What is it?

En Primeur is sold when the wines is still in barrel, undergoing maturation. Buying “En Primeur” is like buying a property under construction. The customer gets a lower price as the building is still under construction. Similarly, investors get lower pricing on En Primeur because the wines have not been fully maturated. Money is paid upfront; and wines will only be delivered 18-24 months later.

Why buy it?

There are three key reasons to buying En Primeur:

1) Want to secure volume where production is limited: Some wineries have very limited stock (e.g. Petrus). Most of the wines are traded in open market and command high premiums. Buying En Primeur ensures availability of stock and good pricing.

2) Want to secure low cost for wines expected to appreciate in value: En Primeur can be a great way to access auction grade fine wines at low pricing. For example, Lafite 2000 and Mouton 2000’s prices both increased 2.5 times at release (see graphs below).

3) Want to request odd bottle sizing: Some customers buy En Primeur because they want their favorite wines in a specific format – half bottles, double-magnum (3L), or imperial (6L).

En Primeur are sold when wines are still in barrel maturation.

Of course it is equally important to remember the risks of buying En Primeur:

There is always a chance that the wines may not be as good as its barrel tasting. On the capital side, the wines may not appreciate that much in value thus there may be opportunity cost. Needless to say, each wine has a different risk-return profile.

Investment Returns

Is En Primeur profitable?? For Lafite 2000, investor returns was 2.8 times (275%) for the en primeur buyers, and 25 times if the wines were held until today? Similarly the case for Mouton? En Primeur buyers would have made 2.5 times in two years and close to 12 times if the wines were held until today.

Favorites: Our favorites include La Chapelle d’Ausone, Pontet Canet, Palmer, Leoville Poyferre, Leoville Lascases, Vieux Chateau Certan, and Smith Haut Lafitte.
Parker's ratings are out. To check the Parker ratings for a specific chateau, you can review our wishlist.

Our En Primeur Offering
The En Primeur campaign has already started. If you are interested in En Primeur, send us an email so we can keep you posted on the latest offering. Many of our clients have used En Primeur to finance their wines for personal enjoyment. Contact our wines consultant if you want to learn more about En Primeur investment.

Last but not least, patience is required! It is trendy and exciting to buy En Primeur! But the bottles will only be available for shipment in 2015.