En primeur

Not to be confused with vin de primeur.
Bordeaux wine

En primeur or "wine futures", is a method of purchasing wines early while the wine (a vintage) is still in the barrel. This offers the customer the opportunity to invest before the wine is bottled.[1] Payment is made at an early stage, a year or 18 months prior to the official release of a vintage. A possible advantage of buying wines en primeur is that the wines may be considerably cheaper during the en primeur period than they will be once bottled and released to the market.[2] However, that is not guaranteed and some wines may lose value over time. Wine experts, like Tom Stevenson, recommend buying en primeur for wines with very limited quantities and will most likely not be available when they are released.[3] The wines most commonly offered en primeur are from Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Rhône Valley and Port, although other regions are adopting the practice.[4]

  1. ^ Lyons, Will (30 March 2015). "Bordeaux Futures: What's The Upside of Buying En Primeur?". Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal.
  2. ^ "Why buy them now? Currently there is strong demand for fine wines. This underlines the need to secure stocks as soon as they are released for sale. If you wait until later, the wine you particularly wished to purchase is likely to have sold out. If not, it is probable (but not guaranteed) that, as the wine matures and stocks become rarer, prices will increase". thewinesociety.com.
  3. ^ T. Stevenson "The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia" pg 66 Dorling Kindersley 2005 ISBN 0-7566-1324-8
  4. ^ Kissack, Chris, thewinedoctor.com. "Wine Glossary E". Archived from the original on 2011-11-03. Retrieved 2008-01-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)