Every spring, Bordeaux wines from the previous year go on sale by subscription. Customers must be patient for another two years before delivery from the châteaux. The 2023 vintage promises very good quality at more moderate prices than in previous years.

The sales process, typical of Bordeaux, is quite unique: a portion of the wines from the previous autumn's harvest is sold through the subscription market in the spring. The fermented grape juice then continues to age in oak barrels.

Wine lovers who engage in «en primeur» purchases are generally rewarded with lower prices than they would find later in specialty stores, though they must wait two years for their cases and bottles to be delivered from the châteaux.

Annual Ceremony

The ritual includes the so-called «en primeur» week, during which professionals – merchants, experts, and journalists – travel to Bordeaux to taste the barrels and gain initial impressions of the vintage.

During this time, wine merchants from all over the world compete for the coveted allocations before making them available to end customers.

Wine Guru: «Balance and Power»

The current subscription for the 2023 Bordeaux vintage offers some interesting insights. Firstly, the vintage is promising. Wine guru James Suckling reported from Bordeaux: «The best 2023 wines show balance and freshness with deep aromas. In many ways, I prefer them to many of the highly praised 2022s because they are so typically Bordeaux-like in style, with their taut mouthfeel and energetic finish.»

At the same time, prices in the «en primeur» market are significantly lower than during the Bordeaux mania of recent years, which was driven primarily by China. According to a survey by the consultancy «Wine Lister» among 50 leading producers, 2023 prices are on average 30 percent below the record levels of 2022.

Mouton-Rothschild: 458 Instead of 722 Euros

Some top wines of the 2023 vintage are even up to 40 percent cheaper. Château Mouton-Rothschild 2023 was offered to merchants in the subscription market at 458 euros per bottle, compared to 722 euros the previous year.

As a general rule of thumb, the more expensive the wine, the greater the price reductions compared to the previous year.

At the End of the Price Spiral

The reason for the price reductions is that the secondary market could no longer absorb the rising prices of recent years. In other words, merchants are sitting on vast inventories that would need to be sold at prices that are currently difficult to achieve.

Specialized merchants Mövenpick and Arvi offer particularly comprehensive access to the 2023 Bordeaux subscriptions. The e-commerce platform Qoqa also offers excellent deals from major houses and various treasures.