Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade News

'No compelling reason to buy' Bordeaux 2013, say merchants

Published: 10 April, 2014

Merchants have so far sold very little, if any, Bordeaux 2013 wines, as collectors lack any compelling reason to buy.

Liv-ex survey finds 'significantly less demand' for Bordeaux 2013 wines

Published: 10 April, 2014

The annual Liv-ex en primeur survey found that 78% of merchants expect "significantly less demand" - down by at least a fifth - for 2013 wines compared to their 2012 counterparts.

Bordeaux 2013: the Left Bank

Published: 09 April, 2014

Panos Kakaviatos tasted his way around Bordeaux's top chateaux last week, finding out how winemakers had fared in the troubled 2013 vintage. In part two of a three-part series, he describes how the red wines are "scaled down versions of better vintages".

Bordeaux 2013: Choose whites over reds

Published: 08 April, 2014

Panos Kakaviatos tasted his way around Bordeaux's top chateaux last week, finding out how winemakers had fared in the troubled 2013 vintage. In part one of a three-part series, he describes why his money is on the white wines.

Bordeaux negociants say demand for 2013 wine is 'dead'

Published: 07 April, 2014

Wholesale wine merchants in Bordeaux were underwhelmed by a rapid burst of 2013 en primeur price releases Monday morning, describing current demand as "dead."

UK trade still finds Bordeaux 2013 wines to buy

Published: 07 April, 2014

After much criticism ahead of the 2013 en primeur tastings, it seems that many UK merchants have been undeterred by negative press and plan to buy and sell this year's wines.

Entire Bordeaux 2013 production will be drunk within 10 years, says UGCB president

Published: 07 April, 2014

The head of the body which represents Bordeaux's top chateaux has predicted that 2013 wines will have been consumed within 10 years, but merchants are less sure.

The week that was: top news, Q&As and opinion on Harpers.co.uk

Published: 04 April, 2014

In case you missed some of the headlines this week on harpers.co.uk, we have done a review of the top online news, Q&As, and opinion stories.

Tim Atkin MW: Why en primeur is not working

Published: 04 April, 2014

Tim Atkin MW on why the en primeur system needs urgent reform to not only regain the trust of critics and the trade alike but most importantly keep it relevant and credible to future investors.

Senior wine critics call for en primeur "sham" to be overhauled

Published: 04 April, 2014

Two of wine's most-respected wine critics have called for urgent reform of Bordeaux's en primeur system, describing it, in turn, as a "con" a "sham" and a system that the trade and investors have "lost faith in".

En primeur: Château Gazin's €1 drop 'insufficient'

Published: 03 April, 2014

Bordeaux's Château Gazin released its en primeur price early Thursday, at €38 per bottle from the estate to wholesale merchants, a drop of €1 on the 2012 vintage.

En primeur: rapid campaign to unfold, but no demand

Published: 02 April, 2014

Following the surprising early release price of Pontet-Canet last week at €60-a-bottle - the same as 2012 - sources in Bordeaux say that the campaign will be very short, with many wines releasing prices by next week.

Bordeaux university brutally honest over poor 2013 vintage

Published: 01 April, 2014

Bordeaux's 2013 vintage fails to meet any of the requirements for a fine red wine vintage, said Bordeaux University's Vine and Wine Science Institute in a brutally honest press release.

En primeur: will winemakers have 'pulled rabbit from hat'?

Published: 01 April, 2014

En primeur week is underway, with critics and buyers heading to Bordeaux to work out whether winemakers have managed to make "good wine in a difficult year".

Avery's falls into red as demand for en primeur declines

Published: 04 March, 2014

Avery's of Bristol has slid into the red as demand for en primeur plummeted in the year to June 29, 2013.

Trade divided over this year's 'en primeur'

Published: 07 February, 2014

No one has officially sipped a single glass of the 2013 Bordeaux en primeur campaign and it is already one of the most controversial vintages in living memory. Gemma McKenna explains why

US merchants call for lower prices in Bordeaux 2013 en primeur campaign

Published: 27 January, 2014

As the trade gets ready for the annual 2013 en primeur tastings an increasing number of leading wine merchants around the world are calling for lower prices in this year's campaign, including key players in the United States.

Final Call: Should 2013 Bordeaux en primeur be cancelled?

Published: 24 January, 2014

Some leading figures in the UK wine trade have called for the cancellation of the 2013 Bordeaux en primeur campaign, but is it just a select number of critics or a vast majority of buyers?

Should there be a Bordeaux 2013 en primeur campaign? Have your say...

Published: 17 January, 2014

Both critics and producers took to Twitter and social media yesterday to defend their stance of whether or not the Bordeaux 2013 en premieur campaign should in fact be held this year and if it was would they attend. Here we look at industry opinion and give you the chance to have your say in our Harpers.co.uk poll.

Bordeaux 2013 en primeur could shake up wine industry

Published: 16 January, 2014

Bordeaux's 2013 en primeur campaign may well be a "damp squib" thanks to a poor vintage and lack of interest from top journalists, but it could shake-up the trade and consumers.