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En Primeur - a good deal for the consumer?

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?

As I mentioned in my introduction last week, there are a number of potential advantages to purchasing wines en primeur. These include securing rare wines, and wines which may be otherwise difficult to obtain due to high demand - such as Bordeaux 2000. Because en primeur orders are placed before the wine has been bottled the buyer may also stipulate how the wine is bottled - so it is a good way to secure wines in more unusual formats, such as half bottles or magnums.

Most tempting of all, I suspect, is the financial advantage. Wines offered en primeur have typically been offered at a lower price than that requested when the finished, bottled wines reached the market. This was recognition of the fact that the buyer was handing over their hard-earned cash a year or more in advance of delivery of the wines, and also that the en primeur purchase was typically one of quantity, the wines being offered in cases of twelve.

In recent years, however, the financial advantage of purchasing en primeur seems to have lessened.

Biding your time

Wines bought en primeur are not always the bargains they appear to be. Experience has shown me that it is often possible to pick up the same wine a year or two or more later for the same price, or frequently considerably less. A case in point was the 2000 vintage St-Joseph Offerus, a good value wine from JL Chave, a producer best known for his exemplary and expensive Hermitage. When offered en primeur in early 2002 a typical asking price was about £10, excluding duty and VAT. With taxes the total sum handed over for a case would be approximately £157, and the final price per bottle would be about £13, not including delivery.

In January 2003, however, the very same wine was offered in Seckford's January sale for less than £8 (excluding duty and VAT) per bottle. These bottles come with the added advantages of one years cellaring (for those that pay to cellar their wine this is worth upwards of £5 or £6 per dozen). The wine has hopefully matured nicely during that time - decreasing the length of time one should wait until opening the first bottle, one of the disadvantages of buying en primeur. There should be no concerns about provenance - Seckford's have excellent storage facilities. And the icing on the cake was that in Seckford's January sale, although there was a minimum order of one case, this could be mixed - so one could buy as little or as much of the Offerus 2000 as you wished. This is in contrast to an en primeur purchase, which is almost always for a case of twelve bottles.

For anyone who purchased the St Jospeh Offerus 2000 en primeur, this is a disheartening occurrence. But is not the only problem that the buyer may encounter. The dramatic escalations in the prices of some wines over the past few years has seen some unusual price patterns emerging.

Do I keep it or drink it now?

As mentioned above, en primeur offers usually concern wines which require some time in the cellar before they are ready for drinking. In case of great vintages, such as 1998 in the southern Rhône, 1999 in the northern Rhône or 2000 in Bordeaux, the best wines will frequently demand a decade before they should be approached. This is fine if you are looking to stock a cellar for future drinking, but what if you want something to drink now? Is there an alternative, or should buyers resign themselves to drinking their en primeur purchases far too young?

Léoville Barton

The rising cost of fine wines, especially Bordeaux, is something I have written about before on The Winedoctor. Still, it may come as a surprise to some to discover that it is often possible to pick up mature vintages of wine, ready to drink, at prices comparable to those of wines offered en primeur, which need years in the cellar before they are even approachable. One such example is my top red wine of the year for 2002, Léoville-Barton 1989 (pictured above), which is available at the time of writing for £44 (including duty and VAT), from Fine & Rare. A typical first tranche price for the 2000 vintage was £350 per case, excluding duty and VAT, which works out at about £35 per bottle - not including delivery. Only the lucky few, however, received the wine at this price. The first tranche sold within hours, and from then on the price escalated rapidly. At the time of writing, whilst buyers have yet to take delivery of wines from the Bordeaux 2000 vintage ordered en primeur, a typical asking price for the 2000 is now £720 per case, or £60 per bottle, exclusive of duty or VAT. This is also stocked by Fine & Rare if you fancy taking the plunge.

One final point concerning an en primeur purchase is the need to cellar the wine. This is no problem for those with a genuine underground cellar, but for those with no such facility (which I suspect is the situation in which the majority of purchasers find themselves today) it may be best to have the wine stored professionally, particularly those that demand a long period of bottle maturation. The result, of course, is more expense. This should be factored into the cost of the purchase - so how much does that £60 (nearly £72 including duty and VAT) bottle of wine really cost? Much more, in fact. Although it is currently possible to secure storage for about £6 per dozen per year, prices are rising, so to be cautious add on £1 per bottle per year. The projected cost of that Léoville Barton 2000, with a decade of professional storage added in, is now about £82 per bottle. How does the 1989 look now?

So should I buy en primeur?

I have covered two main problems for the consumer buying by this method - that the wines may subsequently become cheaper, or may be available in older vintages at a much more competitive price. This may seem to some to produce something of a quandary - should I buy en primeur? It is clear to me, however, that the consumer need only ask him/herself one question before taking the plunge - must you have that particular wine and no other? If the answer is yes - for whatever reason - then it makes sense to put in an offer for the wine. Alternatively, in a great vintage it may be worth putting in an offer in the hope of getting some wine - something I will discuss the week after next. If however, there is no strong reason for buying the wine, it may be worth considering hanging back, and waiting for the January or Summer sales - or even scouting around for mature wines at an comparable price. They do exist. (28/1/03)