Bordeaux wine has been on something of a downward trend over the last few years, with the prices falling as time has gone on. Now, though, that all looks set to change again. Experts are predicting a rise in prices with the 2015 vintage, which looks set to be a very successful year.
Poor Bordeaux Wine Sales
The recent downturn in fortunes for Bordeaux have been noticed across the wine world. Over the past few years only a few vintages have actually been considered any good at all – those in 2011 and 2014. A spike in 2009 and 2010 was then followed by a downward spiral, as it seemed like the vineyards simply could not produce anything worthy of the name. Even strong gains for the dollar against the Euro were not enough to convince buyers to invest – and the 2014 vintage did little to inspire despite a small lift in quality. There are still large stocks of many famous wines from the 2010-2014 period available for sale, which is bad news for the wine industry as a whole. That is why, with this new vintage year, everyone is starting to get very excited indeed.
Change of Fortunes
“The wines are generally expressive and generous with marvellous concentration and structure. Given another year in barrel, the wines should gain more fruit complexity and volume,” says Andrew Caillard, M.W. in his report on Bordeaux 2015 EnPrimeur. It’s clear that there is something special about this year, which is being described as an exceptional vintage. Finally, the fortunes of Bordeaux have turned around, bringing us back to the standards that we expect. The majority of the best chateaux are planning to raise their prices by around 60%, taking us back to how things were in 2009, with second-tier prices rising by as much as 35%.
Ideal Conditions
It was a perfect growing year which has produced this change in fortunes, with everything coming together in the wine’s favour. With the Euro weak at the moment, this could create a perfect situation for the chateaux, as international buyers are persuaded to invest where they have held back over recent years. Thomas Hebrard, the president and founder of the U’wine dealership, predicts a certain amount of shock when buyers see the 2015 grand cru prices. However, this is set to be a huge boost for the region, helping it to recover at least partially from the drought of the last four years. This vintage has real star quality, and that means better sales all round as well as a reduction in the so-called Bordeaux bashing that recent years have produced.
If you are interested in investing in some Bordeaux for yourself, now could certainly be the time. It may be difficult to get your hands on some of the premium bottles in years to come, unlike in the last few years.
