Lafite Rothschild 2024
Credit: Hemis / Alamy Stock Photo
(Image credit: Hemis / Alamy Stock Photo)

The Pauillac first growth has offered its grand vin for €288 per bottle ex-négociant, the same price as the 2014 was released at.

It’s a pricing strategy that makes it the cheapest vintage of the estate currently available in the market.

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The grand vin is being offered for around £1,713 per case of six bottles in-bond (IB).

Today’s release is 28% lower than the release price of the 2023 per bottle (€396) and 50% lower than the 2022 was (€580). Volumes are down too, around 14% according to Farr Vintners so stocks are expected to be limited.

Ahead of the release, the estate’s CEO, Saskia de Rothschild, said the plan was to set a price that would help the wines sell ‘down the chain’.

Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, noted that it was, ‘by far the cheapest vintage on the market – 20.3% cheaper than the 2013. As such, this release presents excellent value to buyers.’

Carruades and Duhart

Released alongside the grand vin were second label Carruades de Lafite and stablemate Château Duhart-Milon.

Carruades was offered for €120 p/b – a cut of 23.2% on the 2023 – and is being offered for around £714 per six IB.

Like its parent label, it is the cheapest vintage currently available to buy.

Duhart-Milon, meanwhile, cut its price by 19.2% to €45.6 per bottle.

It is being offered by the UK trade for around £276 per case of six IB.

Liv-ex noted that despite the significant price cut, prices of older vintages have not held up as well as those of Lafite and Carruades.

‘As such,’ it explained, ‘there are many less expensive, highly-rated vintages available on the market.’

The 2018 and 2019 in particular look well-positioned versus the new vintage.

Steadying the ship

The campaign began – earlier than usual – last week, with offers for Château Pontet-Canet, Château Batailley and the wines from JP Moueix.

Although many commentators had advised or predicted further price cuts to those offered in 2023, the reductions from Pontet-Canet and Batailley were far less radical than hoped for.

At the end of last week, Château Branaire-Ducru seemed to connect better with the mood, its price cut of 17.6% leading to positive noises from the trade.

Today’s release seems to have been met with a similar response.

After a somewhat shaky start, the releases of both Branaire and Lafite seem to have helped restore some confidence in the process.

Consultancy group Wine Lister said: ‘Lafite 2024 is a strong release that should see demand and inject some excitement in the campaign.’

Coming soon: Our full report on Bordeaux 2024, to be published exclusively for Decanter Premium subscribers

Rupert Millar
Rupert Millar
Assistant Editor