En primeur releases resume with ‘brilliant’ Pichon Comtesse

The Bordeaux en primeur campaign has resumed this morning, after a temporary lull for Vinexpo Asia, with the release ofa “brilliant” Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande and “the best Phélan Ségur” tasted En Primeur, according to one critic.

First up this morning was Pauilliac’s Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande. This released the 2023 vintage at €110 per bottle ex-négociant, which reflects a 35.5% reduction on the 2022 opening price. The price offered by the international trade is also down a similar amount (36%), at £1,320 per case of 12,  – an impressive fall on the £2,064 a case of the 2022 release price.

It makes it one of lower priced vintages from the last ten years on the market, and one that William Kelley of the Wine Advocate said was “worth a special effort to track down”. It has attracted strong score, with 97-99 from Kelley, 96-98 points from Neal Martin of Vinous.

Despite this, however, Liv-ex pointed to the 2014, 2017 and 2021 vintages as offering fair value, while the 2019 vintage – albeit at a a slight premium to the 2023 release “hails from a proven vintage and benefits from additional time in bottle”.

Château Phélan Ségur 2023 was also out this morning, at €31.20 per bottle ex-négociant. Although this was down 16.1% on the 2022’s opening price, it still remains one of the more expensive vintages from the  Saint-Estèphe estate currently on the market. The critics scores were mixed, with Jane Anson calling it “the best Phélan Ségur I have tasted En Primeur”, awarding it 95 points, ahead of Neal Martin and Antoni Galloni’s 92-94 points -“well balanced… but not a Phélan Ségur laden with huge concentration”, Martin noted – or William Kelley’s 91-93 points.

Meanwhile Château Branaire-Ducru in Saint-Julien was also released at €32 per bottle ex-négociant, a fall of 19.2% on the 2022 opening price, or available to the international trade for £386 per case of 12. Neal Martin called it “one of the most elegant vintages to date”, but back vintages, such as the 2020, offer better value, Liv-ex noted.

The final release of the day was a “breathtaking” Château Palmer 2023, released at €240 per bottle ex-négociant, down 18.6% on the 2022 opening price, and available to the international trade for £2,880 per case of 12, down 19.5% on the 2022’s opening price of £3,576 a case.

Read more:

Analysis: are the wheels coming off en primeur?

Bordeaux estates continue rapid release of en primeurs

Full steam ahead for en primeurs

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