Bordeaux en primeur 2009 pricing 'makes 2008 look a bargain'
The prices for Bordeaux en primeur 2009 make 2008 look like the "bargain of the decade", according to a leading wine writer.
The Financial Times' Jancis Robinson said that the likes of Lafite, Margaux and Mouton Rothschild have been pricing themselves at €450 (£373) per bottle and are increasingly reducing the size of tranches they release.
What this means for wine lovers is that it is getting harder for merchants around the world to set prices until the second tranche of wine is released.
"Never before have so many second wines been dripped on to the market in a coy attempt to gauge demand for their more serious stablemates," commented Ms Robinson.
"Below the top rank, prices have been all over the place," she added, citing the example of Pontet-Canet, which was initially offered for €72 (£60) and went within minutes.
According to decanter.com, chateau Smith Haut Lafitte is to revive an ancient tradition this year by exporting its wines via sailing ship.