The 2023 Bordeaux En Primeur campaign launched under turbulent skies, weighed down by a 13.4% decline in market performance since the 2022 vintage release and a secondary market grappling with low liquidity and investor hesitation.
Despite attempts at corrective pricing and strategic positioning by châteaux, this year’s campaign offered more lessons in market realism than reasons for optimism.
A Vintage of Mixed Fortunes: “The Dalmatian Year”
Vintage quality was far from consistent, a fact well illustrated by critic Neal Martin’s now-memorable description of 2023 as “The Dalmatian Vintage”—a patchwork of excellence and mediocrity. Industry voices like Antonio Galloni (Vinous), Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW (The Wine Independent), and Jane Anson (Inside Bordeaux) echoed the sentiment: there are good wines in 2023, but not with the breadth or brilliance seen in benchmark vintages like 2016, 2020, or 2022.
Quality discrepancies were observed both across appellations and even within individual estates, leaving buyers uncertain and critics cautious. The overall tone? Drinkable, sometimes brilliant—but rarely thrilling.
Price Corrections: Necessary but Not Sufficient
With market pressure mounting and buyer fatigue growing, producers responded with a widespread reduction in release prices—on average, 22.5% lower than 2022. While this appeared to be a positive step, the depth of these cuts varied significantly: from as much as 41.1% (e.g., Château Figeac) to just 6% (e.g., Château Pape Clément).
Yet even these reductions failed to excite many seasoned collectors. The reason? Back vintages—often of higher critical acclaim—are readily available in the physical market at similar or even lower prices. For example, Château Pontet-Canet 2019 and 2020 continue to trade at compelling prices compared to their 2023 counterpart, which was released at GBP 790 (EUR 936) per case.
In effect, 2023 pricing addressed the symptoms of buyer disinterest but not the root causes: lack of compelling value and waning confidence in the En Primeur system.
A Buyer’s Market Emerges
This year’s En Primeur campaign underscored a growing shift in dynamics—it is now firmly a buyer’s market. Negociants, in an unusual move, began offering discounts of up to 10% to accelerate movement. Some even held back allocations, a sharp contrast to the frenzied competition that once defined this early-access system.
Supply strategies varied as well. Châteaux Pichon Lalande, Montrose, and Palmer cut their allocations by 20-30%, a clear attempt to reduce oversupply and protect brand equity. Others hoped price alone would carry the day. However, inconsistent pricing approaches and communication muddled the overall campaign narrative.
Sales Performance: Tepid at Best
Despite the price cuts and some enthusiastic merchant marketing, the campaign failed to capture widespread attention. The Bordeaux 500 Index—a barometer of top château performance—has slid 13.4% since May 2023, reflecting broader unease in the fine wine market.
Some estates did manage to outperform expectations. Château Pontet-Canet, for example, reportedly sold twice as many cases as in 2022. But even that success came with caveats—sales volumes were up, but not sufficient to revive enthusiasm or restore market vitality.
A System at a Crossroads
The deeper issue lies within the En Primeur system itself. Once a vibrant marketplace connecting producers, negociants, and collectors in a complex dance of trust and reward, it is now showing cracks. The aging core of Bordeaux collectors, coupled with the disinterest of a younger, digitally fluent demographic, signals a need for urgent change.
New collectors are looking for immediacy, value, and flexibility—factors not easily aligned with the traditional En Primeur model. The campaign’s slow performance is a clear warning: unless Bordeaux adjusts more dramatically, it risks becoming irrelevant in a modern wine-buying landscape.
Conclusion: Eyes on 2024
The 2023 En Primeur campaign will be remembered as a transitional chapter, marked more by what didn’t work than by what did. While price reductions showed awareness of market realities, they lacked the boldness to reset buyer expectations or re-energize sentiment.
Looking ahead, Bordeaux 2024 must deliver more than price cuts. A unified message, a commitment to value, and innovations in accessibility and transparency will be necessary to rebuild the trust and excitement that once defined En Primeur. For now, the fine wine world watches—and waits—for Bordeaux’s next move.
Source: Liv-ex