Château Lafite was the first of the Premier Grand Cru Classé chateaux in Bordeaux to present the price for its 2005 primeur – a vintage that has been highly acclaimed critically (and with high expectations on the prices too). The “release price” for Lafite is 300€ (per bottle of course). That is the price that a négociant (wholesaler) can buy it for on the “place” in Bordeaux (in practice, from the chateau). On top of that comes margins for himself and downstream as well as taxes before the bottle arrives at the consumer… Decanter notes that it is a price increase with +275% since last year. Mouton-Rothschild has also released its wine – at 320€ per bottle. Decanter predicts Ausone to be the most expensive, according to trade sources, at around 500€ (still per bottle). However, this is just the first “tranche” that is released from the chateaux. Subsequent tranches are often higher priced. One can only assume that the chateau owners have a happy smile on the face all the way to the bank. (But as we have said before, if customers are ready to pay the prices, you can not expect the chateau to set the prices any lower, can you? But for those of us who think it is expensive … there are fortunately other wines.)
