Wine Spectator

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A typical Bordeaux futures campaign starts around May and drags slowly through June. But 2020 has hardly been typical, with the global pandemic canceling the influx of wine journalists and buyers into the region to taste the wines before they’re offered for sale, and global markets in economic turmoil, including the highly important U.S. market, which currently has 25% tariffs in place on many French wines. Though the châteaus got a late start on their campaign, they moved quickly, with most major names releasing futures within a few weeks. And they were thoughtful with pricing, dropping them by as much as 30% from last year’s campaign. Château Pontet-Canet lit the fuse, releasing its 2019 futures at 58 euros per bottle, ex-négociant, down 31% on the 2018 opening price of 84 euros. U.S. consumers can expect to see the wine retail at about $80 per bottle. That’s about half the going retail price for the 2016 and 2015 vintages, currently on store shelves and of comparable quality. “Their decrease is the right direction,” said Chris Adams, CEO of New York City’s Sherry-Lehmann, a major retailer that typically takes a strong position on Bordeaux. “But the difficulty is we’re facing a situation where we don’t know what the tariffs will do. That alone would be a huge issue, but now add in COVID and this really difficult economic reality.” The château teams know times are tough, but futures sales are crucial to cover costs, which explains the decision to go to market with reduced prices. “This situation is marked by a huge uncertainty, and there was a kind of a gamble in going on the market,” said Philippe Blanc, managing director of Château Beycheville. “But when we launched the campaign we had good tips that there is a sure interest in the buying of our wine at the price tag we intended to offer.” Merchants report interest in global markets, even in the U.S., though sales were more challenging there. “The futures campaign went reasonably well despite the circumstances,” said Jean-Pierre Rousseau, general manager and co-owner of major négociant Diva. “The countries that bought the most, in order, for us at least: Great Britain, China, Switzerland and the USA. Clearly, the lower prices helped considerably; without [them] the campaign would certainly have been a failure.  Château owners also released fewer futures than usual, holding back more wine to sell later, in what they hope will be better times.

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