That's the possibility according to Decanter.com.
Jean-François Moueix, owner of top Pomerol estate Petrus, is quoted as saying: "If négociant houses can't buy or obtain lines of credit for their allocations, the wine will remain at the châteaux. And if there are not enough takers of allocations, there won't be any en primeur sales."
Although this would appear somewhat unlikely, prices will have to come down significantly if the campaign is to be a success, as a number of UK merchants have already made clear.
Also on the topic of the Bordeaux 2008, Wine Spectator has released its preliminary report on the vintage and awarded it a 'B-' (at the same stage they awarded the 2007 a 'C+'). One of the more interesting quotes in the report is from Anthony Barton, owner of Leoville Barton and Langoa Barton: "We were rather pessimistic about the vintage until the middle of August…After that, the end of the season was excellent and we are surprised by the quality of the wine we have in the cellar. We just hope there are still people out there with money to buy it."
Liv-ex released its own forward look at the 2008 vintage in the December Market Report (subscribers only) by analysing the amount of rain and the average temperature during the crucial months of August and September. As you can see from the temperature graph below, the results were less than encouraging. (Although we didn't consider the clement weather in October, which by all accounts was the best part of the growing season.) If you would like to read the report you can subscribe to a Liv-ex Cellar Watch package here.
