Lafite 2012 maintains demand

Trading activity for Lafite’s 2012 vintage is still high since its release this summer despite a downgraded score.

When it was released in bottle this summer it was the cheapest physical wine from the first growth estate, having dropped from an en primeur release price of £4,000 per case to just over £3,100.

Anticipation of Robert Parker’s in-bottle scores for the vintage boosted interest significantly but, as Liv-ex noted, this “dropped back after it was revealed that the critic had awarded it just 91 points, a downgrade from its barrel range of 92-95.”

Nonetheless, Liv-ex notes that at the £3,000 level it has proved resoundingly successful, not going up in price at all but “seeing high demand at this level”.

The 2012 is still by far the cheapest Lafite on the market and with the lowest Wine Advocate score.

The latter selling point does not appear to have put buyers off however. Far from it. As Liv-ex co-founder Justin Gibbs told the drinks business back in June it goes to show that Lafite’s brand power is far from finished and that buyers are still prepared to dip into their pockets to get hold of some if the situation (or rather right price) presents itself.

This interest in 2012 Lafite also ties in with more recent Liv-ex reports which show that even if the wider fine wine market and in particular its Bordeaux contingent are inching downwards as the year comes to an end, some brands, Lafite among them, continue to do well in volume terms.