The 2020 Bordeaux campaign in retrospect.
The 2020 Bordeaux vintage was released en primeur in spring 2021, during the pandemic. Prices were high. Demand was higher. Allocations were cut across the board. Here is what happened when the wines actually arrived.
What arrived
The Left Bank performed. Latour, as always, did not release en primeur but delivered the 2014 and 2015 Grand Vins in 2024. Lynch-Bages arrived in full allocation. Palmer was reduced by twenty percent from what we ordered.
The Right Bank was more difficult. Vieux Chateau Certan delivered eighty percent of our order. Le Pin delivered forty percent. Petrus delivered twelve bottles, down from eighteen.
What did not arrive
Three allocations were cut entirely: Chateau Margaux (redirected to Asia), Chateau L'Evangile (administrative error, resolved for 2021), and Le Dome (Jonathan Maltus redirected stock to UK market).
Pricing
Ex-cellar prices for 2020 were, on average, twelve percent higher than 2019. By the time the wines landed in Florida with freight, insurance, duties, and excise, the landed cost was eighteen percent higher. Most of my restaurant clients absorbed this. Two did not renew.
Lessons
I now over-order by fifteen percent on any Right Bank allocation where I have flexibility. The cost of holding extra stock is lower than the cost of telling a client I cannot fill their order.
The 2021 Bordeaux campaign arrives in Q1 2025. Write to me if you want to be on the allocation list.