Bordeaux 2013: Cos offers meagre drop

Saint-Estèphe second growth, Cos d’Estournel, has released with a meagre drop on its 2012 price of just 8.4% – a level unlikely to find much praise among merchants.

The 2013 vintage is therefore €81.50 per bottle ex-négociant, its 2008 vintage was €65 p/b.

Its second wine, Les Pagodes de Cos, dropped 2.2% to €26.40 p/b. Although Cos d’Estournel was highly rated by merchants in Liv-ex’s en primeur survey and praised for producing a “classic” Saint Estèphe after several blockbuster years, its price is unlikely to win it many fans.

Indeed, it may repeat its feat of becoming the “failure of the campaign” as it was in 2011 when it released at €108 p/b and hardly sold at all.

That vintage is now available on Liv-ex for £850 a case, far cheaper than the current release and the 2008 is on the market for just over £700.

Once again there is no “compelling reason to buy”, a phrase which is rapidly turning into the catchphrase of the campaign among merchants.

The campaign so far has got off to a wobbly start with châteaux offering discounts but still failing to generate much enthusiasm from the trade.

Only Lynch Bages and Rauzan-Ségla, which released last week, seem to have struck any kind of high note so far.