From left: The Times wine critic Jane MacQuitty, Decanter’s late Consultant Editor Steven Spurrier and current Contributing Editor Stephen Brook tasting en primeur wines at Château Montrose in St-Estèphe, 2016.
Many people associate the rise of Bordeaux en primeur with the legendary 1982 vintage. However, selling Bordeaux wine en primeur – while the new wines are still ageing in barrel, potentially many months prior to their bottling and release – boasts a storied history, dating all the way back to the 1740s.
By the early 20th century, it had become a significant event in Bordeaux, with frenzied autumnal ‘campaigns’ taking place among prestigious châteaux and Bordeaux négociants. However, it wasn’t until the 1950s that the practice began to evolve into its modern form.
Today, ‘EP’ as it’s known, remains an important way to buy Bordeaux wine ‘futures’, often as a form of investment.
For the producers, it’s a hedging tool that reduces price volatility and secures cashflow. How this all started helps to explain the forces that will continue to affect EP and its prices.
As The Wine Society’s long-serving buyer, now retired, Sebastian Payne MW tells me, this history has ‘all to do with money, of course, or lack of…
Source : https://www.decanter.com/premium/the-history-of-en-primeur-a-stop-start-story-533440/
