A Guide to Buying En Primeur
Bordeaux Index
9 April 2025
Thinking about buying En Primeur? Here’s everything you need to know about how it works, why it matters, and how to get started.
What Is En Primeur
En primeur is the process of buying wine while it is still maturing in the barrel—before it’s bottled and released. It offers wine lovers and collectors the chance to secure wines early, often at the best prices, directly from the château.
Why Buy En Primeur?
There are several benefits to buying wine En Primeur:
-
Provenance and Trust: Purchasing directly from the château ensures the wine’s authenticity and perfect storage history—whether you plan to enjoy it yourself or sell it later.
-
Access to Rare Formats: Whether it’s half bottles for casual occasions or large formats for special events, certain sizes can be difficult to find later. Buying En Primeur lets you choose the formats you want from the outset.
-
One-Owner Wines: Many collectors appreciate the emotional appeal of knowing their wine has never changed hands—it's yours from the very beginning.
New to En Primeur? Here's How to Start
If you haven't bought wine En Primeur before, there are a couple of things you need to do. The first of these is to find a critic whose palate you really align with. Do some research, find out which critics are experienced not only in those regions, but also in drinking and tasting young wines.
The second thing is to find a merchant who has a great track record, not only in that area, but also in selling En Primeur wines. That way, it will mitigate the risk of you buying something that further down the line perhaps you don't like or doesn't give you the investment that you're looking for.
What about En Primeur Outside Bordeaux, Is It Becoming More Popular?
While Bordeaux remains the most established and significant region for en primeur, the concept is gaining popularity elsewhere - especially in Burgundy, which has its own en primeur campaign every January. That said, Bordeaux continues to offer the most structured and widely recognized campaigns each year.
How Do I Choose the Right Wine to Invest In?
Buying En Primeur gives you an opportunity to secure stocks of certain wines at their initial release. That might be the most sought after names, which often are the most expensive wines, but it can also be the wines that are made in the smallest quantities. It's often essential to pick those up when they're first released because they can be very difficult to find further down the line.
Each Bordeaux En Primeur campaign throws up a handful of wines that critics identify as being really on the up. Those might be wines you've not heard of before, they might not even be particularly expensive, but they can be wines which are lavished with high scores and therefore will become more sought after in the future.
Are Second Label Wines Worth Buying?
Most Bordeaux properties produce a second label wine, which is often an accessible way to buy wines from the top terroir without having to spend the money on the biggest labels. These are often more approachable for drinking younger, so they give you an opportunity to get a taste of that terroir without splashing the cash.
Should You Buy Every Year or Only in ‘Great’ Vintages?
The modern Bordeaux era has seen a change in the way that wines are made. In the past, lots of grapes may have been thrown into the wine, which might have affected the overall quality. There's now such a focus on maintaining quality, that rather than making a lot of weaker wine, they make less wine and maintain the quality that enables you to have confidence to buy wine almost every year.
The other interesting aspect is that when you find a property you really love, you can follow it every year and see how those changes in vintage affect the wine with the terroir that you already have identified that you know and love.
How Much Do You Need to Start Buying En Primeur?
The fascinating bit about En Primeur, particularly in Bordeaux, is that almost every Chateau from the most humble level all the way up to the First Growths and Grand Vins will release some wine En Primeur. That means you can start from £100 a case or even less in some cases, or upwards into the many, many £1000s. There’s no minimum spend - starting small is a sensible way to explore your preferences and build confidence.
See how your taste for the wines develops. If you find your wines becoming more tradable, you might want to invest more, but it certainly is something that more people can get involved in than you might imagine.
How Much Does Storage Cost typically?
It's really essential that you consider professional storage when buying wine en primeur. Whether you're planning to trade it further down the line, or you just want to make sure it's perfect when you come to drink it, professional storage will keep it in optimum conditions in terms of temperature and humidity, which will mean that the wine is as good as the day it left the Chateau until the moment you want it.
At Bordeaux Index, we know the importance of storing wine in the perfect condition, that's why we offer the finest wine storage facilities in the UK treating every single bottle as if it was our own. We entrust this integral part of our service to Octavian, the "world's number one in fine wine storage" who use a state-of-the-art wine storage facility - the Colerne Reserve.
You can take advantage of a reduced annual fee by signing up to our Storage Subscription Service. Our subscription service makes it easier than ever to pay your storage fees. Once you have set up your subscription account, payment will be taken twice a year, in January and July and you can manage your payment method at the click of a button in your account. When you sign up you will benefit from a discounted rate.
Can You Sell En Primeur Wines Later On?
Yes - wines bought en primeur can absolutely be resold, especially if they’ve been stored professionally. One of the most efficient and accessible ways to do this is via LiveTrade, our industry-leading trading platform.
LiveTrade offers instant, transparent pricing and enables you to sell wines directly into a global market—regardless of where your wine is stored, as long as it's held in a professional facility in the UK or Europe. There’s no need to sell through the merchant your wine is stored with an industry first that gives collectors and investors complete flexibility and control.
Whether you’re selling a rare case of First Growth Bordeaux or a second-label drinking wine, LiveTrade allows you to access firm bid prices 24/7, place offers, and even manage your entire cellar portfolio through our My Portfolio tool.
For actively traded wines listed under LiveTrade+, Bordeaux Index commits to making a constant market with guaranteed buy prices, meaning you can sell selected wines immediately - often at better prices than traditional broking channels.
At Bordeaux Index, we aim to make the process of reselling your en primeur wines as seamless and transparent as the initial purchase. As always, our dedicated team are on hand to assist with any questions or queries.