Updated thoughts on Bordeaux 2025 releases
Despite appearances, we have not forgotten that the 2025 Bordeaux en primeur campaign is underway.
Earlier this month, in Simon’s “At a crossroads” note (5th May), we asked whether châteaux might recalibrate release prices to re-engage buyers. So far, the answer appears to be no—and the tone of the campaign has been set accordingly.
Château Palmer has emerged nearly 20% above the 2024 release and comfortably ahead of the 2019 market price, a confident move in a market that has yet to show much appetite for it. Château Branaire-Ducru follows a similar path, up 13% and now sitting above most available vintages—despite the last eight trading at double-digit discounts to their original release prices. Châteaux Talbot and Langoa-Barton, both up 9%, also find themselves priced beyond a number of back vintages that are not only cheaper, but readily accessible today.
Château Cheval Blanc has been positioned as one of the campaign’s brighter moments, with very low yields and the suggestion that this constitutes the full release lending some scarcity appeal. Even so, it arrives 20% higher than last year, while the previous five vintages all trade below their release prices—and below the 2025 in most cases, the exception being 2022, which itself is down more than 20%. Château Lafite-Rothschild has at least struck a slightly more pragmatic note, releasing below the Liv-ex Market Price of all but the 2023 and 2024 vintages, though even here there are signs of resistance.
The underlying issue remains unchanged. For En Primeur to function as intended, it needs to offer a clear incentive—pricing that sits meaningfully below the weight of available back vintages. Releasing 10–20% above a wine that has already softened in the market is a difficult proposition to reconcile.
None of this detracts from the quality of the wines themselves. Bordeaux continues to produce wines of remarkable quality, consistency and longevity, often representing strong value in a global context. Château Branaire-Ducru is a case in point: a well-established Fourth Growth with a long track record of polished, classical St Julien. At £186 per 6 in bond, it is, in isolation, attractively priced. Yet time is not costless—storage, financing, and patience all accrue—while older vintages quietly drift lower in the market. (See Liv-ex table of Market and Release Prices for Château Branaire-Ducru.)
So the question is not one of quality, but of strategy. Does En Primeur still earn its place as a necessary part of buying Bordeaux? I will leave you to draw your own conclusions.
Richard O'Mahony
