Bordeaux 2012: Margaux releases one third down, Pavie and Angelus major increase

Chateau Margaux has matched fellow First Growth Chateau Mouton Rothschild by releasing its 2012 wine at €240 ex-Bordeaux.

Pavie: ‘doesn’t make sense’

This represents a drop of 33% on 2011 (although up 85% from 2008). Margaux’s second wine, Pavillon Rouge, is down 12% to €75 per bottle.

It is joined this morning by the two newly-promoted Grand Cru Classés ‘A’ in Saint Emilion, Chateau Angélus and Chateau Pavie, which both came out at €180 ex-Bordeaux, a rise of 30% and 58% respectively.

‘It was the hardest pricing decision of my career,’ Angélus owner Hubert de Bouard told Decanter.com. ‘We have to mark the occasion of our promotion, and take into account the price of Angélus on the market – the lowest is the 2007 at around €165.’

Most observers feel that the prices are optimistic at best. Jon Barr at European Fine Wines told Decanter.com, ‘Angelus and Pavie just didn’t work. I can’t promote it to my clients when there is 07 and 04 on the market for less. Some people are pricing for people to buy and enjoy these wines, and others are pricing to make a political point.’

In London, Corney & Barrow managing director Adam Brett-Smith called the Angelus price ‘inappropriate’.

‘An en primeur offering should be about quality, alongside the market. I think this shows a disregard of the market. Sadly, we won’t be buying.’

There have been a few significant price drops today also. Chateau Canon has joined its sister property Rauzan Ségla by returning (almost) to its 2008 price of €36.50 ex-Bordeaux, a drop of 42% from 2011, while Chateau Climens in Sauternes is down 41% to €41 ex-Bordeaux, and Beausejour Bécot is at €30 (down 13.79%).

See Decanter’s full Bordeaux 2012 ratings

Written by Jane Anson in Bordeaux