Bordeaux 2021: early release prices well received
Merchantshave been expecting a smaller Bordeaux en primeur campaign this year, following a challenging 2021 vintage, but a lot may depend on release prices.
More than 71% of international merchants surveyed by Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, anticipated lower demand for 2021 en primeur wines versus the 2020 vintage, released last year.
Yet barrel sample tastings in April showed several châteaux have still made very good wines, despite myriad weatherrelated issues during the growing season. (Read our coverage of the tastings on decanter.com/premium and in the next issue.)
Alongside scores and tasting notes, all eyes will be on release prices in a campaign that, at the time of writing, was expected to begin in earnest in the second half of May and run through June.
Liv-ex said merchants expected prices to dip by 2.7% on average compared to last year, on an ex-Bordeaux basis (€ per bottle), yet to remain well above release levels for the 2019 vintage.
As with previous campaigns, comparing
