How unlikely sources of Pinot Noir are soaring in price
In an interview with Idealwine co-founder Angélique de Lencquesaing last month, db learnt how some of the most unlikely sources of Pinot Noir in France were the top performers at online auctions held during 2024.
During the discussion, which can be listened to here, db asked Angélique to name some of the biggest price rises of the past year, having just published the Idealwine Barometer for 2024.
And her answer was surprising, as she named some “hidden gems”, which were united by the fact they were made from the great red grape of Burgundy, Pinot Noir, but grown in places that are not normally associated with the variety.
The first example she named was a pure Pinot Noir from the southern French region of Languedoc-Roussillon, where she mentioned the “amazing” performance of a wine selling for more than 10 times the average price of even the great wines from this part of France.
Called 100 Phrases Pour Éventails, the wine is produced at the biodynamic Domaine du Clos des Fées in Roussillon, although it’s made in partnership with Jean-Yves Bizot of the domaine by the same name in Vosne-Romanée, Burgundy.
A 2022 vintage of the wine fetched €579 per bottle last year, when sold online to a private buyer in Hong Kong, according to the Auction Barometer, which records the highlights from the past year’s worth of sales by Idealwine, France’s leading wine actioneer, and a major, international seller of fine drinks online – with offices in Bordeaux, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Commenting on the result, Angélique said, “When you consider that the average price of Roussillon wines at auction is between €40-50, it’s very interesting to follow.”
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Continuing, she recorded that the demand for such a rare and unusual wine is part of a wider trend for great Pinot Noir for all over France, rather than just it’s homeland of the Côte d’Or in Burgundy, where the grape is the basis of the highest price wine in the world, and the source of repeated auction records – Romanée-Conti, from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.
She then listed further examples of high-priced Pinot Noir from places beyond Burgundy’s borders, noting the sustained demand at auction for the grape from producers in the Jura, with Pinot Noir wines from the region selling for an average of €80 per bottle in 2024, compared to €274 for those from Burgundy.
Among the highest risers in recent history, Angélique mentioned Domaine Labet, which she said was picked out by Idealwine as a “hidden gem” a few years ago, and “has now become completely iconic” – primarily for its Pinot Noirs.
Indeed, it was the second best-selling estate in 2024, behind Ganevat, with sales of €141,696 and €153,940 respectively (representing an average bottle price of €118 for Domaine Labet, just ahead of Ganevat’s €117).
Sticking with still Pinot Noirs from outside Burgundy, she mentioned another surprise: a high-priced and sought-after example from Muscadet in the Loire Valley.
Made by Jerome Bretaudeau – who owns the biodynamic Domaine de Bellevue – she said his Pinot Noir, which is called Statera, “now sells for about €140 a bottle, and people all over the world are looking for it.”
Finally, moving to sparkling wines, she noted how it was Pinot-based Champagnes that were becoming increasingly sought-after in Champagne, commenting that “people have been really looking for the wines from the variety”.
To illustrate this finding, she mentioned the price rises at auction for a pair of Pinot-specialist growers in Champagne. One of these is Marie-Noelle Ledru, a producer based in the Grand Cru Pinot village of Ambonnay, and the other – very much a ‘hidden gem’ according to Angélique – is Romain Hénin, who, since 2016, has been making collectible Pinot-dominant Champagnes such as L’Appel de la Foret from a 1.2 hectare plot in Aÿ.
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