【英语生活】亚洲买家对顶级葡萄酒的需求大幅下降

Every spring, top Bordeaux producers sell their latest wines in the en primeur market when the wine is still in the barrel and two years before it's bottled and delivered. The past two years saw strong sales, driven partly by rising interest among Asian buyers. Merchants say Asian buyers make up about 40% of buyers of these sought after wines from a tiny fraction just five years ago.

But demand for the recently released 2011 vintage has weakened sharply.

Berry Bros. & Rudd a major merchant of en primeur with offices in Europe and Asia, expects to sell just 15 million pounds (US$23 million) worth of wines this season. Two years ago, it sold £105 million for the 2009 vintage, and last year, it sold £67 million worth for the 2010 wines. Farr Vintners, which has offices in both London and Hong Kong, said they've sold less than £3 million of en primeur wines to Asian buyers this year, down from the more than £22 million it sold two years ago.

A drop in quality is partly to blame. The 2009 wines were dubbed the vintage of the century by leading critic Robert Parker while the 2010 also had strong reviews. In contrast, the 2011 crop garnered mediocre scores.

But the wine market as a whole is ill--partly a result of turmoil in Europe and a slowdown in China's economy. After a sharp run-up, top bottles are 21% down from their June 2011 highs, according to the Liv-Ex Fine Wine 100, which tracks the most collected wines.

Even the best en primeur wines can't escape the slackening demand. A case of en primeur 2009 Château Lafite-Rothschild--a favorite of Chinese collectors--was priced at £12,500 per case two years ago. Today, Farr Vintners is selling the same case for 20% less. After such discounts, some collectors may feel like the high prices paid for 2009 wines was like pouring money down the drain.

Jason Chow

每年春天，波尔多顶级酒庄都会在期酒市场出售最新酿造的葡萄酒，此时这些葡萄酒还装在酒桶中，距离装瓶和交付还有两年的时间。过去两年期酒市场的销售状况非常强劲，这部分是受到亚洲买家兴趣日渐上升的推动。商家说，亚洲买家在购买这些备受推崇的葡萄酒的客户当中占比达到约40%，五年前这一比例还相当微不足道。

Jean-Pierre Muller/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images位于Saint-Emilion的白马酒庄(Chateau Cheval Blanc)内的桶装波尔多葡萄酒。但亚洲买家对最近上市的2011年份葡萄酒的需求大幅减弱。

在欧洲和亚洲均设有办事处的期酒市场主要商家Berry Bros. & Rudd预计，这一季该公司只能售出价值1,500万英镑（约合2,300万美元）的葡萄酒。而两年前，它卖出的2009年份葡萄酒价值1.05亿英镑。去年它卖出了价值6,700万英镑的2010年份葡萄酒。在伦敦和香港均设有办事处的Farr Vintners说，今年它向亚洲买家售出的期酒价值不到300万英镑，相比两年前的逾2,200万英镑大幅下降。

葡萄酒质量下降是造成这一现象的部分原因。顶级葡萄酒评论家帕克(Robert Parker)将2009年份葡萄酒称作“世纪佳酿”，而2010年份葡萄酒也获得了很多好评。相比之下，2011年份葡萄酒只能算是平庸之作。

但整个葡萄酒市场也存在问题，欧洲的混乱局势以及中国经济放缓是造成这一问题的部分原因。红酒指数Liv-Ex Fine Wine 100显示，在价格猛涨之后，现在顶级瓶装葡萄酒的价格和2011年6月的高点相比下跌了21%。Liv-Ex Fine Wine 100专门追踪最受藏家追捧的葡萄酒的价格。

即使是最好的期酒也无法逃脱需求放缓的命运。颇受中国藏家喜爱的拉菲堡(Chateau Lafite-Rothschild) 2009年期酒两年前的价格为每箱1.25万英镑。如今，同样的酒在Farr Vintners的每箱售价低了20%。面对如此大幅度的贬值，某些藏家可能会感觉当初花高价买下的2009年期酒真是浪费了不少钱。

Jason Chow

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