Could Cheval Blanc 2025’s nominal increase define the campaign?

The “potentially perfect” Cheval Blanc 2025 has been released onto the market (Monday 11 May) at an increase of around 21%, on last year’s price, ostensibly bucking the overall trend so far for modest reductions for the 2026 campaign. Will other follows this move?

The Saint-Emilion heavy-weight released the latest vintage en primeur at €336 HT ex-negoces, up from €276 last year yesterdays.  This came off the back of the 2025 vintage being the smallest harvest at the estate since 1961, with yields reported to be  just 15 hl/ha. As db’s Bordeaux correspondent Colin Hay pointed out, “that’s a tiny quantity for them, and that, of course, comes with a certain amount of constraint.”

But is isn’t just quantity that has called for an increase – the quality of the 2025 is impressive. It scored 98-100 with several critics, among them db’s Colin Hay and William Kelley of The Wine Advocate,  with Hay describing it as “so complete, so harmonious, so elegant and so perfectly integrated”, naming it among the best of the appellation.

It is also worth bearing in mind that this increase follows its lowest prices in a decade in 2025, and what proved to be one of larger price cuts in the early campaign. The 2024 vintages was down 29.5% on the 2023 vintage, and a whopping 43% on the 2022 vintage. It was also an a 8% discount on the 2021 market price, and a 22% discount on the 2020.

Therefore, the 2025 is still at a discount on the €384 release price of the 2023 vintage, as well as the €390 opening price of the 2021 release, so in effect, it is still offering good value for what is an excellent vintage. As such one can argue that despite the apparent increase, it is still in line with the restraint that is being called for.

Guy Seddon of Corney & Barrow pointed out that although the wine was priced slightly outside the merchant’s pre-release guide range, there had been good interest, particularly given that the 2025 vintage remains one of the best-priced Cheval Blanc’s on the market.

Defining release?

As Hay pointed out, Cheval is likely to be “a major release defining the campaign” – does this mean others will fall in line with the underlying ethos of restraint, or take the headline rise instead? Cheval Blanc is, after all, in a very healthy position compared to many others, with previous vintages having sold very well, leaving very little on the market.  As a result, the estate is in a position to price “appropriately” one industry insider told db.

“It is not something that every chateau is in a position to do,” they pointed out.

Speaking to the drinks business yesterday, David Roberts MW, buying director of Goedhuis Waddesdon, agreed, arguing that it is not a a wine that can be used “as a barometer”.

“At the end of the day, it has released 100% of its crop, which is 50% down on their release volume of last year, so actually, the total production is even down on that and [the 2025] is not going to come back on the market again in terms of no more excellent stock. So I think that the price increase reflects supply and demand.”

Christian Seely managing director of AXA Millésimes and Château Pichon Baron told db that although the commercial situations of each individual chateau will vary considerably, they were cognisant of the need to make sure this year “works”.

“I think everybody will be trying to price their wine in relation to the market price of equivalent vintages on the market, and that will vary enormously from chateau to chateau so I think you will see collectively an intelligent effort to organise the pricing in relation to those factors.”

He said there was not likely to be a “global rule” across the board, and that every Chateau has  to look at their won situation, and the situation of their wines from previous great years and “assess the “intrinsic quality of the wine they made this year and price their wines accordingly.”

“I am confident that this is  a year that consumers are going to go for,” he added. “Of course, it’s very early days, [and] we’ve only had a few [releases] but I’m very confident everything is in place for this to be a vintage to seduce consumers.  I think some people in the trade, who might be feeling gloomy – it’s not a feeling that I ever succumbed to – are going to be very surprised by how successful their campaign is going to be.”

Modest reductions

And so far, we’ve seen fairly modest reductions in the first ten days of the release – the opening salvo of Pontet Canet, which saw a “symbolically highly significant reduction” on the 2024 release price, has largely been “well-received” according to Seddon along with Château Batailley in Pauillac.

Other chateaux out this week included L’Evangile and Château de Fieuzal.

 

 

 

 

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