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The first prices for the current Bordeaux En-Primeur campaign have been published. Château Cheval Blanc 2022 is offered for 470 euros ex-château, an increase of 20.5 percent compared to 2021. Château Angélus costs 350 euros per bottle ex-vineyard and is thus 32 percent higher than the 2021. Prices for private customers are likely to be around one and a half times as high.
Price increases compared to the difficult 2021 vintage had been generally expected. Analyst group Wine Lister says: "This release could well set a trend for the campaign, with prices 20 to 25 per cent higher than last year." The quality of the 2022 vintage is considered to be very high, despite the intense heat that caused problems in the vineyards last summer.
Prior to the release of Cheval Blanc's price, co-owner LVMH issued a statement saying, "We are convinced that Cheval Blanc 2022 will make a compelling offer to our distributors and their customers, in line with our principles." It said the new marketing strategy would see two-thirds of the total production released as a primeur wine, while the remaining third would only be made available when the wine reaches "its drinking age of an estimated 15+ years", around 2037. It also said one argument for the price increases was that this would still make the 2022 Cheval Blanc cheaper than the available and highly regarded 2019, 2016 and 2015 vintages. For Angelus, analysts said it was one of the most expensive vintages on the market.
(al / source: decanter)