Bordeaux 2012: Montrose, Clinet, Domaine de Chevalier release

New price releases are being met by an increasingly small pool of buyers in the Bordeaux 2012 campaign.

Montrose…five vintages cheaper than 2012

Among the estates to release yesterday were Chateau Montrose, matching Pichon Comtesse with a 20% price decrease on 2011 to €57.60 ex-Bordeaux (still above its €42 ex-Bordeaux in 2008 but significantly down from its €132 high in 2010). Chateau Tronquoy Lalande, from the same stable, posted a 6.25% drop to €18 ex-Bordeaux.

The widely-praised Chateau Clinet in Pomerol dropped 11.9% to €44 (this was at €33 in 2008), and Chateau Carbonnieux brought both its red and white wines down by around 3% to €15.5 (red) and €16.5 (white).

Also in Pessac Léognan, Domaine de Chevalier, decided to keep both its red and white unchanged from the 2011 vintage, so €30 ex-Bordeaux for the red, and €58 for the white (in 2008 you’d have paid €23.50 for the red, and €45 for the white).

Château Guiraud in Sauternes also kept its 2011 price at €30 ex-Bordeaux.

As the campaign begins to wind down, it now looks as if even drops of 20% are unlikely to attract the attention of buyers.

Max Lalondrelle at Berry Bros told Decanter.com the problem was that people simply did not think they were getting a good deal any more.

‘En Primeur should be very simple – customers give chateaux cash in advance, and for that they get a deal. They need to be able to look back and think buying in advance was a good thing. That’s not happening any more.’

BBR sold 220 bottles of Montrose yesterday, Lalondrelle said, compared to around 2,000 last year and around 5,500 bottles of the 2010.

‘There are five other vintages of Montrose available in the market in the UK for a cheaper price, so customers know they can pick up the 2012 once they have tasted it for themselves.’

Written by Jane Anson in Bordeaux