Impact of critics on the prices of wines during the Bordeaux Primeurs campaign

Quite a stunning decision made by Xavier Planty, co-owner and CEO of Château Guiraud, a Sauternes classé. He decides to settle the price of his 2016 Guiraud prior the venue of all the critics from around the world.

To be clear : if, in the past, it was obvious that the scores of Monsieur Parker were a key for settling the prices of the wine inside the châteaux, it is also obvious that, after his return to a softer life, nobody was able to put their feet inside his shoes.

So, now, the decision of Xavier Planty is a revolutionary move towards more independance for the properties and they do not wait anxiously the scores of some critics before giving a price to the Négoces.

Here, with Mark permission, the email I got from Xavier Planty :

PRESS RELEASE | 23.03.2017
A few words from Xavier Planty :
“The dialogue between Château Guiraud and Nature ties a sincere relationship with mankind”

For the last 35 years, and, amongst those, 10 years with partners of great quality, restoring Château Guiraud, searching for the highest expression of this place, the achievement of the promise of the name of the Château, and the requirements of a First Classified Growth in 1855, has always been the way I chose. This pledge holds in a few words, inseparable from Château Guiraud.
I have always thought that viticulture has to be tied to Nature, to support the vineyard in order to find harmony in the glass. Now, the property reveals itself as a conservatory for a very large biodiversity, focusing on, by Nature, the expression and the balance of the terroir.
Château Guiraud is fuelled by a total freedom of thought, with the target of a global ecological research. We do think that there is always an alternative to what we know. “Massale” selection, edge plantations, organic vineyard management, etc, are all actions showing the pioneering character of Château Guiraud in many sectors.
The real essence of the Grand Vin is to provide an intense emotion provoked by its tension and by the sensations the wine generates, coming from the precision in the pickings and the research for the purest expression of the botrytis.
Château Guiraud reflects authenticity, staying coherent with the ethic of the name Château Guiraud, to respect the consumer. The relation between the men who produce the wine, and those who drink it must be sincere, we say what we do, and we do what we say. The whole history of Château Guiraud is based on friendship, that’s its strength.
I am always very grateful to all those professionals who come from all over the world to taste our wines. I wish for spontaneous and benevolent encounters and relations, and would like them welcomed with care that is at the level of the quality of our wines.

To help this, our release price will be known before the 2016 primeur tastings, so that the wine can be tasted in context.

As a conclusion, let me share this phrase from the great cook and aesthete Raymond Oliver:
“My joy is at its peak when I find a bottle of Chateau Guiraud, I find again the plane trees aisle, the virginia creeper on the pigeon house, the sound of the chain in the well and my blue feeling melts in nostalgia, and my nostalgia in tenderness…” Raymond Oliver, Cuisine pour mes amis, Albin Michel Paris 1976.

The whole team at Chateau Guiraud, 1st Classified Growth in 1855, wishes you a very good Primeur Tasting week.

Chateau Latour has essentially done the same thing, not releasing until it feels that the wine is more ready for consumption. I’m not sure if this is really good for the Latour consumer, but it does buck the system.

Thanks for the post, Francois.

Well that sounds nice, but they have the ability to release small amounts, at the upfront price, if they think scores will merit a rising price over time. So they can affect the supply, which eventually affects the price, and then years later, monetize that with the library/ex chateau release game, so artfully done by Latour/LLC etc.

Still I think buying Sauternes EP is mostly a fools errand. Outside of a few names, even 2001 has hardly budged (in price) all these years.

OK on these comments but the trend is quite evident : the properties have less interest, in establishing their prices, in the critics scores.

I definitely applaud this. The day of the omnipotent critic is dead. His/her carcass may still be trollied around like Weekend at Bernie’s, and have a few more spasms, but the critic is effectively dead. Roosevelt was correct: “Man in the Arena”.

Which might well be the case, and hooray to that, but the damage is already done.

And, for some half-witted reason, it seems like Galloni is still driving prices up in Italy.

It is obvious that Antonio is certainly the critic who has the biggest influence now inside the US market. His knowledge in Italy - remember the Piedmont Report - is a fact and you may add to this that, at least here in Europe, many of the new amateurs are more open to other regions than Bordeaux or Burgundy.

You will not be surprised, in the years to come, about the growth of some leading german properties, especially in red wines (Blauburgunder) that produce now some excellent cuvées such as Martin Wassmer, Huber, Keller. They have terroirs gorgious for this pinot noir called Blauburgunder !

It is obvious that Antonio is certainly the critic who has the biggest influence now inside the US market.

Francois - by what measure? You could see Parker’s influence in the secondary market and even earlier, in the prices on first release. And his announcement of a vintage as being one of the best ever was sure to drive up prices. Importers saw it as well because they received calls from distributors as soon as Parker scores came out. Is there evidence of that with Antonio, especially as regards Bordeaux?

As far as saturating the market with ratings, I think Suckling has that covered. He rates anything that passes by in front of or behind him and retailers are blasting his scores all over. Then there’s the Wine Spectator, which has a lot of followers. Seems to me that the public in general doesn’t know Antonio.

On the other hand, I suppose most people who know who Parker is don’t know that he isn’t scoring wine any more. So I wouldn’t be surprised if we see scores from him for decades after he has departed this earth.

But wait, if no one scores your wine, how can you know how good it is?

That really would surprise me. I don’t think Galloni is that well known in the US. What are you basing this on?

Francois,

I hate to correct you – but the name is Spätburgunder in most cases, not Blauburgunder. And what I hate also is the idea that German Pinot Noir will become the next speculation field as Burgundy and Bordeaux already are. I guess you may understand that.

I hate to correct you – but the name is Spätburgunder in most cases, not Blauburgunder

Jurgen, I hate to correct your correction. Blauer Burgunder, Spatburgunder and Blauburgunder are synonyms for the same principal wine variety Pinot Noir.

Bold to correct a guy with an umlaut in his name. I have no idea who’s right.

Peter,

most Pinot Noir in Germany is called Spätburgunder. Blauer Burgunder means the same but isn´t as common.

About Galloni : I was more in reference to Italy in quoting the Piedmont Report. But basically, the view I did express in my post was that the producers in Bordeaux have not the same fear about the critics’ scores and have decided, as done by Guiraud, to not wait the scores before issuing their prices.
If you need an argument why the critics ’ role is going cooler, this is the one.
Now, I do think the quality of the work done by Galloni , the team with him, put him in the first rank of the critics.
Will see and I wait his comments about the 2016 in Bordeaux.
On the other hand, yes, the worl of amateurs will always need some comments about the wines in order to fit their buying policy. But then, in this respect, the tools will be sensibly different in the future. Look at VIVINO expansion and on the lower activity of Mark Squires BB.
I am not sure the new generations are unsing extensivly this type of tool - this BB as an example - in order to get proper informations. But I may be wrong on that since it is quite some months I did not put my feet in USA.

Dear Jürgen,

You have absolutly fully the right to punish me at our next encounter and for the 2 reasons you mention :Spätburgunder is more common and yes, I had to keep these names confidential.

Mea maxima culpa !

I had only ever heard “Spätburgunder” for German Pinot Noir. Never heard ‘Blauburgunder’ until this thread.

Sorry Monsieur Steinke, and deeply sorry since you are right : Spätburgunder is by far more common.
And I promise : I will stop to be the heralder of some german outstanding producers

Monsieur Mauss,

as long as many people believe German Spätburgunder can´t compete with Cote ´d Or it´s beneficial for German wine lovers. Many wines remain affordable. But not all. Huber is already pretty expensive and the Grands Crus (Großes Gewächs) are getting more expensive year after year.

Let´s organize a blind tasting Gevrey vs German Pinot – but only if the results are kept as a secret. Otherwise the results of the GJE have an impact on prices of German Pinot noir

All the best to you
Jürgen

Love the thread drift. At our Leo’s Blind Tasting a few years ago, the man with the Member’s Only jacket served a blind flight of Keller Spät/Blau-burgunder. They were very well received and I would say about a Premier Cru level. However, the pricing seemed a bit on the high side compared to Burgundy of the same level, about 15% more.

As to Guiraud, I love the 2001. Maybe that’s where they turned the corner. Interestingly, the 2001 Guiraud Kosher Cuvee, which I tasted blind side by side with the regular cuvee, is better. The story I got was that the day they picked for the kosher cuvee just happened to work out to be the optimal picking day.

I like the early pricing model because it shows confidence by the winery. Only the future will tell whether it is a gimmick used to establish a floor price that is followed by a high score and a lot of “Great QPR” buzz, followed by a price hike.