Five Bordeaux fine wine brands to watch
We pick out five Bordeaux brands that have shown impressive prices increases on the secondary market in the past 12 months – including one surprise newcomer to fine wine trading.
After a five-year malaise, claret is back, and in a big way through the London merchants, particularly since the Brexit vote and subsequent devaluation of the Sterling, which has prompted Dollar buyers from the US and Asia to snap up big hitting Bordeaux labels in Britain for a 20% saving, especially the region’s five first growths.
But even before the result from the referendum was announced on 24 June, longstanding left and right bank Bordeaux properties were enjoying an upturn in demand on the secondary market, particularly for pre-2005 vintages, which are not only starting to come into their drinking windows, but also beginning to look good value relative to Burgundy’s top growers.
As a result, commenting in the December edition of the drinks business, Simon Staples, sales director for Asia at Berry Bros & Rudd, stated, “Bordeaux has come back with a vengeance.”
But which brands have shown the greatest pick-up in demand, and consequently price appreciation on the secondary market.
Following the compilation of the Liv-ex Power 100, which ranks the world’s dominant fine wine labels using a range of measures – such as the value and volume traded, as well as price movement over the past 12 months – we have picked out five Bordeaux brands to watch.
However, for the full results on the performance of the fine wine world’s 100 most powerful brands, see the December issue of db.
5. Château Clerc Milon
Château Clerc Milon, with its distinctive label featuring two dancing clowns, has enjoyed a notable surge in price on the secondary market in the past 12 months.
Rising by 31%, this fifth growth Pauillac property is one of the best performers on the Liv-ex market place in 2016 – a trend that can be attributed to increased demand from collectors who are turning their attentions back to Bordeaux, realising that older vintages of established estates such as Clerc Milon are actually relatively inexpensive.
But this property has been benefitting from a further development, which is the positive impact of the first growth Mouton-Rothschild brand: Clerc Milon was bought by Baron Philippe de Rothschild in 1970, and has enjoyed gradual improvement in wine quality since then, while more recently, in 2007, the estate benefitted from new winemaking facilities.
Commenting on the rising demand for Clerc Milon, Justin Gibbs, director at Liv-ex comments, “The Mouton stable of wines are becoming stronger, which you can see with the rise of Petit Mouton – among the second wines [of the first growths] it is a clear winner – and d’Armailhac [which is owned by Mouton and immediately next door] is one of this year’s best price performers, and so too is Clerc Milon, which is also part of the Mouton stable and a big climber this year.”
Château Clerc Milon
• Position in the Liv-ex Power 100: 43 (up 17 places on 2015)
• Proportion of trade on Liv-ex by value: 0.21%
• Proportion of trade on Liv-ex by volume: 0.71%
* Price rise: 31.3%
• Average trade price per case in 2016: £427
• Number of vintages traded: 16
(All figures noted above are sourced from Liv-ex and cover the 12-month period from 1 September 2015 to 31 August 2016)
4. Château Gruaud Larose
Supporting the aforementioned theme of a rising demand for relatively inexpensive left bank cru classé properties, second growth St-Julien stalwart Gruaud Larose is one of 2016’s best performers.
Increasing by 21% in price on the Liv-ex marketplace in the past 12 months, it is benefitting from, as Justin Gibbs at Liv-ex says, the fact that “Bordeaux is the most understood and the most reliable [fine wine], and that makes it the safest thing to buy.”
Furthermore, he says, “Collectors looking to restock their cellars tend to go for the likes of Lynch-Bages, Talbot, Giscours and Gruaud Larose because these slightly boring, old fashioned names have a strong heritage and they are affordable.”
Focusing on Gruard Larose specifically, which is up 45 places in the Liv-ex Power 100 compared to last year’s report, he says. “It has increased by 21% on price, and I get the feeling it is one of those international brands, like Talbot and Lynch-Bages, that is understood by the UK, Europe, the US and, increasingly, by Asia too.”
Château Gruaud Larose
• Position in the Liv-ex Power 100: 28 (up 45 places on 2015)
• Proportion of trade on Liv-ex by value: 0.25%
• Proportion of trade on Liv-ex by volume: 0.67%
* Price rise: 21.2%
• Average trade price per case in 2016: £518
• Number of vintages traded: 27
(All figures noted above are sourced from Liv-ex and cover the 12-month period from 1 September 2015 to 31 August 2016)
3. Château Giscours
In keeping with a comeback in demand for ready-to-drink affordable left bank cru classé claret, Château Giscours is one of 2016’s biggest climbers.
Rising 40 places to arrive onto the Liv-ex Power 100 at number 72, Justin Gibb at Liv-ex describes the third growth Margaux property as “a brand to watch”, having enjoyed a price rise in the past 12 months of almost 20%.
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Why the increase for this property in particular? Gibbs thinks it must be the 2015 release, which The Wine Advocate’s Neil Martin was effusive about, writing: “Now is the time to fall back in love with this great Margaux property.”
It has been making good wines previously, but Giscours’ quality has been widely publicised, encouraging buyers to look at older vintages.
Château Giscours
• Position in the Liv-ex Power 100: 72 (up 40 places on 2015)
• Proportion of trade on Liv-ex by value: 0.15%
• Proportion of trade on Liv-ex by volume: 0.58%
* Price rise: 19.7%
• Average trade price per case in 2016: £378
• Number of vintages traded: 14
(All figures noted above are sourced from Liv-ex and cover the 12-month period from 1 September 2015 to 31 August 2016)
2. Château Figeac
Moving away from the Medoc, but remaining within the sphere of relatively affordable fine wine from Bordeaux, St.Emilion’s Château Figeac certainly seems to be one to watch.
Up by just over 20% in price this year on the Liv-ex marketplace, the Right Bank Bordeaux brand has moved up 10 places to number 62 on the Liv-ex Power 100 list.
Liv-ex director Justin Gibbs says that it is a fine wine “on the move,” adding, “something is happening”.
Noting too that Michel Rolland has recently been appointed as a consultant to the property, he says Figeac is widely believed to be “the next in line for a Saint-Emilion upgrade”, following the jump to A-status for Pavie and Angélus (which had a dramatic effect on the demand and prices for these two properties).
He also says the wines from Figeac are “bizarrely hard to find for quite a big estate”, while noting that its following has been built without Parker’s critical support – “the owner refused to have Parker near the château”.
Finally, he says the wines are good and getting better. “The ’09, ’10, ’12, and ’14 were good, and 2015 is said to be an epic wine, probably the greatest Figeac has ever produced.”
Château Figeac
• Position in the Liv-ex Power 100: 62 (up 10 places on 2015)
• Proportion of trade on Liv-ex by value: 0.12%
• Proportion of trade on Liv-ex by volume: 0.23%
* Price rise: 20.5%
• Average trade price per case in 2016: £767
• Number of vintages traded: 15
(All figures noted above are sourced from Liv-ex and cover the 12-month period from 1 September 2015 to 31 August 2016)
1. Château Péby Faugères
The number one in this list is also the best in terms of price performance on the Liv-ex marketplace among all the labels featured in the Power 100 2016.
In keeping with the overall theme of this year’s results, it’s from Bordeaux, but it isn’t a big left bank property, but a little-known wine from a two-hectare parcel of primarily Merlot in Saint-Emilion that is owned by Château Péby Faugères.
Justin Gibbs explains the rise of this tiny property. “It’s a Parker thing: the 2009 had 99 points, the 2010 got 98+, the 2012 97… and it’s not big production, so it’s top because it rose 33.6% in price over the past 12 months, but it only traded five vintages, and the volumes are light.
“It’s not a very powerful brand yet, it’s a sort of garage wine, we are back to the Valandraud scenario”, he adds.
By this, he is referring to the wine widely credited as kick-starting the garage wine movement in the 1990s.
And if Péby Faugères is to become as collectible as Valandraud, which has an average price on the Liv-ex marketplace of around £1,600, almost three times the price of Péby Faugères, then this niche right bank estate could be one to start amassing now.
Château Péby Faugères
• Position in the Liv-ex Power 100: 75 (new entry)
• Proportion of trade on Liv-ex by value: 0.15%
• Proportion of trade on Liv-ex by volume: 0.15%
* Price rise: 33.6%
• Average trade price per case in 2016: £665
• Number of vintages traded: 5
(All figures noted above are sourced from Liv-ex and cover the 12-month period from 1 September 2015 to 31 August 2016)
