Chateau Haut Brion most expensive 2008 en primeur to date

    Chateau Haut Brion has released its wine at €125, or ¡ê1,830 per case in the UK, making it the most expensive 2008 en primeur wine to date.

    Haut Brion Blanc is on offer at ¡ê2,800 per case, while La Mission Haut Brion will set buyers back ¡ê1,300. Chateau Palmer also has come out higher than expected - about ¡ê1,020.
'Haut Brion will probably get away with this price,' Tom Jenkins at Justerini & Brooks told decanter.com, 'but Palmer's seems to have been dictated by ego, and it has bombed in the UK. I can't imagine any merchants getting stuck in when you can buy Lynch Bages or Pichon Comtesse for a fraction of the price.'

    Jenkins believes this will send a message to chateaux that have not yet released that they will have to be competitive.

    'The campaign will focus on better value wine. There are plenty of buying opportunities out there, and the chateaux shouldn't forget that,' he said.

    Alex Marton, director of fine wine for Bibendum, criticised the way some merchants have been running their campaign in the UK.

    'When Lynch Bages came out, lots of merchants were trying to discount and undercut each other, offering it at well below the recommended release price,' he said.

    'They were either selling at a loss, or had received a very big discount from n¨¦gociants in Bordeaux. This makes it very hard for the rest of us who are playing by the rules. At one point, we weren't going to even offer Lynch Bages because it was impossible to sell.'

    Simon Quinn at Bordeaux Wine Investments was more upbeat.

    'We have seen some merchants slashing margins, which is a shame because it can kill the whole the campaign,' he said.

    'But we've been able to welcome back some clients who haven't been around for a long time. People are buying to drink these wines, and we've seen a lot of activity around the well-priced wines.'