Pre-releases: The art of judging early

Melvyn Minnaar

Best demonstration of the challenge took place in a Cape producer’s cellar the other day, but it wasn’t wine.

In the unassuming, but vital tasting glasses were raw spirits: fresh from the smart in-house, burnished copper pot-still, the brandy-man was assessing the heart of his distil. The fermented grapes had delivered the first clear spirit which was to be transformed into a boutique brandy sometime in future. At about 70 per cent blistering alcohol, the decision about the future of the colourless - and, for the un-initiated, a virtually odourless - spirit is extremely challenging, but of the utmost importance. This is no place for a novice.

Only a little less so is the cobwebbed cellar, on an estate in the famous Médoc in Bordeaux, where a privileged visitor is allowed, on a rare occasion by a well-healed owner, to taste a new vintage of the most famous wines in the world: the so-called ‘clarets’, accorded various esteemed classifications.

Unless you know what to look for, these very young wines from cabernets and merlot bubbling away in brand new oak barrels provided by the tonneliers from the heart of France, don’t give anything away. Only in years’ time will they shine and be sold for astronomical prices.

Bordeaux, in particular, is where the tradition of  en primeur (literally ‘in freshness’) is founded. Basically this means that wine is sold as a ‘pre-release’, before it is made generally available. The French custom was for dealers (négociants-eleveurs) to come around to the well-known châteaux, taste the new wine, and offer a price to the owner. The wine, still to be finished and bottled, and released only years hence, sold thus, provided the grower with an early income. And the clever wine dealer could plan a strategy to sell the final product in years’ time.

Of course, the main focus of that first tasting was for the parties involved to determine the worth of the vintage. If the climate and vineyards delivered a good harvest, the prices accommodated this, as much as it did the volume of wine made that year.

In recent times, the power of the négociants has dimmed in the market place and the most famous of the French producers look after their own interest with more reward.

Nevertheless, the system of  ‘early-buy-at-a-good-price, later-sell-at-a-much-better-price’ is essentially the system of investment. And other than art, wine fits in beautifully. Desire is the essence of this business and especially the famous labels play up to this grandly.

The system of pre-release sales saves the wine producer the costs of looking after the wine, but, of course, it also cuts out potential larger profits later. It also depends on a solid network to get the bottles of wine to the eventual owners.

Kanonkop, perhaps as near as a premier cru South Africa has, was one of the local producers who tried an estate-based pre-release system some years back. For a number of reasons, including the complexity of running the system from the farm, it wasn’t worth continuing.

A number of other producers have, over the years, tried similar schemes. The logistics remain tricky. For the earlier buyer, that challenge of judging a young wine and its maturing potential is not easy and often a leap of faith. Of course, most wines nowadays are not destined for long-term shelving - which also complicates matters. 

In 2002, the annual Nederburg wine auction introduced pre-released wines into the mainly older, matured line-up. There was somewhat of an uproar that this was outside the ‘mandate’ of the long auction history, but the wines - which included two chenin blancs and two cabernet sauvignons - were selected to high criteria and well received.

At last year’s Nederburg auction, the two wines offered on pre-release did well too. (Wines sold this way, may not later be sold for less that the minimum price reached at auction.) The Grangehurst cabernet sauvignon reserve 2003 was sold at an average price of R660 per case of six, while the Spier private collection shiraz 2003 was sold at an average price of R680 per similar case of six. The wines were acquired by reputable buyers.

Red wines from the fine 2003 vintage have steadily been building a reputation. Even a year later, those Nederburg auction prices will be substantially eclipsed in the open market.

That, of course, is the money and ‘investment’ side of the pre-release system. The real reward - if you mastered that challenging of choosing well in youth - is drinking superb, matured wine.