En primeur unhindered by Latour opt out

The withdrawal of Bordeaux first growth Château Latour from the annual en primeur campaign shows no sign of setting a precedent for other estates.

Despite the headlines generated by Latour’s announcement last year, Paul Pontallier, managing director or fellow first growth Château Margaux, suggested that the move did not mark a significant change at the property.

“Latour have always had that policy,” he remarked of its decision to hold back stock for more mature release.

Nevertheless, he insisted that Margaux had no plan to adopt a similar approach, saying: “it’s a pity not to be part of the excitement of en primeur.”

Likewise, Melanie Tesseron, co-owner of Château Pontet Canet, described en primeur as “a beautiful system”, explaining: “The wine isn’t even finished and it sells out in two and a half hours.”

In a similar vein, Tesseron praised Bordeaux’s unique negociant system. “Every negociant has their own speciality and it all takes a lot of time,” she remarked. “There’s absolutely no way we could do such a job in two and a half hours and it allows us to concentrate on our wine and not the distribution.”

Despite the price inflation that characterised the 2009 and 2010 vintages, Pontallier insisted that, among the top estates at least, en primeur continued to offer consumers “a chance to buy at a very good price.”

Following the market’s lacklustre reaction to the 2011 en primeur campaign, which suffered in the wake of the acclaimed and expensive 2009 and 2010, producers were quietly optimistic of greater interest in 2012.

“I’m pretty bullish about 2012,” commented Christian Seely, managing director of Château Pichon Baron owner AXA Millesimes. “There’s been very positive feedback from all the negociants; it’s a slight step up from 2011,” he remarked, adding: “I think people are going to be sensible about price.”

Meanwhile Pontallier said that he would watch the campaign’s development “with interest”, as he stressed the importance of retaining a “good relationship” with the market and observed that those who have previously bought Margaux en primeur “have never lost money”.

By contrast, the market’s reaction to Latour’s ex-cellar release of the 1995 vintage earlier this year, at a significantly higher price than examples of the same wine already on the market, indicated a lack of confidence that the move offered value for money.