En Primeur News : Thursday, 3rd May 2012

The good news this morning is the release of Beychevelle at a sensible price. With its iconic label of a sailing boat, this famous Saint Julien is very popular in Asia where it is known as "Dragon Boat Wine". You'll struggle to find any physically available vintage from this property at under £600 per case so the 2011 at £495 looks like a fair deal. As we've said all along, the primary job of en primeurs this year is to be cheaper than physical vintages, so this is the first Chateau to tick that box since Lafite came out.

Also available is Hubert de Bouard's La Fleur de Bouard at £190 and his special cuvée "le Plus" is at £625.