To understand Bordeaux, one needs to understand La Place.
And who better to tell its story than Jean-Christophe Mau? Few people can explain how Bordeaux really works from so many angles: château owner, négociant family, operator, insider. Today he is focused on Château Brown in Pessac-Léognan. Before that, he ran Château Preuillac for his family and was part of the Yvon Mau négociant business.
I am genuinely grateful Jean-Christophe Mau agreed to do this. Bordeaux does not like explaining itself, especially to outsiders. I have approached plenty of people over time. The usual answer is: “We don’t speak to journalists.”
But I am not a journalist!—I protest.
Others will talk, but only off the record. Which is precisely why Bordeaux so often remains misunderstood.
More than two decades ago, a young Jean-Christophe told Margaret Rand, in Inheritance: Heirs Apparent, that “too many people in Bordeaux don’t understand what the consumer wants. In the past, there wasn’t the same competition – wine drinkers had no choice but to buy Bordeaux.”
That concern still hangs over Bordeaux. It certainly hung over this conversation. We spoke about release prices, speculation, oversupply, critics, the gap between châteaux and final consumers, and the strain now showing across the en primeur system.
In particular, we covered:
Why Bordeaux’s problem may be bigger than simply “prices are too high” [00:53], and why release prices have drifted away from the secondary market [01:56]
How Bordeaux actually sets en primeur release prices [03:02]
Whether Bordeaux has lost touch with the final consumer [06:18]
Why volume matters, and why Bordeaux cannot behave like Burgundy [08:43]
Whether châteaux have tried to take too much of the margin [13:08]
The strengths and weaknesses of La Place today [19:23]
The pricing practices that distort the market [28:54]
What Jean-Christophe Mau expects from the 2025 campaign [38:19]
Happy listening! If you prefer reading instead, here is the transcript.
Thank you as always for being here!
Sara
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