interesting read

[robertgoulet]

http://www.decanter.com/news/blogs/anso ... r-04062015

Curious if any of this type of discussion were brought up on the trip with the chateau insiders?

[AlexR]

First of all, the figures in this article need to be taken with a large grain of salt. They are estimations and unverifiable. And even if they were 100% correct, that would concerne first tranche prices for only part of the crop.

That having been said, the general trends described in the article and some of the issues are well-described.

Another point that many people overlook is "there is not some great over-arching masterplan that only the châteaux know"
In other words, every château is different, so it is very difficult to generalize.

What we *don't* know is how the market would react to another vintage with a reputation like 2005 or 2009/10.

Is the en primeur system dead?
No, but signs are there that it is changing. Yes.

All the best,
Alex R.

[dstgolf]

RG,

Many of the points addressed in the article were addressed on the trip.

Latour was up front stating they were holding back a significant part of their annual production to release at a later date/higher price. Chateaus Ferrand has been holding back a significant portion of their annual production but they currently have a policy of maintaining their prices at release pricing for each vintage with no intent at the moment of raising their prices. I would have thought the opposite as there certainly is a cost of storage, carrying cost etc.

When a small group of us were at Chateau Teyssier on our Wed afternoon OFF on our way back to the hotel the manager told us point blank the negociants are dead in Bordeaux but they don't know it yet. I thought this was a surprising statement but he felt strongly that things were going to change and change quickly to a more international method od sales and marketing cutting out the middle man. I asked the question to M Tesseron at PC and he said there has been some discussions that he's heard but for most the negociants do such a good job and the cost to each chateau to develop their own sales and marketing teams would be too expensive and complicated. The negociants have all the world links to the customers and not the chateaux's. He feels it would be disastrous for PC to entertain and he's happy to keep the system that is working very well for him in place.

[Chateau Vin]

I was wondering what does that mean for the end consumer. I care less whether there is a negociant system or not. Interested to know if whether it means overall higher prices or lower prices or the same for the customer. Any talk on this in the discussions or its too hard to tell now???

[AlexR]

I worked for négociants for years, so you can cosider me biased.

But I just cannot see how châteaux can sell their wne any other way.

Latour is a totally atypical case, and is owned by one of the richest me in France.
And, even there, he still goes throught the négoce, even if he no longer sells en primeur.

It is not as though no one has tried direct sales before!
Giscours did via the powerful IDV group, and failed miserably.
Gérard Perse almost went that route, but backtracked.

A small Burgundian domaine can sell direct, but the sheer size of Bordeaux châteaux makes the challenge of doing so take on another whole dimension.
By the time you've set up a sales office, paid for staff, financed travel, etc., I think any savings would be tiny.
And distribution would be stunted.

So, to answer whether the négociant system means higher prices, I'd say no.

If some château bypass the négoce say "more power to you" and wish them good luck. It's just that the large majority of estates are not equipped to do so, especially on export markets.

As for the role of he broker, that's a dfferent kettle of fish...

Best regards,
Alex R.

[robertgoulet]

Alex, I thought the same thing....I can see this working with the most acclaimed and high demand chateau's but what about the others? These guys are not marketing gurus...they need the negociants...what are they going to do?...just take out an add in wine spectator ?? Lol...My belief is on some level the negociants will never go away, maybe for some yes. (these working relationships are ingrained into the system)...but I highly doubt every chateau has this stance.

[AKR]

A friend commented to me this morning that the every middleman is struggling in a much more transparent, information rich world.

What if some estates just plugged into the Amazon model, and paid for some critic reviews to pop up?

And even that is still using a platform, and not yet true direct sales, like the way so many Napa estates do, by cultivating a mailing list and pumping the whole B&B wine country tourism thing.

[DavidG]

I think it would be tough to sell 20-30,000 cases of wine without a distributor network, even with online sales. Especially expensive wine. If you're small and famous like SQN or in Bordeaux maybe Le Pin that might work.

[AlexR]

David,

This is it.

Also the mechanics, logistics, and paperwork involved with shipping a case of wine to, let's say, your doorstep (i.e. export sales) is mind boggling.

A chacun son métier.

Alex R.