It’s about this time of year when wine writers all over the world start harping on about the coming En Primeur season in Bordeaux. Like it or loath it, it’s one of the biggest annual events in the wine calendar. But what actually is it?
The En Primeur market was born out of the need for cash! Sounds grubby doesn’t it? But you need to know the process for Châteaux first.
Let’s take the 2014 vintage. The grapes are grown in 2014, harvested in the autumn of 2014, then sent off to become wine. The fermentation and other adjustments take until about March/April 2015. They then stick the wine (reds mainly) into oak barrels for about 2 years before they release it for sale. That’s done to help all the flavors integrate nicely so the finished product is smooth and lovely.
If you think about it though, that’s quite capital intensive. If you’re the Château then you’ve got 3 years worth of work just sat in your cellar, costing you money. Here comes the idea of En Primeur. In March/April of 2015, before it goes into barrel, all the Bordeaux pros head off and taste the “unfinished “ product, then the Châteaux release a percentage of their wines for sale, 2 years before you can get hold of them. It brings in the funding for the oak ageing, and also adds the extra 2 years in terms of selling the wine itself. That’s a win-win for the producer.
So what about the consumer, i.e. you and me? In the past there used to be a decent discount on these wines, but the advent of wine-as-an-investment has meant the prices have slowly risen. So forget the discount!
The main upside for us lot is the access to the wines. 2014 is being touted as the miracle vintage. Potentially it’s as good as 2010, the last great vintage of Bordeaux. From a market starved of good claret given the low yields in 2012 and 2013, I reckon they’re going to buy the arse out of this one (as I used to say in my job in the city)! When they’re released in 2017, bottles of Lafite Rothschild or Margaux or Ausone will be rare as rocking horse shit. But access to the En Primeur market gives us mere mortals the chance to get hold of them. And we’ll have all the big boys for sale here at 20h33.
I’ll be off to Bordeaux for the Primeur week to do plenty of tasting, and making plenty of tasting notes for you all. If there’s a wine that you especially want me to keep an eye out for then please get in touch at mike@20h33.com.
Enjoy
Mike
Director of www.20h33.co.uk
Photo: The tasting glasses all lined up and ready to go!