En Primeur

Buying wine en primeur is a principle steeped in history. If a wine was made but in barrel, ageing at the winery, it may be several years before they could sell it. To aid cash flow, these wines were sold in advance of bottling at a concessionary price versus what would have been expected to be charged in the future.

En primeur purchases are purchases ‘in bond’ made months or even years before the wine is to be delivered. You pay for the bonded value of the wine at the point of reservation with a delivery date forecast when the wines are bottled. At the point of delivery to the UK, you can store the wine ‘in bond’, or at this point, you can pay the duty and VAT to have the wine delivered.