Le rapport de Lisa-Perroti Brown
https://thewineindependent.com/articles/2022-primeurs/ avec une intéressante réflexion sur le fait d'acheter ou non cette année en primeurs. Tout comme William Kelley elle ne considère pas ce millésime comme celui du siècle.
Should you buy 2022 Primeurs?
Firstly, I never recommend buying wine for investment. I know some profit from it, but I won’t tell anyone that wine is a sure bet. It’s not.
A lot of consumer/collector Primeurs buying decisions have to do with loyalty to a favorite Château or an overwhelming reason to purchase a particular vintage (your child’s or grandchild’s birthyear). These are valid reasons to get orders in early, in which case the wines are simply worth what you are willing to pay.
But, if you are a collector who simply loves Bordeaux and you have some money burning a hole in your pocket, how do you decide if you should buy the 2022 wines now or wait until they are bottled and physically released?
Here are some questions to consider:
1) Did this vintage produce a remarkably unique style or an unprecedented quality level of a wine that you think you’ll love?
2) If yes, is this wine from a property so small and/or so in demand that you are unlikely to be able to find the wine in the market after it is bottled?
3) If yes, is this wine better or more to your taste than another recent great vintage of the same or a similar wine you perhaps bought at a lower price, such as 2018, 2019, or 2020? OR does this wine offer better quality price ratio than other recent great vintages currently available on the market and cheaper?
If you answered “no” to any of these scenarios, that’s probably also the answer to your question about purchasing Primeurs this year.
The bottom line is 2022 is indeed a great, consistent vintage, but it is not the greatest vintage ever. Bordeaux has had a recent string of outstanding vintages, and most estates produce a lot of wine. I don’t have to be a psychic to see this vintage will be ultra-expensive for the usual la-di-da suspects. The first wave of prices is a harbinger of the forthcoming mushroom cloud of hubris. The simple principle of supply and demand tells us that for many of these wines, you can probably wait until they are available in bottle to buy if the price is right by then. If not, there are plenty of other great recent vintages to pick and choose from.
There is an exception to what I have just said above.
2022 was a vintage that leveled the playing field. A lot of properties on the peripheries of “great terroir” that usually struggle to ripen because they tend to be cooler blew me away this year. Their wines will likely make jaws drop at their cellaring stamina in 30 or 40+ years when we’re in our twilight years or offspring are inheriting cellars. But we will also get a lot of pleasure from them within 5-10 years after they have been bottled. There’s also likely to be value this year from these estates who, dare I say, still have some humility. Better still, these can be ordered in magnums when buying at the Primeurs stage. Many of these smaller estates are in short supply and get snapped up by restaurants—another reason to buy now if you see an offer.