The 400-year-old system of wine buying in France is about to get a new twist. Decanter reports that British supermarket Tesco may introduce Bordeaux en primeur next year. The process of buying wines two years before they are released in the bottle has traditionally been done through wine merchants. Now, the Tesco Wine Club is considering offering wine futures next year. It's part of an overall push by Tesco to step up their wine range. Don Jago, the beer, wines and spirits director at the supermarket told Decanter that the club, which has a mailing list of 570,000 opt-in customers is the largest wine club in the world.

Jago also indicated in the article that the challenge for Tesco may be in explaining to some customers why they would wish to buy wine two years before they can get their hands on it. A recent article in the Financial Times gives an excellent survey of the en primeur system. The system has, in the past, allowed some people to make a good return on their investment depending on the success of the vintage and the market value when the bottles are released. While buying en primeur usually offers the lowest entry level for a particular wine it may make more sense to invest in older wines that have already proved their worth. At least buying through Tesco would be a way to avoid some of the riskier en primeur schemes that have burned buyers in the past.