‘Vast’ gap between hors Bordeaux expectations and market reality

La Place de Bordeaux’s September releases are now a key fixture in the fine wine calendar – but current market conditions mean that this year’s campaign came at a very challenging time to be releasing wines.

Perhaps in an effort to spark life into the campaign, it started with the 2021 vintage of heavyweights Opus One and Masseto. The ex-négociant price of Opus One 2021 was 2% above that of the 2019 (the last vintage released through La Place), and Masseto 2021 was flat compared to the 2020.

Opus One 2021’s international release price of £3,000 per 12x75cl put it at the same level as the current Market Price of recent vintages, making it a tough sell. In a sign of what the market deems a fair price for it, it has since been trading at £2,634 per 12x75cl, 12.2% below its release price.

The fact that Masseto’s ex-négociant release price was flat on the 2020 signalled some sympathy for current market conditions.

However, for the 2021 to offer fair value, merchants would have to offer it at a maximum of £6,200, about 9% below the release price of the 2020 (about £6,800). In short, merchants would have to reduce their margins.

Nevertheless, given the leeway that merchants have to play with for Masseto, it has so far been one of the campaign’s relative success stories.

With the exception of a fairly priced Y d’Yquem 2022 and Cheval des Andes 2021, releases since have generally been far from compelling. This has not tended to be due to increased release prices on last year. Rather, it is because previous vintages have fallen significantly in value since release. For example, Seña 2021 has fallen 18.8% since its release in September 2023. Maintaining the same release price for the 2022 has not made it an appealing proposition.

Similarly, the 95-point Testamatta 2022 from Bibi Graetz was released at £696 per 12×75cl. This was down 2% on the 96-point 2021’s opening price (£710 per case). Despite the modest reduction on the 2021 release, the 2022 vintage entered the market 40.3% above the current Market Price of the 2021. With plenty of volume of the 2021 available at £524 per 12x75cl, it was hard to make a case for the 2022. We have also seen Château Latour release 12,000 bottles of the 2009 vintage. Originally released en primeur at £11,000 per 12x75cl back in 2010, market conditions are significantly different for this ex-château release.

This latest parcel was released at €860 ex-château, and was offered at €910 per bottle on La Place. This was 5.8% above the ex-négociant release price of a parcel of the 2009 released in 2020 (€860), and 18.2% above the original en primeur release price (€770).

For consumers, the impeccable provenance would come at a significant premium. The latest release was offered at £11,100 per 12x75cl. Perhaps in a nod to this elevated price tag, single bottles and three-bottle packs were also available. As indicated on the chart, the recent parcel’s release price puts the 2009 further still from what could be considered fair value. For context, it last traded at £8,602 per 12×75cl.

Conclusion: the gap between what producers hope to sell their wines for and what the market deems reasonable remains wide.

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