Bordeaux 2011 pricing still unclear

Many in the trade are watching expectantly to see if the 2011 en-primeur campaign will get off the ground or not. This will largely depend on whether the chateaux heed market demand that prices are dropped. American wine critic Robert Parker suggests a complete lack of demand for 2011 unless prices are dropped dramatically. His advice is to price low and sell quickly. The market has been expecting dramatic reductions in price but a number of estates releasing last week were only down by between 2% and 12% on 2010 and although Chateau Lafite Rothschild released with a 30% decrease from 2010, this was below the expected 50% drop.

Gary Boom of Bordeaux Index told decanter.com that the Asian market is still smarting from buying overpriced 2010s, and a desire for the 2011s is non-existent over there. He said the entire campaign is on a knife-edge right now – releases over the next few days will dictate the entire thing.