En-Primeur is essentially pre-ordering wines before they arrive to the UK, typically once the wines have been bottled or just before depending on the producer.
We’ll visit our winemakers, taste the wines & decide which to bring to our wonderful customers. We’ll then offer the wines at the best pricing available excluding the duty and VAT. The wines will then typically ship within the same year, at which point the duty and VAT become due.
How does it work?
- We offer the wines en-primeur, for a limited period, with the different offers typically releasing between the months of January – March.
- The wines will either be available to freely buy on the website, or may say ‘Request an Allocation’. In the case of them being able to buy on the website, once you’ve checked out, the wines are then confirmed as yours. In the case of requesting an allocation, we’ll be in contact to discuss further.
- Sometimes you may find the most exclusive producers have no wines listed on the website, in this instance please e-mail us or fill out the form on the relevant producer page. This will mean all the producers wines are entirely on allocation. These wines will often be offered for much less than secondary market values you see as we’ll be working directly with them, so please don’t be shy & pop us a message.
- Later on in the year, your wines will then ship to our warehouse, typically between March – November. Please check the wines webpage or contact us to confirm regarding your specific wines.
- Once the wines arrive with us we’ll then contact you to arrange delivery to your chosen address and a final invoice will be provided. This will include the duty, VAT and delivery cost (if due).
- Occasionally we may offer wines in Bond, these will be stored in a specialist facility where the duty & VAT are not due until you choose to release the wines for delivery. In this instance storage charges will be due, please speak to your account manager to discuss.
- Your wines then get delivered ready to be drank or stowed away for future enjoyment!
FAQ
- Why would I buy en-primeur if I don’t get my wines delivered straight away?
- En-Primeur gives you the opportunity to become a true wine collector and do two very important things:
- Secure wines at the best possible price.
- Even more importantly, secure your allocation of rare wines before anybody else. In some cases we may have only 6 of a wine to cover the entire UK market, if you want to be in that very exclusive club, buying en-primeur is one of the only ways to do it.
- En-Primeur gives you the opportunity to become a true wine collector and do two very important things:
- Why does the price exclude the duty & VAT?
- The duty is determined upon the wine’s entry to the UK, based on the alcohol %. Often if the wines are still in barrel, we may not know the final alcohol % and depending on shipping dates, the duty price from the government may change. Therefore we can only provide the final duty rate once the wine has entered the UK. As of February 2025, this ranges between £2.43 – £3.32/bottle.
- VAT is determined at the point of the delivery being organised, this has been set at 20% since 2011 so is very stable.
- We are more than happy to provide a best estimate based on the best information we have ahead of your order, just pop us a message.
- Can I buy single bottles en-primeur?
- Often our en-primeur offer will be for full 6 bottles cases only, this is purely due to logistics and offering the best pricing we can. Some rarer wines, or Premier Cru and Grand Cru may be available as single bottles, or 3 bottle cases. The case size will be clear on our website or brochures.
Let’s Chat…
Want to know more or have a problem?
