LE MANOIR:  "This year, the price of wine reached the highest levels in history"

Prices of high-class wines experience frequent fluctuations, and can change daily, said Cristian Preotu, the representative of wine importer "Le Manoir": "There are even brokers in this area, there is a permanent < exchange >, which is ran by castle owners. If one castle puts out a large quantity of wine in the market, ("castles" are the properties of the wineries, and in the Bordeaux region we are literally talking about castles) and prices begin to fall, the castle take the wine away to keep its price from dropping. There are brokers that do this, people that negotiate or distributors. The wine is taken off the market, and it can then be bought back, its price goes up and then it is brought out on the market again. It is an exchange that is ruled by customs, the commissions have remained unchanged for hundreds of years".

In this context, Cristian Preotu spoke to us about the "en Primeur" market, which exists in the Bordeaux region. The campaign for the sale of wines "en Primeur" begins in the month of February of the next year, after the tasting of the wines from their barrels. The tasting of February 2010 was held for the wines produced from the harvest of 2009. "The tasting is attended by critics, journalists and wine traders, the wines are rated and discussed, and then the bids start coming in from various buyers. Negotiations are made, there are several price levels, and they can sometimes climb very high", said Mr. Preotu, who added that this year prices have reached a historic high and are still rising.

The wines bought "en Primeur" are paid in full, at the moment of their sale and are delivered to their buyers after they have been bottled. For instance, the good wines of last year, sold this year, will be delivered next year, whereas exquisite wines (such as Mouton Rotschild, Margaux, Haut Brion...) produced in 2009 and sold in the beginning of 2010, will reach their buyer in 2012. "We have some customers of our own who buy wines "en Primeur", in particular from the Bordeaux region, the representative of "Le Manoir" said: "Starting next year, we want to begin selling a Romanian wine < en Primeur >: "Rezerva" ("The Reserve") "Davino", for which we are exclusive distributors".

About the sale "en Primeur", Cristian Preotu said: "It"s similar to making a bet, but most of the time the bets are winners. We have customers who paid now and will receive their wine two years from now. This happens every year in Bordeaux. In the case of very good wines, depending on the wines bought in the previous year, buyers get specific quotes, as there are several types of prices. Only the negotiators and the importers are buying, individuals do not buy wine directly from producers, they can only do so through the brokers, who get a commission of 2%. In principle, prices double".

This phenomenon is also present in the sales of "Davino", according to Dan Balaban, the manager of the company, who said: "The output is usually sold a long time in advance, we have wines that get sold 2-3 years before coming out on the market, and wines that get sold before the harvest. People in the know or those who have been buying from us for a long time watch how the harvest is doing, they come in May-June, see the wine before its gets taken out of the barrel, 2 or 3 years before being put out on the market, and they buy it. We also have white wines that we sell before the harvest. Not all of it, just 40-50%, and only to customers who know that we have been selling like this for years. The risk of the wine not having the right quality is very low, but if that happens, we can give them a different type of wine to replace the one they bought".