News - Tough sell for 2007s

Published: 19 January, 2009

Merchants are likely to struggle with their 2007 Burgundy en primeur offers as the strong euro and lower yields force up prices. Prices for the vintage, which has had a mixed response from commentators and buyers, are up by as much as 20% on 2006, leading some merchants to delay their offers until later in the year.

Hilary Gibbs, proprietor of Domaine Direct, which has not put out an en primeur offer, told Harpers: "The prices are enormously up. We'll ship later on in 2009 when hopefully we'll catch the euro at a better time."

Jeroboams' director of private sales, James Wormall, said: "The change from €1.35 to €1.05 is a hell of a difference, and the yields are down, so vignerons have been putting their prices up by 5% to 10%. It does mean prices are higher, and in the current climate that does
make things difficult. We've been moving along nicely so far though, so we'll see what happens."

Both Wormall and Gibbs said the vintage was better than expected, although the wines are lighter than the 2006s and destined for early drinking, a view shared by most commentators.

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