Grand Vin Wine Merchants UK | Blog

Château Latour is to leave the En Primeur market. Instead, says director Frederic Engerer, they will sell finished wines when they are ready to drink. The provenance and authenticity of wines will also be protected. With this statement, Latour has asserted the real value of even the greatest wines: for drinking pleasure. This bold move has been a long time coming. For years, Latour has reduced the quantity of wines released En Primeur, and controlled allocations tightly. It has inspired plenty of comment and articles, of which two of the most comprehensive from a trade and consumer perspective respectively are by Jancis Robinson on her eponymous website, and Stephen Brook in The Telegraph. You might expect merchants, in Bordeaux and elsewhere, to be disconcerted. Many are.   En Primeur, when it works well, is a buzzy and effective sales campaign which generates excitement and a significant chunk of merchant turnover. Latour’s move could be seen as a threat to future o...