Bordeaux 2014: The Aftermath

We have seen this morning the first significant releases of the 2014 Bordeaux vintage.  Up till this point prices have been approximately 10% up on 2013.  Even though some wines have now released 10% below 2013, we still do not yet see a compelling reason to buy en primeur this year. 

Please question what you read as you may well be bombarded with email offers advising you that you are missing out on some great opportunities. At Atlas, we will of course be monitoring releases and developments, so should a wine that we rated emerge at a favourable level, we will notify you. We still harbour some hope that a handful of estates may break rank and take a bold step, perhaps if early releases meet with a frosty reception. That remains something of an outside bet.

We had been hopeful that the 2014 vintage might present just the opportunity needed for market re-engagement after three relatively mediocre vintages (perhaps with the exception of Pomerol in 2012). There were positive early murmurings in the trade about potential quality despite the poor summer that Bordeaux had endured. Leaving quality to one side, there was a steady stream of additional commentary suggesting that the Bordelais had recognised their misjudgement in the release prices for 2011, 2012 and 2013 vintages which were way ahead of the market reality. The scene was set: 2014 was to be the vintage that proved compelling by price and there were hopes of re-engagement.  Following our recent tasting visit to the region earlier in the week, we must confess that the sense of hope has dissipated quite considerably and now expect some form of repetition of the previous three years campaigns.
 
As ever, should you have any questions about the vintage or specific wines, please do not hesitate to let us know. We are happy to offer a view and are happy to source a particular wine should you be so inclined, but otherwise we will be focusing our attention on other Bordeaux vintages and regions.