Ausone 2010 tops €1,000 a bottle

The last of the big en primeur releases have emerged with some hefty price increases from Ausone, Latour and Cheval Blanc and a small drop from Yquem.

Ausone released at €1,120 per bottle (p/b), a 17% increase on 2009. Latour, the last first growth to be released, topped its fellow estates with a 30% increase to €780 p/b.

Meanwhile Cheval Blanc rose 21% to €850 p/b.

Furthermore, following the big release prices of Haut-Brion and Latour, Margaux has released its second tranche at €750 p/b, up from its original first tranche price of €600 one week ago.

It was Yquem that surprised though, with a 22% drop on its 2009 prices to €420 p/b. Liv-ex has considered Cheval Blanc after its price release and has what appear to be cautionary words for the château.

With the average price of Cheval Blanc being roughly £5,000 per dozen, the latest release at £10,000 a case makes 2010 “one of the campaign’s most difficult sells”, according to Liv-ex.

Liv-ex points out that followers of the Right Bank estate, for the same amount as one case of 2010, could buy three cases of 2001, two cases of 2008 or one-and-a-half cases of 2005.

The 2010 has released at exactly the same price that the 1990 sells for now. The latter wine though has 20 years of bottle age to justify that.