Bordeaux pricing caution
The 2025 Bordeaux en primeur campaign opened under clear selling pressure, with buyers and négociants signaling caution around release pricing. Vinetur and Liv‑ex reporting say trade values are below early‑2025 levels and U.S. buyers are slow to return amid tariffs, while The Drinks Business notes release pricing may need to undercut secondary prices for recent back vintages like 2020 and 2022. ( )
Bordeaux’s 2025 en primeur campaign opened with buyers demanding lower release prices than many châteaux have accepted in recent years. (liv-ex.com) En primeur is Bordeaux’s futures market: merchants and collectors buy wine while it is still in barrel, then wait roughly 18 to 24 months for delivery after bottling. More than 5,000 buyers and critics were expected in the region for this year’s tasting week, which Wine-Searcher said runs from April 20 to April 23, 2026. (vinetur.com) (wine-searcher.com) The problem is price credibility. Liv-ex said many recent en primeur releases later traded below their original release prices on the secondary market, leaving merchants to explain why clients should pay upfront for wine that can often be bought cheaper later. (liv-ex.com) That pressure follows a bruising run for Bordeaux. The Drinks Business, citing Wine Lister’s 2026 Bordeaux Study of 134 wines and a survey of 74 senior trade figures, said confidence has improved, but recent pricing history still shows double-digit declines across the last five en primeur campaigns. (thedrinksbusiness.com) The campaign matters because Bordeaux’s futures system depends on trust between châteaux, négociants, merchants and collectors. Vinetur reported that some Liv-ex members said collector sales fell by more than 50% last year, even after producers cut prices. (vinetur.com) American demand is still part of the calculation. Vinetur reported in May 2025 that shifting United States tariffs on French wine, a weak dollar against the euro and uncertainty over the final landed cost made United States buyers more cautious about the 2024 vintage; those concerns have carried into the 2025 campaign backdrop. (vinetur.com) At the same time, producers have their own argument. Vinetur said the 2025 growing season brought water stress and lower volumes, which can raise the cost per bottle and tempt estates to seek higher prices if critics score the wines well. (vinetur.com) Some market signals are less bleak than they were a year ago. The Drinks Business said fine-wine sentiment has improved in recent months, and Wine Lister’s trade-confidence score for Bordeaux rose to 6.4 from 5.9 last year. (thedrinksbusiness.com 1) (thedrinksbusiness.com 2) But the opening condition of the market is still clear: buyers now compare every new release with physical back vintages already on offer. If the 2025 wines do not arrive at prices that beat those ready-to-drink alternatives, merchants have fresh data to justify waiting. (liv-ex.com)
