SPORTSMAN’S proudly offers a number of wine futures buying opportunities every year. Bordeaux, Chateau Montelena & Silver Oak are a few of the more recognizable names. We also take positions in Italian, German & other French wines when the right vintage or opportunity presents itself. The best way to stay informed of buying opportunities is to visit the store and speak with one of our wine consultants. We will also make futures opportunities known via our monthly E-newsletter. If you would like to sign up for it, click here.

The esteemed wine author, James Laube, of The Wine Spectator recently wrote this article on Bordeaux Futures. Much of it applies to the nature of all futures purchases.

Buying futures is a lot like buying commodities, with cash laid down now for later delivery of something that doesn't yet exist as a finished product. Unlike pork bellies, however, wine futures buyers must wait for their purchase, typically up to two years if the futures are bought soon after they are first offered.

The motivation for getting in on futures action is twofold. First, buyers get an early opportunity to lay claim to a potentially rare wine. Second, those same highly desirable wines can often be obtained at a bargain price -- assuming the vintage is exciting enough to cause a price hike later. Buyers can then pass the waiting period watching their futures increase in value.

Futures -- called en primeur in France -- reach the world through a series of phases. It all begins with the châteaus, mainly the first-growth producers and a handful of other highly regarded estates, who effectively set the market price for a given year. After courtiers, or brokers, take a small percentage, the right to sell the futures is passed on to the négociants, or shippers. With very few exceptions, no one deals directly with the châteaus; they deal with the négociants.

Once past this phase, as far as the U.S. market is concerned, the importers take over. Some importers offer futures for sale directly to individual consumers. Others sell their futures allocations to wholesalers, retailers and restaurants.

Merchants are the final part of the process. Most consumers purchase futures through them. This arrangement doesn't mean that merchants never see the inside of a château; on the contrary, the reputable ones travel to Bordeaux for every campaign. Their goal is to obtain firsthand knowledge of the new wines.

Even though wines from the preceding year's harvest are typically barrel-tasted in late March, the top growths may not release their prices for the trade until May. There is no fixed schedule; some smaller estates that offer futures come out with their trade prices before the first-growths. A consumer can expect to pay a 200 percent to 250 percent markup once the title to the wine has made its journey from château to merchant.

If you plan to buy futures, you should work only with reputable merchants who have a history of delivering the wines their customers order. Shop around for the best prices, but don't to be tempted by a price that's too low. If an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

– James Laube / The Wine Spectator