Bordeaux – Evaluating en primeur

Its judgement day for Bordeaux en primeur as Liv-ex casts an eye over the best and the rest in its prestige survey.

Aside from the critics’ scores and commentaries on Bordeaux en primeur, there is, since 2003, one account that provides a valuable reflection of the latest vintage from this single fine wine region. It considers the general quality, comparisons with previous harvests, the best labels – and most disappointing – as well as the vintage’s commercial potential.

Dubbed the En Primeur Survey, it’s compiled by Liv-ex, the global fine wine trading platform and data analyst, using information from its near-400 trade members. These comprise the world’s leading merchants, and hence, not only the top professional tasters of young Bordeaux, but also the world’s biggest buyers and sellers of fine wine. In essence, the results are a reliable reflection of the nature of the vintage, providing a consensus of informed opinion.

This year there were some notable outcomes, the most remarkable of which was perhaps Lafite’s position as the “most disappointing” wine of the 2011s. Jack Hibberd, research manager at Liv-ex, expresses his surprise, commenting, “Lafite has been the darling of the trade and it is normally right up there in terms of the top wines of the vintage every year.” However, Mouton’s appearance behind Lafite is less of a shock to Hibberd (see table, page 66). He points out that it was on this list last year, and seems to be a wine that dramatically divides opinion. Indeed, both in this and last year’s survey, Mouton featured on both the best and most disappointing top tens.

As for the top wine of 2011, that accolade goes to Latour (see table, above right). It’s a powerful vote of support for this label, and just as the property announces it is to quit the en primeur system of selling wine before its bottled.

Interestingly, continuing the focus on standout brands, Grand Puy Lacoste was heralded as the best in terms of value for money for the second time in a row (based on an expected release price of under £500 per case). Perhaps this cinquième cru Pauillac property should join Pontet Canet and Lynch-Bages under the “flying fifths” descriptor for wines outperforming their 1855 classification. Indeed, if you look back to November’s issue of the drinks business Hong Kong, Grand Puy Lacoste was one of the few new entrants in the Liv-ex Power 100 – a list of the world’s most powerful fine wine brands.

In terms of more general views on the vintage, the 2011 Bordeaux was awarded a score of 91 overall, which was the same total given to 2008, a year this latest release has been widely compared to in terms of style, and as a result, price too. Aside from 2008, parallels have also been drawn to 2001 and, going rather farther back, 1975.

As for whether the Right or Left Bank performed better in 2011, certainly Parker picked out Pomerol as the top commune in this year’s en primeurs and it was this area’s Ausone property that was his only potential 100 pointer. The Liv-ex survey echoes his views, with the Right Bank’s Vieux Château Certan, Cheval Blanc, Ausone and Eglise Clinet jostling among left bank big hitters as the best wines of the vintage.

The survey also collects overriding sentiments on the vintage, giving the merchants a chance to express their true feelings anonymously. Hibberd points out that normally there is a clear consensus among the comments, but this year he says “opinions were all over the place”. Some were “relatively positive” about the vintage, he records, while others were critical. The most common word used to describe 2011 was “variable”, and, as with Parker, Pomerol emerged as the strongest commune, but, unlike Parker, who declared Pessac-Léognan/Graves the least impressive, Liv-ex respondents picked out Margaux as the weakest.

Finally, in terms of commerciality, the Liv-ex members called for an average 42% price reduction on 2010 to successfully sell the wines. Nevertheless, Hibberd summed up, “In our view that is not enough, and a 50-60% price reduction is what’s needed to get this campaign off the ground.”

Justifying this comment, he adds, “This is not an investment vintage but a drinkers’ vintage and, if you want to provide an incentive for buyers to tie up their cash for two years, then the prices on release must be cheaper than the prices of what’s on the market already.

”Certainly the release of a new vintage is always an important time to reappraise those wines already on the market, which, after all, benefit from a full analysis of their nature after bottling – a far more reliable indication of quality than the en primeur reports, which are based on barrel samples of unfinished wines.