Early Bordeaux 2025 en primeur sales rose on last year’s weak 2024-vintage campaign, according to Geraint Carter of international merchant Bordeaux Index and Miles Davis of Vinum Fine Wines. Farr Vintners’ Thomas Parker MW said sales were up ‘a little’ although below the level of five years ago.
Cheval Blanc 2025 was one success. ‘We sold everything we could get,’ said Carter.
Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, said that the St-Emilion estate released everything it made after especially low yields.
Parker said Batailley and Lynch-Bages were top sellers. Will Hargrove, head of fine wine at Corney & Barrow, cited interest in Lafite, plus Mitjavile and Moueix offers, but also said: ‘Demand has been slower than the vintage deserves.’
Despite high scores, Bordeaux 2025 is entering a world of macroeconomic uncertainty. Carter said en primeur is largely ‘an amplification of what’s going on in the [wine] market, and the market is flat.’
He agreed it’s a great time to be a Bordeaux drinker, with good availability of high-quality vintages, but said 2025 release prices weren’t compelling enough in a tough environment.
He also highlighted the value offered by the well-regarded 2019 vintage (see table), with several years of bottleageing (and storage costs) under its belt.
Liv-ex’s Bordeaux 500 index – one indicator of pricing in the secondary market – was down 16.5% in value over five years to the end of May 2026.
While stable year-to-date, it was back to mid-2016 levels. Châteaux haven’t stood still. For example, Liv-ex data showed Lafite 2025’s release price was up year-on-year but otherwise the lowest of the past decade.
Vinum’s Davis said many 2025 en primeur prices looked relatively reasonable. He said there’s an ‘amazing opportunity’ for younger collectors to build a drinking cellar.
In his view, it’s not an investment market and people aren’t buying to make money, but he added: ‘There will be a time when we look back at these prices and think, were they really that cheap?’
Bordeaux 2025 vs 2019: A pricing snapshot
Bordeaux Index’s Geraint Carter said 2019 is a good-quality vintage that may present value for collectors who are considering alternatives to 2025 en primeur releases.
While some 2019s look more expensive than corresponding 2025s at face value, they have already been aged for several years.
|
Wine |
2025 Release price (12x75cl in bond) |
2019 Current market price (12x75cl in bond) |
|---|---|---|
|
Angélus |
£2,400 |
£2,400 |
|
Carmes Haut-Brion |
£860 |
£925 |
|
Cheval Blanc |
£4,020 |
£4,200 |
|
La Mission Haut-Brion |
£1,740 |
£1,600 |
|
Lafite Rothschild |
£4,164 |
£4,625 |
|
Lynch-Bages |
£804 |
£890 |
|
Mouton Rothschild |
£3,648 |
£3,800 |
|
Pichon Comtesse |
£1,194 |
£1,250 |
|
Pontet-Canet |
£756 |
£600 |
DATA SUPPLIED BY BORDEAUX INDEX/LIVETRADE
The Bordeaux Index view
Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here every issue. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com
En primeur own goals
The old maxim is that you can only control what you can control. For en primeur, that boils down to two things: the price and the offer.
Leaving the price to one side, en primeur today is, in essence, a marketing event. Bordeaux enjoys an extraordinary privilege: for a few weeks each year, the attention of the fine wine world is focused almost entirely on the region.
That opportunity should be cherished. Yet the 2025 campaign has felt like a masterclass in how to squander momentum.
Late April’s early releases were followed by two weeks of near silence, before a few releases around the holidays and a flood of big names in the closing stages.
In what was always going to be a difficult campaign, allowing interest to dissipate for weeks at a time was bizarre. For en primeur to succeed, the process has to feel transparent.
Visibility has improved, but buyers increasingly suspect that release quantities are being managed more aggressively, which feeds a damaging conclusion that the wine will be as easy, and quite likely cheaper, to buy in a few years.
Direct consumer engagement is also better, but in a world of abundant choice, the case for greater outreach is stronger than ever.
It’s difficult and expensive, yet it’s one of the few levers still entirely within Bordeaux’s control. If consumers are worth courting, then chances to do so must be seized wholeheartedly.
Now, did someone mention price?
(Image credit: Bordeaux Index)
Judgement of Paris wines auctioned off
(Image credit: Alexander Rubin/Future)
June brought more opportunities for collectors to purchase a piece of California wine history linked to the 50th anniversary of the famous Judgement of Paris tasting.
Charity event Auction Napa Valley featured a special lot comprising single bottles of the Judgement’s winning red and white wines: Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, SLV Cabernet Sauvignon 1973 and Chateau Montelena, Chardonnay 1973.
The lot, which also included other vintages, estate visits and a bespoke winemaking experience, sold for $110,000, said auction co-host Sotheby’s.
Trade body Napa Valley Vintners said the full weekend of events around Auction Napa Valley raised $6m for local youth wellness.
Meanwhile, Christie’s sold six bottles of the SLV 1973 for $25,000 (high e: $20,000) in New York.
In July, it will offer rare bottlings directly from Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars in a Los Angelesbased online auction.
Leroy leads Burgundy mega-sale
(Image credit: Hart Davis Hart)
Wealthy collectors’ thirst for superstar Burgundy has appeared undimmed at recent US auctions, led by notable rarities from Domaines Leroy and Georges Roumier.
Auction house Hart Davis Hart (HDH) claimed a new record auction price for a single bottle of Domaine Leroy wine after selling the Burgundy producer’s Musigny Grand Cru 2015 for $95,600 (£71,374), including buyer’s premium (hammer price $80,000; high estimate $30,000).
It was from the ‘Orion Collection’ that formed part of a three-day auction marathon in May. All 3,563 lots offered found buyers, generating sales of $14.66m.
‘The market remains incredibly robust,’ said Hart Davis Hart CEO Paul Hart. Leroy’s Musigny is among the world’s most expensive wines, although prices can vary.
From the same collection, HDH sold single bottles of 2011 and 2013 for $41,825 and $35,850 respectively (high e: $30,000 and $28,000). In New York in June, a Christie’s auction of wines from ‘a Silicon Valley pioneer’ was also 100% sold.
Six bottles of Georges Roumier, Bonne-Mares 1971 fetched $100,000, including buyer’s premium (high e: $35,000).
In Hong Kong, meanwhile, rare Bordeaux was prominent as Bonhams offered wines from fashion designer Marie France van Damme.
A bottle of Saute Loup 2010, rarely sighted and made by Pomerol icon Petrus, sold for HK$13,750 (£1,314), including buyer’s premium (high e: HK$9,500).
A bottle of legendary Petrus 1961 fetched HK$81,250 (high e: HK$70,000).
Disclaimer
Decanter’s Market Watch pages are published for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment advice. Wine prices may vary and they can go down as well as up. Seek independent advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets, including the UK.
