Will the financial crisis lead to harder times for the most exclusive wine chateaux in Bordeaux? Some people think so. Jeffrey Davis says to Wine Business International that he has noted a decline in the demand in top US restaurants. Others also note a weakening demand.
But it’s perhaps not only the financial crisis that is in play: the primeur “campaign” for the 2007s were very slow; the dollar is weak etc. But it may take some time before the pain is felt. Many merchants ar getting paid this year for deliveries of the very expensive 2005s, bolstering revenues.
Yann Schyler, of negociant Schroder & Schyler and Ch Kirwan is expecting a difficult 2009: “The sales of top-of-the-range wines have stopped since a few months back. Customers have other things on their minds. Airlines, for instance, who used to buy bottles between 8 and 12 euro are now looking for wines at 3 to 8 euro”, he sais to the Sud-Ouest newspaper.
(And perhaps this should not come as a big surprise, after e.g. the drastic price hikes in 2005 when some wines went up in price with 500% or more…)
Read more: wine-business-international.com and www.straitstimes.com
