Latour, of course, stole a good deal of publicity at the beginning of the the 2011 campaign by announcing that it was going to withdraw from the primeur system from next year. (In future the wine will be released by the Chateau at ten years old or later). 2011 will be the last chance to buy Latour en primeur. This of course means that even if you buy it this year, no allocation will follow next year. But buying Latour may not be a completely absurd proposition if you believe that M. Engerer can pull off even higher prices in future, despite the complete absence of all the wine world trying to sell his wine.
Cheval Blanc has pulled off a bit of a publicity coup of its own this morning, trumping Latour’s move by withdrawing from the primeurs system a year earlier than Latour. Like Figeac yesterday afternoon, it has achieved this by pricing its wine at a level which means that there is no real reason to buy it en primeur. Nevertheless if anyone does want it, please please buy it from L&S, we will not be beaten on price!
Gérard Perse’s big guns are out today too – Pavie, Pavie Decesse and Bellevue Mondotte.