The Bordeaux buzz grew louder this morning when it emerged that 2011 is the last vintage that Latour will sell En Primeur. In comparison, Lafite decided to lead the campaign by releasing early. The vintage came to market at €450 per bottle (ex-negociant) – down 25 per cent on last year. Demand was subdued initially, but the wine traded on Liv-ex this afternoon at £5,500 per case.
Last week we suggested that the 2011s will need to be more competitively priced than other available vintages – of a similar quality level – in order to tempt buyers. Although some of the First Growths will need to reduce prices by more than 50 per cent (on 2010) in order to achieve this, Lafite may have been released at the right level.
The graph below shows the London trading prices of vintages 2001-2011. As you can see, the 2011 is currently the most affordable and is £600 cheaper than the 2004.
