Earlier this year (Tuesday 28th January to be exact), I did something I’d never done before. I took delivery of wine I’d bought en primeur: 12 bottles each of Barolo and white Burgundy, some chosen from individual producers and two mixed-six taster packs. I’ve worked in wine for more than 20 years but it’s taken that long for me to buy wine this way – placing an order before the wine is ready to ship, sometimes before it’s even been bottled, on the strength of a tasting note, a story, and an enthusiastic curiosity.
What finally drew me in? I’m not a collector or investor, and I don’t have as much of a fine wine budget as I’d like – so why have I taken the plunge and dived into en primeur? Most importantly, because I like feeling part of something that goes deeper than just buying wine – it brings me one step closer to the people who make it.
I enjoy being swept up in the storytelling and getting to know more about a producer, whether they’re regional legends or the new wunderkind on the block, traditionalists or rule-breakers. I relish getting deeper under the skin of a region with a mixed case of a few different winemakers to understand the nuances of expression they conjure from the same grape grown in the same place.
Make my mouth water
I also love the tasting notes. I remain in awe of how The Society buyers consistently make my mouth water in just a few short paragraphs. How can you resist Victoria Mason’s temptingly delicious descriptions of Piedmont’s top bottles, or Toby Morrhall’s insightful and eloquent descriptions of a particular Burgundy vintage? A quick trade secret – I’ve worked for many wine businesses over the years and not all buyers pen their own tasting notes. Not so at The Wine Society, where the buying team both hunt down the best wines and write brilliantly about their favourite finds.
I don’t spend more per bottle than I usually would, but I get a lot more for my money.
Do I have one eye on the investment potential of en primeur? Absolutely not. Many play the oenological stock market as a serious financial exercise, but I’m not planning to mix business and pleasure. I’ve been sticking (mostly) to the entry-level end of EP – I don’t spend any more per bottle than I usually would, but I get a lot more for my money in terms of experience.
Even in the modest quantities I buy, en primeur helpfully props up my wine supplies. If you find yourself in a group of wine lovers, the concept of ‘having enough wine’ may come up. It is, of course, an important philosophical question – how can anyone truly know when they have enough wine? Enough wine for what? To drink with dinner tonight? To host a mid-sized bacchanal? My definition lies somewhere between those two, but knowing I’ve got a few cases arriving over the next year (along with my January delivery already entering its drinking window) means I’m much further from the ultimate nightmare scenario – running out of good wine.
The one thing I wish people knew about en primeur is that it isn’t expensive to start buying.Shaun Kiernan, The Wine Society’s Fine Wine Manager
Why buy wine en primeur?
But enough from an EP novice; time to hear from a real expert. Shaun Kiernan has worked for The Wine Society since 1981, the year I was born (sorry Shaun). As Fine Wine Manager, he knows en primeur inside out, so what does it offer to him? ‘I’ve been buying EP for more than 30 years and always enjoy taking cases out and seeing how they’ve matured,’ says Shaun. ‘I find it amazing the way things have changed within the liquid itself, even between bottles of the same wine.’
I asked Shaun what has changed since he started working with (and buying) en primeur. ‘The main differences are the variety of regions and the breadth of range, with wines that start very inexpensively going up to the top wines of the world. The one thing I wish people knew about en primeur is that it isn't expensive to start buying.’
Shaun remembers his first foray into EP, choosing the all-time classic en primeur region: Bordeaux. ‘It was claret from either Cantemerle or Chasse Spleen. A vintage from the 1980s, possibly even 1982 which was a fantastic year – even the wines that weren't expensive were superb and lasted for at least a decade.’ Apart from a Reserves rent bill that often arrives ‘slightly larger than it should be’, Shaun has no regrets about any of his purchases – except the ones that got away. ‘I would have liked to have bought more wines from 2005 – it was one of the best vintages ever. I regret not buying more because the wines turned out so fantastically and keep for a very long time, some of them only now coming into their drinking window.’
En primeur is like a gift-wrapped present from past you to future you.
Delayed gratification
I can’t talk about en primeur without mentioning delayed gratification. Like holidays or a large, ice-cold martini, the anticipation of the thing is often half the pleasure. En primeur embodies this perfectly, like a gift-wrapped present from past you to future you. Having recently opened my first few EP bottles with friends and family, I can report back that it is most definitely worth the wait. Shaun agrees: ‘I have a lovely cellar of wine that I've built up over many years, hasn't really cost me a fortune, and that I'll drink over a long period of time with friends. That's what wine is all about for me – making sure that you open a bottle and enjoy the flavours and styles with as many people as possible. All the bottles that I've opened have given enormous amounts of pleasure.’
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