1) What is en primeur wine ?

When we speak about en primeur wine, it refers to an actual pre-order system of the Bordeaux Châteaux wines, 12 to 18 months before being bottled and put on the market (after ageing).
Every year in April, wine professionals gather to taste and gauge the current vintage, from samples straight out of the barrel, the wines being still unfinished! The goal here is to evaluate the quality of the wines of each Château. The ratings of critics, journalists and wine professionals alike, will largely influence the wine prices and sales.

Then, it’s time for the announcements: each Château decides what day to launch the sales and at what price, and communicates these to the brokers and wine merchants of La Place de Bordeaux.
The price, which is likely to change during the campaign, is usually attractive at first and represents a good opportunity to purchase a great wine at the best price, especially considering the fact that the wine’s availability two years later is not guaranteed.

Pro tip: Subscribe to the newsletter of a serious wine website like ours at La Cave du Château, and be informed of a wine’s availability as soon as a Château makes an announcement.

You may also write to us at the following address for wine allocation requests: primeurs@lacaveduchateau.com.

2) Where to buy en primeur wine ?

The easiest and safest way to puchase en primeur wine is to go through a website of renown like the one from La Cave du Château. You might remember the fiasco that happened a few years back with a certain website, which clearly highlighted the risks of purchasing en primeur wine from the first comer. Indeed, we are speaking here of reservations, and this means the seller needs to make sure he gets the wines he sold, and not oversell.

At La Cave du Château, as an entity of the group Domaine Clarence Dillon - owner of the first-growth Château Haut-Brion -  we offer solid guarantees: we only sell the stock we have, and we receive the wines directly from our wine merchant Clarence Dillon Wines as well as a few other serious merchants from la Place de Bordeaux.
On top of our website, we also take orders by phone, email and of course directly in our shop.

3) Buying en primeur wine at La Cave du Château

Having access to the wines is not our only asset. As a wine cellar, it is our duty to provide our clients with expert and personalized advice. In case of questions or need for help to choose your en primeur wines, our qualified staff is at your disposal to guide you through our selection of around 70 classified Grands Crus, their Second Wines, Crus Bourgeois and other lesser-known gems we value just the same.

To order en primeur wine with us, you have 3 options:

• On our website with a secured payment.
• In our shops: in Paris, Bordeaux or Pessac.
• By phone or email : +33 (0) 1 82 82 33 33 / primeurs@lacaveduchateau.com

We accept payments per credit cards, Paypal (website), bank transfer or through a secured payment link we provide you.

En primeur wine orders are now paid with VAT (since 2023). The wines can be ordered by the unit and be the subject of special requests (big formats, single wooden cask...).

 We will contact you once we receive your wines (12 to 18 months) to organize the delivery.

We offer the possibility of collecting your wines free of charge in one of our 3 stores.
Of course, we are able to ship your wines with extreme care, along their wooden cases, in France and abroad. The shipping costs will be calculated at the on-going rate upon availability and billing of your wines.

Should you have any question, feel free to contact us by email at primeurs@lacaveduchateau.com or by phone at +33 (0) 1 82 82 33 33 from Tuesdays until Saturdays 10h30 to 19h30.

4) Why purchase en primeur wine ?

Here are the top 7 reasons you should buy en primeur wine:

1. Wine availability. Purchasing en primeur is generally a good way of actually having a chance to buy rare wines by pre-ordering them before they are even finished and bottled! Also, it should be said that some Châteaux sell all their production en primeur, making these wines very difficult to find later on. Therefore, purchasing wines from Château Haut-Brion, Château Margaux or Château Lafite Rotschild en primeur is usually a smart move.
2. An attractive price. When you purchase en primeur wine, you are likely to benefit from a truly competitive price for great classified wines or crus bourgeois. Once the wines are bottled and sold through the usual distribution network, prices can increase up to 30%.
3. Create your own cellar full of your favourite great wines and lesser-known gems of excellent value.
4. For special occasions: birth of a child, wedding anniversary, retirement, remarkable year… Drinking the carefully saved wine will be even more memorable!
5.  A quality investment. Without playing into the hands of speculation, classified grands crus are always a sound investment especially when purchased at the best price: these wines of great ageing potential will only increase in value over the years.
6. Unusual bottle sizes: magnum, double-magnum, jéroboam, impériale, salmanazar, balthazar....A perfect opportunity to put your hands on a rare wine in an even rarer bottle!
7. Wooden cases: We receive the wines in their original wooden cases and we ship them to you in the exact same way. Class and authenticity guaranteed.

5) When buy en primeur wine ?

The professional wine tasting for en primeur wines is usually held in April. From there on, the wines can be launched at any time by the Châteaux. We will sell the 2024 en primeur wines until the end of 2025.

We strongly advise you to monitor the situation closely and subscribe to our newsletter in the footer of this page to make sure you are the first informed!

6) How is the 2024 vintage in Bordeaux ?

The 2024 vintage in Bordeaux, as in many other French wine-growing regions, proved to be particularly demanding for winegrowers. The year 2024 was marked by rainfall well above the average for recent years, and sunshine below the average for the last three decades.

After a constant battle against mildew, flowering took place around June 10, a relatively classic calendar for the region. However, veraison was late, starting around August 16. This was mainly due to the lack of water stress necessary for optimal ripening.

Harvesting of red grape varieties began around September 20 and lasted until mid-October. In a context of heterogeneous ripeness, the choice of harvest date proved decisive. The final quality of the grapes depended heavily on the sorting carried out in the vineyard and in the winery: manual plot sorting, table sorting, density sorting and optical sorting ensured that only the healthiest grapes were kept.

These practices, combined with high technical standards, have enabled the winemakers to produce quality wines, often at the expense of volume. Yields are low in most appellations, averaging around 30 hectolitres per hectare.

Some terroirs have weathered the storm better than others, notably gravelly soils with good drainage, or those with favorable exposure to the wind.

On tasting, the wines show more finesse than power. Less concentrated than the 2020 or 2022 vintages, they are distinguished by silky textures and supple tannins. They should be accessible in their youth, without lacking in ageing potential of at least ten years.

Merlot and Cabernet Franc from the right bank, particularly in Saint-Émilion, stand out for their balance and aromatics, as demonstrated by the successful wines tasted at Château Figeac and Château Troplong Mondot. In Pessac, we particularly appreciated the wines of Château La Mission Haut-Brion and the appellation's whites. 

Last but not least, we would like to highlight the finesse of Château Branaire-Ducru and the elegance of the four Léovilles (Langoa, Barton, Poyferré and Las Cases) in the Saint Julien appellation. 

Do not hesitate to have a look at our tremendous range of Bordeaux wines.