux 2024 en primeur campaign, from challenging fine wine market conditions to the trend for releasing early – ahead of scores from some major critics.
However, there is plenty of time to go. Prices are broadly in the right place and will be interesting to watch – particularly as more quality scores and tasting notes for the wines emerge.
Davis told Decanter on Tuesday that Vinum Fine Wines had seen early demand for Cheval Blanc. Of the early campaign in general, he added, ‘The gestures [on price] are being made, there’s no question.’
Debuts for Smith Haut Lafitte and La Lagune
Among other releases on Tuesday morning was Château Smith Haut Lafitte (red) 2024, at €62.4 per bottle ex-négociant.
Liv-ex said it is the cheapest release from this Pessac-Léognan star since the 2015 vintage, which debuted at €60 per bottle ex-négociant.
In the UK, Smith Haut Lafitte 2024 was released at the equivalent of £744 per 12-bottle case (IB), although several merchants have been offering en primeur wines in six-packs.
‘There are several less expensive vintages available on the market,’ said Liv-ex, highlighting the well-regarded 2019 vintage.
Some recent vintages were more expensive, in pound sterling terms, such as the 100-point Smith Haut Lafitte 2022, which carried a Liv-ex market price of £960 (12x75cl IB)
Farr Vintners also offered Smith Haut Lafitte’s 2024-vintage white wine at £643 (6x75cl IB).
Château La Lagune 2024 was also released on Tuesday, at €20.4 per bottle ex-négociant, which translated to a UK offer price of around £244 (12x75cl IB).
‘The 2024 is one of the least expensive vintages available on the market,’ said Liv-ex.
Coming soon: Our full report on Bordeaux 2024, to be published exclusively for Decanter Premium subscribers
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Chris Mercer is a Bristol-based freelance editor and journalist who spent nearly four years as digital editor of Decanter.com, having previously been Decanter’s news editor across online and print.
He has written about, and reported on, the wine and food sectors for more than 10 years for both consumer and trade media.
Chris first became interested in the wine world while living in Languedoc-Roussillon after completing a journalism Masters in the UK. These days, his love of wine commonly tests his budgeting skills.
Beyond wine, Chris also has an MSc in food policy and has a particular interest in sustainability issues. He has also been a food judge at the UK’s Great Taste Awards.