"Irritating", "competetive", "electrifying"...The adjectives used by the professionals (producers, brokers and merchants) indicate how the 2007 futures campaign will not go down in history as being the most successful....
Every year, from April to June, this specific Bordeaux marketing campaign, consists of promoting sales of the vintage harvested the previous Autumn but which will only be delivered eighteen months later.
For example, customers will have to wait until Autumn of 2009 to receive bottles of 2007.
In fact, this particular market concerns primarily some 200 high class châteaux whose wines are aged in oak for eighteen months.
The lukewarm reaction to this vintage comes as no surprise to the professionals. The mediocre quality of 2007 (for 80% of the reds) attracted few enthusiastic buyers. "The U.S. market only buys the great speculative vintages. The exchange rate is disuasive and the banking crisis has made hundreds of London financiers redundant." explains a professional. These economic difficulties have not helped the campaign as the futures market is primarily an export market.
The tendancy is therefore a decrease in price compared to 2006, even though some châteaux wines are still considered too expensive.
"In some cases producers seem to have missed the point but those who were prepared to lower their prices sold well," recalls a broker, who mentions Domaine de Chevalier (Pessac-Leognan), Pichon Baron (Pauillac) or Branaire-Ducru (Saint-Julien). These properties sold all the cases on offer.
"We lowered our price by 3 euros as the market is fragile and our partners, the wine merchants advised us to do so. As a result we have had a satisfactory campaign" say the owners of Brane-Cantenac. This classified growth of Margaux is selling for 22.50 euros per bottle (Bordeaux merchant wholesale price) as opposed to 25.50 for its 2006, 32 euros for the 2005, 19 for the 2004 and 21.75 for the 2003.
Retail prices can be found on the internet via wesites such as www.millesimia.fr where Léoville-Barton (Saint-Julien) is available for 40 euros (duty-free), Montrose (Saint-Estèphe) for 50 euros or Clos-Fourtet (Saint-Emilion) for 32 euros. Whereas Châteaux Margaux, Lafite-Rothschild, Mouton-Rothschild, Latour and Haut-Brion, whose prices have just been made public, are all available for 280 euros (duty-free) per bottle (a drop of 25% from the 2006 future price).
Another website, www.vins-fins.com proposes Beaumont (Haut-Médoc) for 7.20 euros (duty-free), Troplong-Mondot (Saint-Emilion) for 48.50, Grand-Puy-Lacoste (Pauillac) for 34 and Lascomes (Margaux) for 44 euros.
The lack of enthusiasm for the 2007 vintage shown by the traditional customers for Bordeaux wines (European Union countries) has had a double result. Firstly, the French hypermarket chains have stocked up. A massive choice of bottles of 2007 at competetive prices will be on offer during the stores wine fares in Autumn 2009.
Secondly, more exotic new markets (Mexico, Bresil, Thailand, Africa...) have gained a foothold in the market.
A way of preparing for the future...
César Compadre S.O. 16/06/08
Translated by Translated by Maxine Colas..
doc@sudouest.com