In August last year, there was a lot of speculation about the quality of the 2009 vintage. Growers claimed that the near perfect weather conditions would result in a vintage that would rival that of 2005, which was hyped as the “vintage of the century.”
Now that the harvest had been completed and there’s just three months to go before the 2009 en primeur will be available, interest in this vintage is considerable. It is the considered view of the experts that if a vintage’s en primeur receives a good review, the earlier vintages should also pick up both sales as well as price increases. With everyone predicting that 2009 would be an exceptional vintage, the canny investor would need to consider investing in the 2009 en primeur.
Buying en primeur wines is similar to trading in futures, the wine being purchased at a predetermined rate from the producer at the time the grapes are harvested and taking delivery of it when it is bottled, usually two or three years later. In effect, the investor is able to get the vintage at its cheapest. A favourable rating by the likes of Robert Parker and Jancis Robinson, among others, could see prices surge as the vintage comes into the market. Though it is not unusual for wines sold en primeur to sometimes be available later for a significantly lower price, the demand for the Big Five of Lafite Rothschild, Latour, Margaux, Haut Brion and Mouton Rothschild reduces this risk considerably, assuming that initial prices aren’t set too highly of course!
Investing in en primeur has the advantage of ensuring the wine’s provenance, since the wine is bought early on in its lifetime and without a long chain of ownership. Add to that the fact that obtaining wines en primeur may be easier than trying to get the same vintage a few years later when one might face the twin issues of higher prices coupled with less stocks available.
As always, prudence requires that the fine wine investment is made through a reputable and reliable distributor in order to be sure that he is getting the real thing rather than counterfeit goods.
Tags: Bordeaux 2009, Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Margaux, En primeur, Fine wine investment