Bordeaux En Primeur 2021

En primeur notes
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Well, someone had to! :slight_smile:

Once again, I’m looking forward to contribute analyses of value for each major 2021 release, as per last year’s Bordeaux EP campaign.

Jancis and James have been been tasting in Bordeaux, and qualitative feedback is starting to trickle through the grapevine like falling sap in the plant.

I remind myself that not tasting personally is no bad thing because what I think doesn’t matter. The good news is here there are professional palates who do it brilliantly for us all, which leaves me to look after the business management software needs of wine merchants (the day job), and provide insights on where there may be value in Bordeaux 2021 or (more probably) in comparative back vintages.

Feedback through merchants is varied at this point. I’ve spoken to one who tells me the high points of 2021 are comparable to the 2014 vintage. Not all by any means were at that level. This makes sense given that climatically summer wasn’t anything to write home about - the vintage saved by a favourable autumn. An email received today from another merchant quotes Damien Sartorius (the Barton stable) comparing 2021 to 1996, which is an esteemed comparison indeed, if true.

The grapevine has also been telling us that pricing of 2021 will be somewhere between 2018 and 2020, which is to say priced somewhat higher than it might be. I’m not going to jump to conclusions on Bordelais release pricing because we’re not there yet, and because we are unquestionably seeing the early effects of the war in Ukraine on cost of living and the related intangible called sentiment. Whist the fine wine market has been absolutely steaming these past couple of years, it’s hard to know what happens next. The world it seems is more unpredictable than ever.

Meantime, I’m waiting for Jancis and James to tell me which vintages they would compare 2021 with, for these are the vintages that’ll form the basis of the relative value analyses - also known as spotting good buys and staying out of trouble.

Meggen will be crunching the numbers this year for me (thank you!), and I’ll be commenting. Forgive me for posts that come later in the day during the first 3 weeks of May, as I’ll be travelling in the US.

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Still trying to find a similar red wine vintage! But we’ll get there…

Much looking forward to Meggen’s charts and your comments. Not sure I’d agree with that 1996 comparison. No-one could admire and like Damien S/B more than me but I think, if my calculations are correct, he would have been four when the 1996 was harvested - so his view of that vintage must be partial rather than comprehensive.

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Perhaps whatever was said lacked a little bit of context…

What an amazing resource 1996 Bordeaux – a classic for now | JancisRobinson.com

“The talented winemaker at Château Mouton-Rothschild Philippe Dhalluin was still working at Château Branaire-Ducru in 1996. He remembers the grapes that arrived at the cellar in early October 1996 fondly. ‘They were very beautiful, croquant [crunchy] grapes that were a big reference at that time.’ His counterpart at Château Lafite on the other side of the plateau north of Pauillac, Charles Chevallier, agrees. 'I have an extraordinary memory of 1996. It was a vintage that was exceptionally easy to vinify – perfect for people who didn’t want to make any effort. So easy. Without any hard work, you had perfect extractions.”

I last had another gorgeous bottle of Montrose 1996 a month ago, great purity, the last of half a dozen I’d picked up at auction pre Covid.

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Hi Nick,

I note the comparison with 2014 in terms of quality, at least for the high points. As the release prices will certainly be higher than for the 2014 vintage, I assume there will be few really compelling buys this year. On verra.

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Indeed Matthieu. On verra! But I’m optimistic it’ll highlight values from other vintages.

Meantime there are a few interesting developments in Bordeaux that perhaps we can also pick up on as the campaign progresses.

For example, note the release of the no added sulphur bottling of Durfort Vivens 2019 at an attractive price. I tasted it in London in March and was surprised by how classically firm this cuvée was given the warmth of the vintage. I shall buy a few bottles :slight_smile:

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Here’s an interesting bit of feedback from Miles Davis, one of the team who did make it to Bordeaux this year. The wines are being served warmer than previous years when they needed to give the impression of freshness more. Fruity with a lighter load of tannins.

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Cunning!

Incidentally, I’m devoting my FT article of 7 May to first impressions of the 2021 Bordeaux vintage. Blame lead times…

Basically my advice is: buy the whites (both dry and sweet).

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Love the clarity of the advice, Janice! And for sure none of us in the forum will break our new year’s resolution never to fall for the EP fever again…

At least in Hong Kong there is an ocean of really well-priced 2010, 2015, and 2016 offered at significant discounts by the big merchants literally every week. Plus ex chateau by the bus load.

Hard to see the value in EP’ing when a well-stored ‘10 is available at cheaper prices and plenty of reliable tasting notes.

I get the whites and possibly taking some top end reds to keep annual allocations for guaranteed money makers such as Lafleur but this year it’ll be tough for the merchants to sell through. US$ at 1.06 might help with the US and HK market a bit but most names will be available below release price in a couple of years.

Looking forward to the fair pricing curves already. I think I know which quadrant they will be in.

Let the games begin.

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Nick - glad to see you are giving your take once again! My inkling is that the Bordelaise will be overly influenced by the current “fine wine bubble” and believe their own marketing spiel about the merits of 2021 and prices will be a joke rather than offering any upside to the private customer. Still, thanks for your service and look forward to the website reports.

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Hi Graham, I don’t think anyone is assuming this will be a red vintage to buy for us forumites, but at the very least the process of comparative analysis will throw up buy-to-drink opportunities from other vintages.

The answer to the question, “should I buy now - or wait until the wines are ready to drink and only buy those that have proven themselves to be among the vintage’s very best at that future date” - is highly probably going to be (almost) universally the latter.

Stocks within local channels of distribution are low. Bordeaux is not stocked to the gills any longer. Negociants are buying secondary market stocks in volume from the UK. There’s been a healthy rise in sales over the last couple of years, and that’s a really good thing. The fact younger drinkers, and a broader demographic, are discovering the great dry reds of Bordeaux and are tucking in, is a positive for everyone. I’m pleased. As a result, I doubt prices will fall a great deal, and are unlikely to come out below, or much below, 2019 releases. It’s conjecture of this point of course, but yes, this isn’t a red Bordeaux vintage for the collector.

I do like the fact that they tried, that they really tried. You may recall they gave up in 2013 and threw in the towel. There was very little dirt under fingernails in that washout. This year they got what they could out of what Mother Nature served up and by all accounts there are some extremely well made and polished wines.

It doesn’t mean it’s a fine vintage, evidently it is not. But the wines will get consumed though les grandes surfaces and hospitality in due course.

Meantime if the consumption rate of Bordeaux continues at current pace, it augurs well for wines you have already bought because in the medium term, prices will rise as the supply/ demand curve shifts in favour of the supply side. Subject to that consumption assumption, I’ll wager that prices of 2012 right bank and Graves, 2015 Margaux, right bank and Graves, 2016, 2019 and 2020 will be a fair bit higher in a few years’ time than today.

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Just to keep things fun, for heaven’s sake someone buy Lagrange St Julien 2016 from J&B at £210 per case of 6x75cl, which was also the release price in 2017. The wine is vibrant and deep, and the comment on J&B’s site that ‘it could do with a bit more flesh’ must have been written by a sumo wrestler. In blind tastings Lagrange kicks butt. £35 a bottle?

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Fantastic tip, Nick, thanks for sharing. I have taken your advice!

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Just read this post Bordeaux 2021 – an impression of a vintage | Wine Owners now. Interesting if not exactly enthusiastic :slight_smile:

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I’m going to hold off further comment until
prices come out.

There were clearly some excellent juicy reds and exceptional whites. If anyone still buys Sauternes then they’re in for a treat.

If they price in comparison to 2020 like 2006 was priced in comparison to 2005, or how 2011 was priced relative to 2010, then it’ll make sense to sit out the dance and revisit the benchmark, very great 2016s.

As always it’ll be worth keeping a watchful eye on early releases, especially bigger guns who break rank and are rated well by Jancis and/ or James. Who knows, a handful might price to make a positive statement.

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First prices out!

Ch d’Agassac 2021 Haut-Médoc €12.10 a bottle

Ch Fourcas Dupré 2021 Listrac €9.70

Ch Fourcas Dupré 2021 Bordeaux Blanc €10.80 (interestng that this is more expensive than the red)

Ch Petit Bocq 2021 St-Estèphe €13.20

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Just to clarify, many of us do buy Sauternes and it’s a delight if it’s a good Sauternes vintage. It’s just we’re not in a rush to buy!

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Nick, one of those professional palates (no doubt better than mine, and I am not being ironic here) calls it a „triumphant year“ and stated, on May 4, 2022, „it is obvious that 2021 produced one of the best vintages in the region’s history.“ MJ in Moneyweek in case you wonder.

So the idea of heterogeneity this applies to the scoring as well, it seems.

In the end, time will tell, and I sure hope there will be fabulous wines in 2021, especially for the smaller producers who no doubt will struggle economically.

But even more reason perhaps to hold off until arrivage unless one wants to protect allocations.

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Surely there will be magnificent wines made in Bordeaux 2021. Just as in 2011 there were a number of stunners; my two absolute favourites being Vieux Chateau Certan and La Mission Haut Brion. If I had to pick one, it would be VCC, layer upon layer of beguiling complexity and surprise. Give me the pick of 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 or 2011, I’ll opt to drink 2011, thanks very much. But the price of that wine was stuck close to its first release until quite recently, having sagged for a number of years in the middle. I bought at first release (£1075/ 12x75cl), then took advantage of that sag to double up (as low as £755/ 12x75cl), and now I have a healthy stack to contemplate over the next 15-20 years. During the prolonged period when the secondary market price was considerably lower than the release price Bordeaux négociant pricing of that wine remained fixed.

Négoces are not in the habit of writing down book values. The actual secondary market lives a parallel existence, buffeted by the vagaries of war, market crashes, recession, stagflation, cost-of-living crises and global market shifts. Depending on your view of where we are heading your thoughts on pricing may vary: just a little.

No doubt for many producers 2021 was a triumphant year. When you snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, and count the hours and cost of your achievement - when you didn’t throw in the towel as most producers did in 2013 - and were rewarded through the final straight, that is a triumph.

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Seems like this morning’s Batailley release has rather caught everyone by surprise. It certainly did me. I was thinking we might have another week. But Batailley is always fun, and notwithstanding the complexity of the vintage, I hope it will be an interesting and engaging campaign.

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There’s always one early out of the blocks! I wouldn’t be surprised if we see another from the ‘top 60’ this week as well. I was also hoping for another 10 days to finish off a US trip, so expect the analyses to be published during your afternoon, later on as I head west!

We’re just waiting for scores and notes to be able to kick off the relative value analyses. These might be with us tomorrow.

Meantime, comparable vintages (qualitatively, not really characteristically) provided by James are: 2001, 2008, 2012 (Medoc only), 2014 and 2017. I’m going to chuck in 2011 for good measure.

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