2018 Bordeaux Wine Futures Prices and Analysis (Wine Spectator)

The starting gun for the 2018 Bordeaux futures campaign officially sounded last week with the release of Château Angélus, one of St.-Emilion’s most recognizable names. With the VinExpo convention in Bordeaux arriving earlier this year, and the crystal ball on market perception on the wines looking slightly murky, producers are likely to try and strike fast.

But as always, trying to predict the mindset of Bordeaux when it comes to prices is anyone’s guess. So is trying to predict how consumers will respond.

“What is clear is that the wines have everything an American consumer will enjoy: complexity, depth, length and richness,” Edouard Moueix, executive vice president at Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix, told Wine Spectator. “So, if the prices remain at the level of or below the prices of 2016 … I think we should be able to get the attention of some Bordeaux lovers and possibly others.”

Many 2016s, the last high-quality vintage, are still stuck in the system at their opening price, indicating they were released as futures at too high a price to attract consumers. If châteaus turn a blind eye to the realities of the market and get overzealous with pricing the 2018s, the wines, despite high quality, could be stuck as well.

As for the wines, the 2018 vintage is rife with superb options. Overall, 2018 is better than 2015 and 2016 as it is a more consistent vintage, though there are high points in both of those earlier vintages that sometimes best their 2018 counterparts.

Following a wet and humid spring, mildew pressures resulted in some crushing crop losses at estates in 2018. But the vintage was saved by a warm, dry summer and idyllic harvest conditions that allowed producers who culled their crop well to harvest some spectacular fruit.

Wine Spectator website members can check out James Molesworth’s preliminary scores and tasting notes for the top 2018 Bordeauxs; and read his reports on more than a dozen visits to top châteaus.

Heading into this campaign, the current exchange rate of $1.12 to 1 euro has made the dollar 8 percent stronger than during last year’s campaign.

Angélus released its 2018 at 252 euros per bottle ex-négoce, a drop of 8.7 percent from the 2017 and identical to its 2015 on release. The U.S. retail price is around $352 per bottle, a drop of 10 percent from 2017 (varying exchange rates are behind the difference in decline). It’s a price devised to spark enthusiasm. “It’s good that it came out at the 2015 price, which is where the campaign should be pitched ideally as a whole,” said one négociant. Today, the 2015s and 2016s are both selling for about $430 per bottle, making the 2018 futures attractive.

Check out Wine Spectator‘s “How (and Why) to Buy Wine Futures” for more on the benefits and pitfalls of en primeur purchases.

Below you will find prices and analysis on the campaign, with prices given both ex-négoce, which means before importers and retailers add markup, and average retail price, which is compiled from Wine Spectator‘s tracking of leading U.S. retailers. It’s what you can expect to pay.

For more on the 2018 Bordeaux vintage, watch for my full report in the July 31 issue of Wine Spectator. For all the latest releases, check out our price chart below.

2018 Futures Prices

These estates represent a selection of leading wineries. Our ratings are potential scores based on barrel samples. Retail prices are an average of trusted retailers we follow. Prices for the 2018s are listed alongside the current prevailing retail price for Bordeaux’s recent benchmark vintages, so you can measure where the wines are vis-à-vis those currently on retail shelves.

Data compiled by Cassia Schifter.

NYR means a wine has not been submitted for review yet. NA means a wine has not been released or is not sold in sufficient quantities by U.S. retailers yet to determine an average price.