How to buy wine en primeur (futures)?
Quick answer
Buying en primeur — or wine futures — means paying for wine that's still ageing in barrel, roughly 18 months before it's bottled and shipped. It started in Bordeaux and the idea is simple: you lock in a price now that should be lower than the release price later. You buy through a merchant, and the wine arrives a year or two down the line.
Detailed answer
Every spring (April to June), Bordeaux châteaux present barrel samples of the previous year's vintage to critics and journalists. Scores get published, prices get announced in waves (called 'tranches'), and merchants worldwide offer allocations to their customers. That's the en primeur campaign.
The buying process is straightforward: pick your wines through a merchant offering futures, pay upfront, then wait 18-24 months for bottling and delivery. In Belgium, you typically pay the ex-VAT price at order and settle the 21% VAT upon delivery.
The big draw is price. For legendary vintages with high demand, en primeur prices can be 20-40% below what those wines trade for two years later. The 2009 Bordeaux vintage saw some prices double within a few years of release.
But here's the catch: it doesn't always work out. The 2011 vintage was priced too high en primeur, and many wines could be bought cheaper on the open market a few years later. You're also paying for wine you've only tasted from barrel — the finished product can be different.
Other risks include merchant insolvency (your money is tied up for two years — choose a solid partner) and opportunity cost (that capital earns nothing while you wait).
Smart strategy: only buy en primeur for wines that will be impossible to find later — Petrus, Le Pin, tiny-production Burgundies. For widely available wines, waiting often gets you a better deal.
| Step | Timeline | What Happens |
|---|---|---|
| Barrel tastings | April (year after harvest) | Critics taste barrel samples |
| Scores published | April-May | Parker, Suckling, Decanter release ratings |
| Prices announced | May-June (in tranches) | Merchants communicate pricing |
| You order | May-July | Pay your merchant upfront |
| Bottling | Spring, year +2 | Château bottles the wine |
| Delivery | Autumn, year +2 | Bottles arrive (18-24 months after ordering) |