In any En Primeur campaign there are four key players: the
chateaux, the negociants, the merchants and the collectors. For the system to
work over the long term, all participants must stand to make money for it to be
worthwhile.
The Super Seconds occupy an awkward space in the pantheon of
Bordeaux pricing – between the First Growths and the more affordable lesser
crus. The below chart takes a basket of Super Seconds – Cos D’Estournel, Ducru
Beaucaillou, Montrose, Palmer, Pichon Baron and Pichon Lalande – and calculates
the percentage difference between the En Primeur release price* and the current
market price. As shown, rewards for holding stock for both collectors and
merchants have declined sharply since 2005.
The Super Seconds may have cut prices from last year, but
with both merchant and collector losing money for three years running, making a
case for buying these wines En Primeur is becoming harder.
* For the collector,
this represents current market price vs London release price. For the merchant,
current market price vs ex-negociant price. All prices have been calculated in
Euros.
