Crystal Wines

BASICS OF EN PRIMEUR

What is En Primeur?
En Primeur is a French wine trade term for wine which is sold as a 'future' i.e. buying of wines at its initial offering price when they are still in barrels, before it is ready to be bottled and delivered.

How does it work?
After the harvesting around September-October and carrying out the usual fermentation, Châteaus will invite members of the international wine trade to taste and assess these wines around March in the year following the harvest. Châteaus will release a strict allocation of their total production at a pegged price to négociants (wine brokers), who then releases these wine to wine merchants around the world.

The wine merchants will then offer the wines to its customers with the promise that wines will be delivered at a later date but at a fixed price now. Customers will also need to pay other charges including shipping cost, freight insurance and duty charge.

Why buy En Primeur?
It guarantees supply of wine at the opening price. Usually, wines that are re-released after bottling will invariably be more expensive.

Moreover, by securing allocations of the top classified growths which may not be commercially available after En Primeur release or become hard to find or too expensive in future, will may En Primeur advantageous.

It is possible to profit greatly on En Primeur. Anyone who purchased top wines from 1982, 1990, 1996, 2000 and 2003 vintages can easily testify on this. During great vintages like 2000, 2003 & 2005, the value of many wines increased by more than 50% in two years from En Primeur to release.

However, in vintage 1997, with a very weak world economy and high prices for the quality of the wines (overpriced), there were little to no movements in the value of the prices, in fact, several wines lost in value as négociants reduced price to convert stock to cash.

In addition, to own a wine from the start of its life, is an assurance to the buyer, of the wines' provenance which is priceless.

Who buys En Primeur?
Traditionally, Châteaus appoints exclusive brokers called négociants who allocated the wines to the importers and wholesalers, who in sold the wines to retailers and restaurants, then finally reach the hands of the consumers. However, in today times, many wine aficionados have been participating in En Primeur directly.

When will the wines arrive?
They will arrive usually in Spring or Summer, 2-3 years after the offer is released. Wines will be delivered when additional shipping cost, freight insurance and duty charges are paid. The current estimated cost is about Singapore Dollars $20.00 per bottle.

TERMS & CONDITIONS

Prices
All En Primeur prices are quoted in Singapore Dollars exclusive of any Goods and Services Tax (GST). Prices are offered lying ex-cellar in Bordeaux.

Prices do not include shipping, freight insurance or government duties.

All prices quoted are subjected to indicated validity periods and are subjected to change without prior notice.

Minimum Purchases
The minimum purchase is 3 bottles (of the same label) of any 750ml bottle or 6 bottles (of the same label of any 375ml bottle).

The total minimum purchase for your entire order must be at least 12 bottles for 750ml bottles or 24 bottles for 375ml bottles.

Free Storage
Crystal Wines will provide free storage in Bordeaux for 3 years, upon request and under the following conditions:
a) Minimum order of S$10,000.00
b) Storage by full cases only, ie. 12 bottles (of the same label) of 750ml or 24 bottles (of the same label) of 375ml
c) No partial withdrawal of wines is allowed.
d) All wines must be withdrawn from our Bordeaux cellars by 30th June 2015, otherwise storage rent will be charged on each case at the prevailing rate at that time.

Order Confirmation
All En Primeur offers are subjected to remaining unsold and subjected to our written order confirmation.

Shipping
The wines will be shipped up to 2-3 years later when the bottled wines are released. Shipping, freight insurance and related tax and duty charges will be invoiced to you at that time.

The indicative additional cost is estimated at $20.00 per bottle.

Goods and Services Tax at the prevailing rates will also be levied on the imported value of the wines brought into Singapore.

Payment
Payment shall be 100% of the total amount payable within 7 days of our confirmation of your order. If the order is not paid after 7 days, we will deem that you are not interested in the offer and the order will be cancelled.

All payment made are not refundable and Crystal Wines Pte Ltd reserves the right to cancel unpaid orders at any time after due payment date.