Bordeaux 2012: The end in sight?

The end of the 2012 en primeurs may finally be in sight after all with the release of Cheval Blanc and Ausone yesterday and Léoville Poyferré and Figeac this morning.

After a brief hiatus, the Bordeaux 2012 campaign swung into life yesterday with releases by Cos d’Estournel, Ducru Beaucaillou, Cheval Blanc and Ausone among others – although Liv-ex reports that Cos and Ducru have failed to spark much interest, despite Cos being under €100 p/b for the first time since 2008.

Saint-Emilion-based Ausone was late to yesterday’s morning releases but emerged at €355 per bottle ex-négociant, a 28% cut on 2011’s €500 and even 1.4% under the 2008 release price of €360 – but is that tempting enough for buyers.

Cheval Blanc also released a little later with a 23% cut to €340 p/b.

So far this morning there have been a flood of releases, with Pomerol estate Figeac coming out at €48 p/b, a 32% cut on 2011 (€71 p/b) – a fairly hefty reduction for a property that is on the right (literally) side of the Garonne this year.

Also from the Right Bank this morning is another Saint-Emilion, Beauséjour (Duffau-Lagarrosse), out at €48 as well, but with only a 5% cut on last year and a full 128% up on 2008’s €21 p/b.

Meanwhile, on the Left Bank Saint Julien property Léoville Poyferré cut 16% on its 2011 price (€51.6) to release at €43.2 p/b.

Margaux estate Brane Cantenac cut 7% and released at €28.8 p/b.

Not too long ago there were still a good number of important estates to release. That number has been reduced significantly by the releases so far this week and the bulk of still-to-be-released wines now lie in Pomerol.