Talking Trade – En Primeur round-up

The Liv-ex 50, which tracks the daily price movements of the First Growths, closed yesterday on 346.55, down just 0.02% on last week.

The Liv-ex 100 index (the industry benchmark) and the Liv-ex 1000 index (the broadest measure of the market) also fell. They closed April -0.16% and -0.32% respectively.

Bordeaux clawed its share of trade back this week (68.7%), having dipped last week (58.4%), while Burgundy pulled back to its April levels. Italy had an active week (10.2%) with Super Tuscan, Ornellaia 2016, featuring in the top five traded wines.

Lafite Rothschild 2009, however, stole the show and was the most traded wine by value. It last traded at £7,040 per 12×75.

En Primeur round-up

This week a number of chateaux released their 2018 wines, while Antonio Galloni and Jeb Dunnuck became the latest critics to publish their scores for the vintage. Liv-ex also published an article that looks at the evolution of the En Primeur system.

Critic scores

Antonio Galloni (Vinous) published his Bordeaux 2018 report this week. In the report he offers a generally positive assessment of the vintage, though he comments on its lack of consistency. Overall, he found six potentially perfect (100pt) wines. You can read our summary of his report and see his top-scoring wines, here.

Jeb Dunnuck also published his report, ‘Bordeaux Rising: The 2018s En Primeur’, on his website this week. He commented that “while quality is high across the board, the vintage doesn’t have the uniformity in style of, say, 2016, 2010, or 2005”. You can read our blog summarising his report here.

Bordeaux grower and winemaker, Gavin Quinney, also released his Bordeaux 2018 report, following a number of vintage updates published prior to the start of the campaign.

Releases

The following wines were released this week (starting with the most recent release):

Malartic Lagraviere 2018 was released at €34.80 per bottle ex-negociant, up 7.4% on the 2017 release (€32.40). It is being offered by the international trade at £460 per 12×75, up 15% on the 2017 release of £399 per case.

Clos Marquis 2018 came out at €38.40 per bottle ex-negociant, up 10.3% on the 2017 release (€34.80). It is being offered by the international trade for £465 per 12×75, up 9% on the 2017 release price of £425 per case.

Ormes Pez 2018 was released at €21 per bottle ex-negociant, up 9.3% on the 2017 (€19.20). It is expected to be offered by the international trade for £250 per 12×75, up 8% on the 2017 release of £230 per case.

Quinault L’Enclos 2018 was released at €24 per bottle ex-negociant, up 11.1% on the 2017 release (€21.60). It is being offered by the international trade for £295 per 12×75, up 11.3% on the 2017 release price of £265 per case.

Gazin 2018 has been released at €62.40 per bottle ex-negociant, up 8.3% on the 2017 (€57.60). It is being offered by the international trade for £756 per 12×75, up 7.2% on the 2017 release price (£705).

Lafleur 2018 has been released and is being offered by merchants at £5,800 per 12×75, up 8.6% on the opening price of the 2017 vintage (£5,340).

Client 2018 has been released at €64 per bottle ex-negociant, up 14.5% on the 2017 release (€56), but down 11% on the 2016. It is being offered by the international trade for £768 per 12×75, up 11.3% on the 2017 release of £690 per case.

Batailley 2018 has been released at £408 per 12×75, up 3.8% on the 2017 release of £393 per case.

Haut Bages Liberal 2018 has been released at €29.70 per bottle ex-negociant, up 7.6% on the 2017 release (€27.6). It is being offered by the international trade at £366 per 12×75, up 8.9% on the 2017 release of £336 per case.

Sociando Mallet 2018 was released this morning at €24 per bottle ex-negociant, up 11.1% on the 2017’s opening price of €21.6. The wine has come with a recommended retail price of £300 per 12×75. This represents a 12.4% increase on last year’s merchant offer price of £267 per 12×75, and 5% decrease on the 2016’s merchant release (£315).

Suduiraut 2018 has been released at €40 per bottle ex-negociant, down 12.2% on the 2017’s opening price of €45.60. It is being offered by the international trade for £480 per 12×75, down 15% on the 2017’s release (£565).

Branaire Ducru 2018 has been released at €38.40 per bottle ex-negociant, up 14.3% on the 2017’s opening price of €33.6. It is being offered by the international trade for £462 per 12×75, up 12.4% on the 2017 release of £411 per case.

Langoa Barton 2018 has been released at €36.00 per bottle ex-negociant, up 16% on the 2017’s opening price of €31.00. The wine is being offered by the international trade at £438 per 12×75, up 12.3% in sterling terms on the 2017 release (£390 per case).

Looking for more?

Our Bordeaux 2018 pages contain everything you need to know about this year’s En Primeur campaign, including: