What is En Primeur? 

En Primeur (otherwise known as “Wine Futures”) are sold around 6 months after a vintage, for example, En Primeur 2018 was harvested around September to October 2018, and sold around April to May 2019. The wines have been made, but are yet to be bottled two years later. During this time, the wines will be undergoing barrel maturation. Every year around April and May, Bordeaux chateaux participating in En Primeur sales will organize a En Primeur tasting week. Wine trade professionals and critics from around the world travel to Bordeaux to taste these very young, still developing wines to gauge their style, quality and ageing potential. They will release their own scores and reviews afterwards, all of which will have various degrees of influence and bearings on the final prices and demand of a certain wine.
 
Buying “En Primeur” is similar to buying under-construction properties. Buyers are being offered preferential prices, which come at different tranches, to secure wine stock that are expected to appreciate in value upon release and beyond. First tranche prices often attract the most attention; whilst second and third tranche prices will reflect market response to first tranche price and may increase or decrease. Upon securing en primeur stock, buyers will pay for them upfront to secure ownership. The wines will be delivered to the buyers upon bottlings 18 to 24 months later.
 
Bordeaux En Primeur is one of the most well-known wine futures campaign. Other classic regions such as Burgundy, Tuscany, California, Portugal etc.; also have their own version of en primeur offerings.
 
Why buy En Primeur?
 
Generally there are two reasons why wine lovers consider buying En Primeur:

Buyers can secure highly sought-after wines whilst they are available at competitive costs. Some wineries like Petrus have miniscule production volume that is nowhere near their corresponding level of demand. En Primeur purchase create opportunities for buyers to secure those wines with guaranteed pristine provenance at competitive prices. Certainly buyers can always find these wines trading in open market. The prices would often be much higher and of obscure provenance.
 
Buyers can make request to wineries to have their En Primeur acquisitions bottled in special formats. For those who are looking for special format bottlings, En Primeur purchase allow buyers to make personal requests to wineries to bottle per their preference. Popular alternative formats are half bottles (375ml), double-magnum (3L), and imperial (6L).
 


The Chai of Chateau Angelus where young wines sit and mature in new oak barriques
 
En Primeur are sold when wines are maturing in oak.

A sensible note of caution: En Primeur is not a sure guarantee of eventual appreciation of value of a wine. External market conditions and individual wine evolution cycle may impact on a wine’s price trend upon release and in long term. A wine’s value-quality ratio, price volatility and demand require ongoing professional evaluation. If you are looking at buying en primeur as an investment, do be aware of the additional storage, transportation and potential liquidation costs that can be incurred. As with all investments, buying en primeur is no guaranteed of positive returns. Past performance is no guaranteed of future results.
 
Overall, how is Bordeaux vintage 2018?
 
Institute of Oenology at the University of Bordeaux commented vintage 2018 as one that evolved from "initial fears" to "guarded optimism", which eventually blossomed into one of "real enthusiasm". The key factor behind such evolution is rainfall level, among all things else. Vintage 2018 began with an extremely wet March (wettest March among past 10 years); and the stretch of rain continued until June. A very wet Spring sparked "initial fears". Very sunny and dry summer turned fear into enthusiasm. Exceptional sunny and dry, virtually rain-free September was the cherry on top.  Read below for WineWorld team's interpretation of the university's verdict, complemented with detailed weather conditions in Bordeaux in 2018.


"Initial fears" of mildew and hail-reduced yield: The year 2018 began with very wet conditions which expedite flowering and bring fruit set early; growth was robust whilst compromised, to different extent (depending on canopy management and anti-mildew strategy of each grower), by risk of mildew from the rain. Isolated areas in the area of Cote de Bourg and Blaye suffered from hailstorm damage in May. Overall, havoc was less severe than 2017 when frost wrought immense damage particularly on Right Bank. Vintage 2018 escaped frost which had attacked 40% of Bordeaux's potential crop in late April, 2017. 

"Guarded optimism" kicked in around July as weather turned fine. The rain stopped and Bordeaux saw three continuous months of sunny, dry weather. Water stress was not an imminent issue as vines were well hydrated from the earlier half of a wet 2018. If mildew and mold was the main hazard in the first half of the year, over-abundance of sun exposure and warmth could go from friend to foe in the second half of the year; especially for younger vines and well-draining soils (on Left Bank in particular). 
 
"Real enthusiasm" erupted amidst a rot-free, sunny and dry harvest. Sunny, dry conditions continued all the way into early October. Growers needed not worry about rot from Bordeaux's usual September showers. Focus was entirely on the achievement of balance. Vintage 2018 saw the output of very ripe Cabernet from Left Bank; and Cabernet Franc and Merlot from Right Bank. Opulence and power are the two leitmotifs of this vintage. There is no denying that Bordeaux en primeur 2018 buyers will receive high-alcohol, broad-shouldered reds with robust tannins. The notion of elegance will be found among growers who meticulously worked out the optimal balance point among pH, alcohol, tannin level and concentration whilst dodging potential trapfalls of brettanomyces and volatile acidity. (Both could be encouraged in a high pH and alcohol environment, especially when exposed to oxygen.)




Wineworld’s Bordeaux En Primeur 2018 Campaign
Wineworld launched Bordeaux En Primeur 2018 campaign on April 25^th 2019. If you are interested in receiving all our En Primeur updates, send us an email so we can keep you posted on latest offers. Wines will be released and be ready to be shipped earliest 2020 Q4.