Fine wine news

For chateaux to sell all of its 2011 en primeur they must reduce prices by around a third from last year, wine author Charles Metcalfe has claimed.

He suggested that as it is well-known that the 2011 vintage is not as good as past years, consumers and wine investors will not be happy paying just 20 per cent less for it.

"To get the market going they have to bring the prices down," he explained.

"For the Bordelais, particularly now that the Chinese are buying Burgundy as well as Bordeaux, I can't really see the wines moving, unless we see a price fall of about a third from last year. That's a big ask."

Indeed, as Burgundy becomes a new challenger to the investment market, Bordeaux producers may find that they are forced to bring their prices down.

Last year, the price of 2010 en primeur reached an average 20 per cent premium on the 2009s, which was also a good year.

"It's easy, when you're riding high with great vintages, to push your prices up as high as they can go, and that is what they've been doing for the last several years," Mr Metcalfe said.

"However, when you encounter a vintage which is not as appealing, you've got people whose cellars are already either stuffed full of wines from great years, or waiting to have wines delivered. Who is going to buy these?"

The author advised investors to concentrate on the top vintages, as "you don't often make a significant return unless the criteria of top wine and top vintage are followed".

Wine critics will be gearing up for the 2011 en primeur campaign, but some have suggested that their scores should not be published until chateaux have released their prices in order not to influence producers and drive up opening prices unnecessarily.

Posted by Helen Jenkins