Bordeaux Trade Confidence Rises Despite Weak Prices

Bordeaux’s trade is showing signs of renewed confidence even as the region continues to struggle with weak pricing for recent vintages, according to a new Wine Lister study released on the eve of the 2025 en primeur campaign.

The report, Bordeaux 2.0, now in its 10th year, examines 134 leading Bordeaux wines and combines that analysis with a survey of 74 senior figures in the global wine trade, including executives from importers, retailers, auction houses and La Place de Bordeaux. Together, the findings suggest a market that is still under pressure but no longer in free fall.

Trade confidence, measured on a scale from zero to 10, rose to 6.4 from 5.9 last year and edged above the 6.2 recorded in 2024. Among the wines tracked by the study, confidence improved for 117, compared with just 43 in 2025, while only eight saw declines, down sharply from 90 a year earlier. Fourteen wines posted gains of more than one point in confidence, versus only two last year.

Wine Lister said some of the few declines may reflect a cooling after a period of strong enthusiasm rather than a broader loss of faith. The report pointed to Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion and Château Montrose, both of which have drawn strong interest in recent years, as examples of estates that may simply be normalizing after a surge in attention.

The more difficult picture comes from pricing. Wine Lister compared prices from the last five en primeur campaigns, covering vintages from 2020 through 2024, with current market data from Wine Decider Pro. It looked at both the lowest prices available in Britain and average global prices, which were about 45% higher than those baseline figures.

The results were bleak for much of the region. The 2021 vintage has been hit hardest, with the lowest market price down an average of 27% since release en primeur. The 2020 vintage is down 19%, and 2022 is down 17%. More recent vintages have performed somewhat better so far: 2023 is trading at about 4% below release prices, while 2024 is roughly flat.

For individual wines, the picture is also weak. Of the 118 wines for which Wine Lister said it had credible pricing data over the five vintages studied, average prices have fallen 13% since en primeur release. That compares with a decline of 5% in last year’s report. Only seven wines showed an average increase. The weakest performers included Le Clarence de Haut-Brion at -25%, and Bélair-Monange and La Mission Haut-Brion, both at -26%.

The findings come as Bordeaux continues to face questions about whether en primeur still serves producers and buyers well. The system has long been criticized when prices fail to hold after release, and recent campaigns have intensified that debate.

Still, the report suggests Bordeaux has not lost all support in the trade. Respondents highlighted growing demand for wines that are approachable when young, with lighter extraction and less obvious oak. They also stressed the importance of experiential marketing and wine tourism, saying direct contact between estates and consumers has become more important than ever.

Wine Lister said there was broad agreement among trade figures that demand today is driven by experience as much as by price or score. That includes visits to estates, tastings tied to place and people, and stronger storytelling around producers and their teams.

The report argues that Bordeaux now faces a narrow path forward: preserve its identity while adapting to changing consumer expectations in a global market that has become less forgiving. The coming weeks of en primeur releases will show whether buyers are willing to return at scale after several difficult campaigns.