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2013 Bordeaux En Primeur
If one was to summarize the overall growing season in Bordeaux in 2013, the word that comes to mind is “unkind”.
During a cold wet spring, strong wind impacted flowering thus lowering wine volumes by 30% plus. Both July and August temperatures were normal if not slightly above average. Unfortunately September and October were very wet, creating various levels of rot in the vineyards depending on where they were situated, and required immediate action from the Chateaux.
It was a vintage for the “meticulous and wealthy” estates:
These were chateaux who could afford to send countless workers to attend the vineyards during the growing season, and who were also prepared to be very strict on selection during harvest.
With all the know-how and technical progress made in the last 20 Years, a number of Chateaux managed to produce decent wines, and a few lucky ones, very pleasant wines.
If you are currently drinking your 2002, 2004, 2007 today and enjoying them for their freshness, then you will likely find something to put away in your cellar from this 2013 vintage.
Do not expect dark, full bodied, extracted wines; it will be more on the red fruits, with elegance, and often higher acidity than normal.
The well-made wines have very little sign of greenness thanks to the hot months of July and August.
It was a good year for the dry white and sweet wines, Sauternes and Barsac were the stars of the vintage with Chateau d’Yquem being hailed as the wine of the vintage.
Should you buy 2013 Vintage?
- Only if the release price of the best performing wines are lower than other wine of previous vintages by between 10 to 15%.
- You will not have to wait 10 to 15 Years to drink them, giving ample time for your expensive ’09s and ’10s to mature.
- The obvious one: if you have someone close to you who is born that year – especially as larger format bottles are available on request.
- It will ensure you get an allocation for the 2014 vintage.
- The easiest wines to trade today are the lowest price vintages, especially in Asia, so if the chateaux owners are offering attractive release prices, then it is worth considering.
Kerry Wines’ recommendations:
Again, based on an attractive release price. Those in bold are our top picks, and all the wines are in order of preference per appellation.
Left Bank:
Margaux
- Margaux
- Malescot St Exupery
- Lascombes
- Rauzan-Segla
St Estephe
- Montrose
- Beychevelle
- Cos d’Estournel
- Calon Segur
- Lafon Rochet
St Julien
- Leoville Las Cases
- Leoville Poyferre
- Branaire Ducru
- Beychevelle
- Ducru Beaucaillou
- Gruaud Larose
- Leoville Barton
- Talbot
Pauillac
- Mouton
- Lafite
- Pichon Lalande
- Duhart Milon
- Grand Puy Lacoste
- Pichon Baron
- Pontet Canet
Graves / Pessac Leognan
- Haut Brion (Red)
- Haut Brion (White)
- Smith Haut Lafitte (White)
- La Mission Haut Brion
- Smith Haut Lafitte
- Les Carmes Haut-Brion
Right Bank:
- Cheval Blanc
- Figeac
- Troplong-Mondot
- Clos Fourtet
- L’Eglise Clinet
- Lafleur
- Vieux Chateau Certan
- Clinet - Trotanoy
- La Conseillante
- Evangile
- Beausejour Becot
Sweet Wines:
- Suduiraut
- Guiraud
- Climens
As always the Kerry Wines team remains on standby to answer any questions you may have on En Primeur. Please contact us on e-mail at [email protected] or all us on (852)2169-7700.
Happy drinking!
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What is En Primeur?
En primeur refers to the process of buying wines before they are bottled and officially released.
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What are the advantages of buying En Primeur?
The advantages are two-fold: Firstly, buying en primeur guarantees the best provenance of the wines, as all bottles are sourced directly from the estate. Secondly, you can often buy wines at a price that is lower than the price when it eventually hits the market. This gives you the ability to get access to potentially rare, highly sought-after wines that are usually produced in very small quantities.
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En Primeur Campaign
Every spring after the year’s harvest, merchants and trade organisations arrange a tasting of barrel samples of wines that are often only six to eight months old. During this time, thousands of wine critics, journalists and wine merchants from all over the world travel to Bordeaux, where they are presented with the unfinished wines. Based on these initial samples, the wines are given a preliminary ‘score’ or wine rating according to the predicted quality of the wine once it is bottled, released and has had time to mature.
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How to buy En Primeur
At Kerry Wines we make it very easy for you. We ensure immaculate stock, delivered directly from their cellars to ours. Given our close relationships with many producers for whom we offer wines en primeur, we are able to offer highly competitive pricing (ex-Bordeaux), and access to wines that are very limited in stock. Please contact us on email or by phone at +852 2169-7700 for any questions you may have.
