Champagne Release Prices

WINE TALK
41

From our perspective 2023 is goint to be an interesting year and we do not know how the consumer will react.
Staple champagnes like Chartogne-Taillet Saint Anne have went from 2021 -31 € 2022 - 36 € and now 2023
46 €
Bereche Brut reserve 2020 -35 € 2022 45 € 2023 -50 €
Jacquesson 2021 - 49,€ 2022 60 €, we are really curious how the new prices are going to turn out.

The biggest jumps we have are with Robert Moncuit, Pierre Moncuit and Cedric Mousse.

One could argue the price increases are justified considering the work etc however our expereince has always been regular customers do not accept such price jumps and look for other champagnes in the price range they are comfortable with.

The most notable producer where we have seen this effect is Egly-Ouriet. I have a lot of customers,who supported/bought from him when he was not so well known. They are balking at the prices. The good thing with egly, critics are lauding him and there is no shortage of new customers.

This cannot be said for other producers. Is Bereches Brut reserve worth 50 €. At 35 € I would say it is the best value champagne out there, maison or grower. Now the dynamics have changed completely. Roederer are doing fantastic work and one can buy quantity. Charles Heidsieck 40 € compared to Bereches Brut reserve 50 €, Ayala fantastic quality.

There are new producers coming through with great value, but there is no marketing force behind them. In the past I was really active in pushing new names but one has to ask oneself, if when they take off, is it worth expending the energy.

In the past in the grower scene for 50 €-100 you could get really good champagnes, when I started with Agrapart we were at 60 €. With the 16 we were at 100 €, this just did not move, we had to sell at 80 € just to get rid of stock and make way for the 17s.

What is interesting, consumers are willing to pay higher prices for the new up and coming producers, Gerbais, Legrand-Latour, Paul Gosset. But the recently released Le Cran for Bereche at 120 € is not moving, in the past at 80 € it was gone in a day.

Another aspect which I wonder about is the small quantities. When one only gets 3 or 6 bottles from a producer, is there any sense in buying, if one only gets one bottle? I personally would rather have three or six bottles but to be fair to all customers, one has to share evenly.

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42

My understanding is that there is a large confluence of events at the production level and lack of really high quality vintages that are going to have a negative impact on pricing, and leave larger than expected gaps between highly collectable vintages.

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43

This is the primary reason that I don’t chase some growers whose wines I like. I want to buy in 6pack multiples. If I’m only offered a bottle, I’ll nearly always pass.

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44

Brad,

No need to apologize, this has been a fun detour.

Champagne was a great value for a long time. I think it is still a “relative value” and hopefully we don’t take another big step up in pricing like we did with the most recent releases. It does not appear that there will be any blockbuster vintage for a few years ('18/'19/'20?) so that may temper prices a bit for new releases, but have the opposite effect on past releases making back-filling more expensive. I know that I am going to be much more selective in my purchases going forward and plan to go back to a trying before buying strategy.

45

Matt,

I went back and found an old order for a mixed case from early 2020 from the Wine Library and that order included a Savart L’accomplie, '12 Bereche Le Cran, Chartogne Cuvée St. Anne, Bollinger Special Cuvée and '08 La Grande Dame. None of those bottles did it for me for various reasons, Bolly too oxidative, GD was good, but not that much better than vintage which is half the price, Chartogne too acidic, I don’t recall the issue with Bereche or the Savart beyond that I did not find them interesting enough to buy more. Could very well be that they were just too young. I am somewhat chasing a ghost with Savart because back in 2018 I was dining solo at Les Climats and I was drinking BTG and ordered a glass of Savart. I don’t recall anything beyond that I really liked it. I did not put the effort into learning more about it, but when I was looking to put together a mixed case to try in 2020 I figured I would give the Savart another try, but it was not the same. C’est la vie

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46

I had the 14 GA a few weeks ago. It was splendid, especially for the price. Still nice to get grand marques under 200

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47

I have seen pictures of some upcoming Champagne releases on the Socials recently, including '15 Cristal being consumed in NYC and Olivier Krug drinking 171 ('15 base) and the next Krug rosé release (27?) in DC and Miami. I have not seen any offers yet, but someone “in the know” told me the '15 Cristal should hit the US market in June.

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48

Very surprising to me that the latest release today of savart’s ouverture (20 base) is priced at the same as last year’s 19 base given the hyperinflation affecting champagne across the board over the last year.

49

I got my first offer of 2008 Billecart-Salmon Cuvee Nicolas Francoise (from Envoyer) for $199.

50

The pattern seems to be released in France first, the US direct importers (Envoyer, WHWC, TWC, etc.) have the first offers stateside, then the next offers are the official release in the UK followed by the official release in the States.

51

If Berserkers are all complaining about prices, then I have to imagine the non-Berserkers are complaining even more and they are probably more price sensitive and more likely to substitute. Demand may be taking a hit leading to a pause in price increases.

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52

Funny, let’s hope

53

For those curious, prices at duty free at cdg
2013 dp- 200e
2012 taittinger CDC - 175e
2014 cristal rose - 500e
So about 10-15% cheaper than current US retail plus any tax savings.

54

Mags for $440.

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55

Just got a UK offer for 2015 Cristal. £1300/6. How were the reviews?

56

And Cristal rose 2014 for £1425/3.

57

Would really be nice to see some reviews for both of these. I think the '14 brut was released at £1200/6. The dollar is stronger now so the price in USD is the same. OTOH, that is a big jump for the rosé. '13 rosé is still available for £1185/3.

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58

13 was released at £780…

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59

The 2015 Cristal is open for business right now. Very bright, fruity, and a big contrast to the 2013 and 2014. It doesn’t have the same stuffing as the 2012 and isn’t as good as the 2009, but it shares the open character that the 2009 has always had. It is another winning vintage and one that will be fun to watch age. Personally, I rank it a little behind the 2008-2014 vintages, but that is relative as it still kicks a lot of butt and with a wine so open this young it can be tough to gauge full potential. It is better than the 2005-2007 vintages and possibly the 2004 as well.

The 2014 Cristal Rose is a cut above the 2013 Cristal Rose in my book, but behind the 2012, 2009, and 2008 Cristal Roses which were all legendary. I find the 2014 to have a bit more energy and fruit than the 2013 with a great mouthfeel and salivating finish. 2013 will improve and has the potential to reach the level of the 2014, but the 2014 may improve as well.

You really can’t go wrong with Cristal or Cristal Rose (or really anything Roederer) regardless of the vintage these days.

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60

Lol at $200 offer of legras st Vincent, the last offer was 80.