Bordeaux 2025 en primeur: a strong vintage but pricing off

Bordeaux’s 2025 en primeur campaign delivered some excellent wines, but only a handful of châteaux truly won buyers over on price, according to WineCap and leading merchants. In a market full of tempting back vintages, value mattered more than hype.

WineCap said fewer than ten of around 130 commercially significant releases really answered the trade’s call for compelling pricing. Lafite Rothschild, Ducru-Beaucaillou and Léoville Las Cases were among the stand-out successes, with prices pitched attractively against strong physical vintages already on the market. Merchants also highlighted Cheval Blanc, Mouton and Batailley as bright spots.

Yet the wider campaign appeared to lose momentum despite strong reviews for the vintage itself. Buyers remained cautious, releases were uneven, and many 2025 wines struggled to look irresistible when compared with 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022 already in bottle. The message from the trade was clear: in modern Bordeaux, quality alone is not enough — en primeur must offer obvious value.