The next two weeks likely to be ‘decisive’ for the Bordeaux en primeur campaign
Following a slow start to the Bordeaux en primeur campaign, the next few weeks may prove decisive. In a recent podcast, db Bordeaux correspondent Colin Hay speaks to Arabella Mileham about the campaign and whether renewed confidence will be aligned to the market sentiment.
In a wide-ranging interview for the drinks business podcast, db’s Bordeaux correspondent Colin Hay spoke to Arabella Mileham about the 2025 Bordeaux en primeur campaign, giving not only his picks of the vintage, but also the challenges that lie ahead and how the campaign is likely to unfold.
As many have said, a successful campaign is vital for Bordeaux’s long-term financial stability, and this year, more than ever, pricing discipline will be crucial.
So far, no clear price discipline has yet established, Hay argued simply because there haven’t had that many releases – and those that have, had shown relatively “modest reductions”. Releases have also been relatively slow, but in some respects, this is “probably reassuring – because it indicates that the properties are a little bit anxious about the appropriate price point,” he said.
Estates have been waiting for information on how these early releases, which includes notable estates such as Pontet Canet and Chateau Bataillay, have fared.
The effect of low yields
One also has to consider the effect that the notable issue of low yields is likely to have. The trend of the 2025 vintage, is that, though excellent in terms of quality, “even very good vintages are now being produced at much lower yields”, Hay said – and although this is a cause of alarm on some levels as he has has previously outlined , conversely, it may in fact have a favourable effect on this year’s campaign.
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“Bordeaux properties know that they need to be competitive on pricing in this vintage, and it’s a tragedy for them that they don’t have very much volume to bring to the market,” he explained. “It could actually help the campaign in some sense, because the problem with en primeur – and the problem with the fine wine market in general – is that when an awful lot of supply comes to the market in a single episode, there’s more supply than there is demand.”
This absolutely cannot be said for the 2025 vintage, nor the market it is being released into – and this of itself may help the campaign.
As Hay notes, “we haven’t seen yet increases in prices from properties who are trying to compensate for low yields with higher prices. And that’s a good that’s very good thing.”
“Many people were looking at what kind of signal would be given by the first release, or first releases, and the signal went downwards…by not very much, but clearly this is a much stronger vintage than the previous vintage.”
Pontet Canet led the campaign, as they’ve done before, with what Hay called “a symbolically significant reduction in price” and even Cheval Blanc’s release on Monday (which happened after our conversation), remains one of the estates lowest release prices since 2008, even though it was a notable 21% increase on the 2024 release price.
In a market where these is not “a ton of demand”, it may take a little while before the properties, negociants and courtiers “feel like they’ve got enough information to be able to agree on a price,” Hay said.
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