Bordeaux En Primeur underway

En Primeur is an annual event in Bordeaux that takes place from early April to mid-July. During this period, estates can start selling their wines on the “futures” market and buyers and critics have to taste the previous year’s vintage.
The 2022 quantity is lower than normal, affected by frosts in April, violent hail in June, drought through much of the season, and record high temperatures which all conspired to produce a small crop. The grapes were ripe with monthly temperatures consistently being 1-3°C higher than average.
The price of luxury goods such as wines from top Bordeaux producers is set by supply and demand. With a smaller crop than normal and what looks like a good vintage, demand should be high. However the Byzantine process that the wines prices and volumes are allocated to merchants are set with much of the power with the producers. In some years such as the 2021 vintage, high prices and low demand caused merchants to be stuck with stock. When interest rates are low that is not a problem. But with higher interest rates, sitting on unsold stock is increasingly more expensive.