Can anyone take some minutes to explain to me how the En Primeur buying fo Port usually works?
When do I sign up for it? When do I get it (when it comes in the bottles or several years later or as i wish...)?
The main issue here is also if anyone can tell me where can this be done in central Europe? Are there special dealers? Only directly in Portugal?
Thaks for any Infos you can give me.
En primeur - how does it work?
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En primeur - how does it work?
Greetings, Johannes Stadler
Xaverin,
Because I didn't know of this system, I googled it. Reasonably quickly I came across this article, which is several pages long. Explaining the Pro's and Cons.
If you want a very quick bit of advice, I've copy and pasted the final sentance on Port.
Alan
Because I didn't know of this system, I googled it. Reasonably quickly I came across this article, which is several pages long. Explaining the Pro's and Cons.
If you want a very quick bit of advice, I've copy and pasted the final sentance on Port.
http://www.thewinedoctor.com/author/enprimeur1.shtmlFor Port, I prefer to purchase wine nearing their drinking window at very reasonable prices, rather than paying double or more for wines from 1997 or 2000, which require decades in the cellar before they are even approachable. It's a simple scheme, but it suits me well.
Alan
- Tom Archer
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The old notion of en primeur was that you bought when the wines were young and cheap and then drank or sold them when they were mature and expensive.
Today, the market has gone a bit weird, with opening prices being undercut years later.
Not long ago I was able to buy a case of fully mature Warre 1970 for less than the price of a case of Warre 2003 - which is crazy!
Wine merchants will sternly advise you that buying en primeur safegaurds the provenance of your wine - with table wines this argument has some merit, but port is pretty tough - the reality is that port bought on the secondary market rarely shows any storage related defects - especially when bought by the case load.
At the moment, the best buying time seems to be 8 or 9 years after vintage - after being in severe doldrums for a while, the 1997's are now taking off in price - think about buying in 2000's next year..
Tom
Today, the market has gone a bit weird, with opening prices being undercut years later.
Not long ago I was able to buy a case of fully mature Warre 1970 for less than the price of a case of Warre 2003 - which is crazy!
Wine merchants will sternly advise you that buying en primeur safegaurds the provenance of your wine - with table wines this argument has some merit, but port is pretty tough - the reality is that port bought on the secondary market rarely shows any storage related defects - especially when bought by the case load.
At the moment, the best buying time seems to be 8 or 9 years after vintage - after being in severe doldrums for a while, the 1997's are now taking off in price - think about buying in 2000's next year..
Tom
There are times when you might want to buy port en primeur which are based on rarity rather than on price.
Sometimes, buying en-primeur is one way to get hold of a wine or port that is in very limited supply. Although Tom is absolutely correct in his comments about secondary market prices, I still buy certain wines such as Vesuvio en-primeur as it keeps my vertical going and provides me with perfect wines stored perfectly when I choose to open them. Occasionally I will also buy Taylors or Fonseca en primeur but I don't think that I have ever bought any other port before it ships.
Buying en primeur means that you place your order with your wine merchant and pay for the wines before they are ready to leave the Quinta or Chateau. This can be anything from a few weeks before they ship to a couple of years before they ship. Once they ship you can have them sent straight to your home or you can have them stored professionally on your behalf. In the UK if they are stored for you then you can delay paying alcohol duties and IVA until you have the wine delivered to your home but I have no idea if you can do the same thing in Germany.
Since it is the decision of the producer whether to offer his wines en primeur, there is no reason why you should not be able to buy this way if you wish to. I would suggest there are three ways in which you might be able to do this in Germany:
(1) Speak with your local wine merchants. If you tell them that you are interested in buying port en-primeur then they should be able to get the details of the en-primeur offers from the producers. If they cannot, then approach the producer's import agent in Germany and ask them for details.
(2) Speak with a wine merchant in the UK who is already offering ports en primeur. The one that I use most often is Berry Brothers. They are not the cheapest but their standard of service is extremely good and they will store the wines for you (and IVA in the UK is only 17½%).
(3) Speak directly to the producer. A handful of producers are starting to sell their wines and ports produced in the EU directly to residents of the EU.
But always remember that buying en primeur can prove to be very expensive when compared to the prices for ports on the secondary market 5-9 years after the vintage.
Alex
Sometimes, buying en-primeur is one way to get hold of a wine or port that is in very limited supply. Although Tom is absolutely correct in his comments about secondary market prices, I still buy certain wines such as Vesuvio en-primeur as it keeps my vertical going and provides me with perfect wines stored perfectly when I choose to open them. Occasionally I will also buy Taylors or Fonseca en primeur but I don't think that I have ever bought any other port before it ships.
Buying en primeur means that you place your order with your wine merchant and pay for the wines before they are ready to leave the Quinta or Chateau. This can be anything from a few weeks before they ship to a couple of years before they ship. Once they ship you can have them sent straight to your home or you can have them stored professionally on your behalf. In the UK if they are stored for you then you can delay paying alcohol duties and IVA until you have the wine delivered to your home but I have no idea if you can do the same thing in Germany.
Since it is the decision of the producer whether to offer his wines en primeur, there is no reason why you should not be able to buy this way if you wish to. I would suggest there are three ways in which you might be able to do this in Germany:
(1) Speak with your local wine merchants. If you tell them that you are interested in buying port en-primeur then they should be able to get the details of the en-primeur offers from the producers. If they cannot, then approach the producer's import agent in Germany and ask them for details.
(2) Speak with a wine merchant in the UK who is already offering ports en primeur. The one that I use most often is Berry Brothers. They are not the cheapest but their standard of service is extremely good and they will store the wines for you (and IVA in the UK is only 17½%).
(3) Speak directly to the producer. A handful of producers are starting to sell their wines and ports produced in the EU directly to residents of the EU.
But always remember that buying en primeur can prove to be very expensive when compared to the prices for ports on the secondary market 5-9 years after the vintage.
Alex
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