A powerful 2020 vintage

What is En Primeur?

Wines bought for investment purposes. Commonly referred to as Wine Futures, en primeur wine is buying wine whilst the liquid is still in the barrel. En Premier wine is virtually cheaper than the price of wine after it is bottled.

Why invest in En Premier wine in Singapore?

En Primeur are at its lowest price wines, bought before they are bottled and released onto the market. This gives collectors first advantage. The wines will only be shipped 2-3 years after the vintage. Prices are quoted are quoted ex-cellars.

With the tumult of good vintages, en premier wines can increase quickly in price in a matter of weeks, adding profits. Although it is not guaranteed that prices may increase, it is a collector’s paradise, as wines are sought directly from chateau, adding provenance.

Bok’s Special Report on En Primeur 2020

9.0 stars
27 Apr 2021

During covid-19 pandemic period, it’s really difficult to get hold of these En Primeur wines for tasting. Luckily, I’m a member of Commanderie de Bordeaux Singapore, and our organization dealt with the Bordeaux negociant to supply these En Primeur wines for tasting, thus I have a good glimpse of what’s forthcoming for the 2020 vintage.

Tonight’s line up and what I have tasted:

Left Bank

Chateau Cantemerle
Haut-Medoc, 5th Growth

Chateau de Fieuzal
Pessac-Leognan, Grand Cru Classe de Graves

Chateau La Louviere
Pessac-Leognan

Chateau Phelan Segur
Saint Estephe, Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnels

Clos Floridene, Graves

Chateau Kirwan, Margaux, 3rd Growth

Chateau Malescot Saint Exupery
Margaux, 3rd Growth

Chateau Prieure-Lichine
Margaux, 4th Growth

Chateau d’Issan
Margaux, 3rd Growth

Blason d’Issan, Margaux
Second wine of Chateau d’Issan

Right Bank

Chateau Troplong-Mondot
Saint Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classe B

Clos Fourtet
Saint Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classe B

Chateau La Gaffeliere
Saint Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classe B

Chateau Les Cruzelles
Lalande de Pomerol

Chateau Faugeres
Saint Emilion Grand Cru Classe

First off, some basic knowledge about En Primeur tasting; the wine has not been bottled yet, in fact, it’ll be anywhere from 12 to 18 months before the wines will be delivered.

As such, The harvest for EP 2020 happened in late summer, thus I’m tasting wines that’s about 6 months old, and that’s not going to reflect the full potential of the wine.

The rest of the wines continue to age in barrel for another year or so. Thus, EP tasting one needs to add a bit of imagination, especially the oak taste, how it will blend in to the wines 12 months down the road. Knowing the label’s past vintages (or drinking enough of it) will give you a glimpse of what will be the final result.

Thus, EP tasting is a skill that counts a lot on past experiences, and Bok unashamedly tell you that he has been tasting EP for the past 20 years, and drank enough Bordeaux wines to have a good feel of past, present and future.

If I have to put a past vintage as perspective for EP 2020, I will pick 1998 as the shadow to follow. The weather for both vintages may not be a straight replica, however, the end result is. If I use one sentence to summarize this EP;

IT IS A MERLOT BASED VINTAGE

Buy any heavily merlot based wines and your chances of success of picking a good bottle is ultra-high. I’m not saying there isn’t any good wines from the left bank or Cabernet Sauvignon or Cabernet Franc based. I use 1998 as a benchmark and give you an example here; Leoville Las Cases 1998 tasted far worse than Beauregard 1998. How many people took Beauregard seriously? Sadly, not many, but to clash heads on with a super 2nd growth of Leoville Las Cases need a strong heart, and Beauregard won hands down with it’s very ripe fruity character.

I’m not saying that there are no good left bank wines in 1998, in fact, all the first growth that I have tasted do have very good quality. Just that for the bang for the buck, go right and stay away from left. From my 2020 tasting experience, Cantemerle, de Fieuzal, La Louviere, Phelan Segur all performed poorly.

La Louviere 9.0 stars
Cantemerle 8.75 stars
Phelan Segur 8.5 stars

de Fieuzal, 8.25 stars
Clos Floridene, 8.25 stars

Most Margaux appellation produced wines contained merlot
thus they do well.

My ranking being:

Malescot St Exupery, 9.25 stars
Prieure-Lichine, 9.0 stars
Blason d’Issan, 9.0 stars
this has higher merlot content than it’s classified wine

d’Issan, 8.75 stars
Kirwan, 8.75 stars

The right bank wines did exceptionally well:

Clos Fourtet, 9.5 stars
Troplong Mondot, 9.5 stars
Faugeres, 9.25 stars
La Gaffeliere, 9.0 stars
Les Cruzelles, 9.0 stars

Stay Tuned to Our En Primeur Offerings
Coming Soon!

“We are offering you the best of the best with
absolute value!”

James Suckling says “Bordeaux 2020 Top Scoring Vintages! Excellent Year!”

Benefits of En Primeur

Lowest price
En Premier offers the chance for collectors to get involved at the lowest market offer price in Singapore.

Youngest age
En Premier release wines are at their youngest age, with the maximum period for maturity and potential growth in value.

Security of provenance
When purchasing En Premier wines, collectors have the added benefit of having wines delivered via the most direct route from the Château, ensuring absolute provenance.

Secondary market buying trend
Traditionally, the secondary market buying trend is for physical stock. This allows collectors to take advantage of En Premier gains, with stocks that are easily liquidated after physical delivery in Singapore

Bordeaux En-Primeur season has started!
Here are the wines that are offered in Singapore dollars

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Price not inclusive of duty & GST
Shipping fee is approximately $15 per bottle

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A powerful 2020 vintage

Benefits of En Primeur

Bordeaux En-Primeur season has started! Here are the wines that are offered in Singapore dollars

Bordeaux En-Primeur season has started!
Here are the wines that are offered in Singapore dollars