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The Problem with Primeur

The Problem with Primeur:

Part 1: En Primeur
An introduction
Part 2: The Consumer
Is en primeur a good deal?
Part 3: Buying Great Wines
Is en primeur the only way?
Part 4: Losing Out
En primeur - a safe way to buy?
Part 5: Advantages?
So should we buy en primeur?

Like many people, the period following the festive season is, for me, somewhat frugal. To put it bluntly, I'm usually stony broke. This is a shame as in most years there are lots of January sale bargains to be had. And don't forget the New Year en primeur offers - which include the wines of the Rhône Valley and Burgundy.

The wines of the Rhône Valley can be wonderful, and they were my introduction to what one might describe as 'fine' wine. I started in the south, with Châteauneuf du Pape, although in more recent years I have found thrills from the north - Côte Rôtie in particular. In truth, though, I follow producer rather than appellation, and have wines in my cellar from great names such as Verset, Sorrel, Ogier, Barge, Faurie and Jaboulet in the north, and Beaucastel, Vieux Telegraphe, Clos des Papes, Bosquet des Papes, Saint Cosme, Brusset and Cayron in the south. And they were almost all bought en primeur.

Beaucastel Haut Brion Louis Jadot

En Primeur, for those unfamiliar with the term, is a method for purchasing wine early. Essentially, the wines are offered for sale before they have even been bottled. Punters hand over their cash over a year in advance of receiving any wine. Once the wine is ready for delivery they have the choice of paying duty and VAT (VAT is paid on the duty as well as the wine - a double-whammy for the UK Treasury) or of having the wine stored in a bonded warehouse until it is delivered or sold on. Any region could, potentially, sell it's wines by this method, but in general the process is restricted to just a few wines, namely Bordeaux, Burgundy, those of the Rhône Valley and Port. Each offer comes at about the same time of year, year in and year out, with most Rhône offers appearing late in the year or in January. Burgundy also comes early in the year. Both these offers are approximately eighteen months from the harvest date, whereas the Bordeaux offer comes later in the year, typically about twelve months from the harvest.

Why buy en primeur? Well, there are a number of advantages to purchasing this way. These include securing stocks of wines which are otherwise difficult to obtain, as well as it potentially being the best opportunity to obtain wines from a great vintage, such as Bordeaux 2000. In addition, purchasing en primeur means one can secure wine in less common formats - halves, magnums and so on. Crucially, en primeur should also be of financial benefit to the consumer. After all, it does involve cash up front, long before the wines are ready. It's only fair to expect that we get the wines a little cheaper than we might otherwise expect.

Unfortunately it doesn't always work that way. I'm afraid to say that there are a number of problems with buying en primeur. (24/1/03)