Pomerol can offer relative value – if you know where to look for it
This in-demand fine wine from Bordeaux often has punchy market prices, but savvy buyers keen to snap up ‘bargains’ can find them, Liv-ex says.
Pomerol has been a long-term staple of the fine wine market, and features among many wine collectors cellars. As demand has driven prices to new highs, the question of value – and where to find it – has never been more pertinent. Here we review some of the highest scoring wines from the French region, and investigate which estates might offer relative value for money.
RECENT CRITIC SCORES
Pomerol has been in the spotlight recently after several wines received 100 points in critic reports. Of the 461 Pomerol wines we analysed, 34 have received 100 points from at least one critic. Château Lafleur received the most praise, with nine of its wines receiving a perfect score. It was followed by Petrus and Le Pin. With 100 points from four critics, Petrus 2018 and Vieux Château Certan 2016 are the most admired. However, with market prices of £44,336 and £3,500 respectively, there is a significant price gap between the two wines. For consumers looking for critical perfection at even lower price points, several vintages of L’Église-Clinet, L’Evangile, Trotanoy, and Vieux Château Certain received 100 points, and are available for less than £3,500 a case.
PRICE PERFORMANCE
In terms of price performance, Le Pin has been the best-performing Pomerol wine (of those included in the Liv-ex indices) over the past year. On average its price has risen by 15.5%. It was followed by La Conseillante and Petrus, which were up 9.2% and 9.0% respectively. Some of the top-performing wines from these estates included Le Pin 2011 (up by 32.2%) and 2010 (17.3%), Petrus 2016 (22.5%) and 2015 (16.9%), along with La Conseillante 2014 (24%) and 2016 (16.7%). Meanwhile, L’Église Clinet finished the year in negative territory, down by 3.2%. Its 2014 and 2018 vintages were among the biggest fallers, dropping by 6.9% and 6.4% respectively. Unsurprisingly perhaps, as the table shows, the estate has one of the lowest price-over-points scores among the leading Pomerols.
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The indices show the mid-price movements of the past 10 physical vintages of the Pomerol wines found in the Liv-ex Bordeaux 500 index. The mid price is the mid-point between the highest live bid and lowest live offer on the market, validated against additional data, including transaction prices. Mid prices are used to calculate the Liv-ex indices, and value the world’s leading fine wine funds. Prices given are for 12x75cl trades, or 6x75cl, converted to a 12x75cl price.
Using Liv-ex’s Fair Value methodology, Pomerol wines are 84% correlated to Neal Martin scores (Vinous and Wine Advocate). Several vintages fall below the Fair Value line, indicating that these wines might offer relative value, and therefore good returns on investment. The standout, with an average market price of £2,364, is the 2014 vintage, which lies the furthest below the Fair Value line.
There are still many wines offering relative value in the fine wine region of Pomerol. When considering the scores, Gazin, Clinet, and La Conseillante are the standout winners. The latter has also seen the second-best returns (on average) over the past year. For those looking for more specific vintages offering value, 2014 is worth investigating, although the recent 2020, 2019 and 2018 vintages also look attractive. Furthermore, several 100-point wines from the region are available at significant discounts compared with their 100-point peers.
About Liv-Exis the global marketplace for the wine trade. Along with a comprehensive database of real-time transaction prices, Liv-ex offers the wine trade smarter ways to do business. It offers access to £81m worth of wine and the ability to trade with 500 other wine businesses worldwide. It also organises payment and delivery through its storage, transportation and support services. Wine businesses can find out how to price, buy and sell wine smarter at: www.liv-ex.com
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