Lafite releases with a strong move – but will it rise all boats?

With Bordeaux’s en primeur campaign now in full swing, Château Lafite Rothschild has released the 2025 vintage at a 16% premium on last year’s price – a “strong move” but one that is likely to both propel the campaign and attract buyers, Liv-ex told db.  

The Pauillac first growth released its 2025 vintage this morning at €336 per bottle ex-negociant, up from €288 last year, with a recommended retail price of £4,164 per case of 12. It is being offered by the London trade at £1,041 per case of three.

According to Sophia Gilmour at Liv-ex, this makes it among the least expensive vintages of Lafite on the market, coming at a 9.5% discount to the 2019.

“We were split in the office as to what we thought Lafite Rothschild was going to do, given that they took such a strong stance last year coming down so much for the 24s,” she muses. “But this actually looks pretty good, it aligns with the ‘21 and ‘12 vintages and is below the price of similarly rated recent vintages.”

But the 2025 vintage has seen some very strong scores – db’s Colin Hay gave it 100 points, calling it “a wine that breaks my scoring system!” with Neil Martin also a fan, with a score of 98-100. However, there was not “a complete consensus” among the critics – Antonio Galloni’s 97-99 points came above Jane Anson’s score of 97, while William Kelley sounded a more cautious note, at 95-97.

“I think it’s one where we will see some more variation once it’s in bottle, but I think the consensus, at least at Liv-ex, is that this will sell very well,” Gilmour said.

She also pointed to some similarities with Cheval Blanc in terms of the pricing strategy this year and the reception that the Cheval Blanc 2025 received from en primeur buyers, which was likely very influential. It had been, she pointed out, the most successful wine of the campaign as far as sales.

Lafite’s pricing, she argues is a “strong move” but one that takes into both account current pricing on the secondary market, and its strong performance in recent years. A note issued by Liv-ex this morning said prices had been trending upwards since the start of the year and “appear to have reached their floor”.

“They are releasing into an upward moving market, and with that in mind, it’s unlikely that the price will fall further,” Gilmour added.

And although Lafite Rothschild may not have had the consistent pricing strategy that Cheval Blanc has shown in recent years, last year’s release being 27% down on the 2023 vintage, had a positive impact on sales of the ‘24 and “general sentiment around Lafite Rothschild”.

However, its second wine, Carruades de Lafite’s, which has been released at an 15% increase on last year’s price, is less likely to do well, she argues. Liv-ex data indicated its market price index has fallen 3.1% since last April, while trade levels for down 37.3% in 2025 compared to 2024 (by value).

“Carruades is in hot water, but we know that these second wines have been way over for a long time,” – having risen “unsustainably” on the back of “brand-focussed” interest from the Asian market and having fallen “quite seriously” since.  By contrast, en primeur buyers, she argued, are looking more at comparative value across brands now.

A rising tide?

The release of the Lafite is likely to speed up the campaign she argued – as predicted by db a week ago (see The next two weeks likely to be ‘decisive’ for the Bordeaux en primeur campaign – The Drinks Business).  However, that said, it seems unlikely that the smaller estates will be “carried with the tide”, Gilmour said. “Maybe we will see some better price performance in the near future, but… the ‘19s are coming through frequently as a better option.”

A case in point is Cos d’Estournel 2025, which was released at €84 per bottle ex-negociant – flat on last year’s release, with a recommended retail price of £1,020 / $1,357 per case of 12.  However, as Gilmour points out, the 2019, which scored slightly higher, at 97-points, is available at nearly 10% less than the new release (£921 per case of 12), thereby posing “a challenge” for the ‘25’s.

Similarly, both Leoville Barton and Langoa Barton this year are released as the most expensive of their respective estates compared to recent vintage. The Leoville Barton has been released ex-negociant at €52.8 per bottle, an increase of around 10% on last year (“which doesn’t look good to me” Gilmour noted), while Langoa Barton is 9% more than last year’s price at €28.8 per bottle ex-negociant, being offered with a recommended retail price of £349 per case of 12.

However, there have been more tempting offers. For example, she conceded that while it might not be fair to position a wine like Carruades against the likes of Leoville Barton, “Leoville Barton doesn’t look like a good buy relative to its other vintages on the market, but it does look like a good buy relative to Carruades”

And Lafleur 2025 is “likely to appeal”, having been released at only 2% up on last year’s release, or ex-London at £7,200.

How is the campaign going?

And while there may not be many “no-brainers” among the early releases, because “in most cases there are one or two other vintages that are better rated, physically available and cheaper”, Gilmour said there had been “a better air around this campaign than last year”, due to decent scores and many “noteworthy wines”. She points to Château Larcis-Ducasse’s “very impressive scores” and a “price that looks right for what it was”.

The early releases of Pontet Canet and Batailley have also been very fairly priced and well received, as well as La Fleur Petrus, even there were some still widely available “alternative” vintages.  However she questioned whether you can truly substitute a physical wine for involvement in the en primeur campaign, which “comes with its own fun and joys – but if you are looking at back vintages, as many buyers are, there are back vintages to consider.”

In this context, it is perhaps questionable to compare last year’s price with the latest release – particularly if that was an “incorrect” price to begin with.

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