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One of the biggest developments in the fine wine market over the last decade is the shift of focus from Bordeaux to now including an ever-growing list of wine-producing regions from around the world.

There was a point, not too long ago, when around 90% of all trades executed within the wine investment market were for wines produced in Bordeaux.  Today that figure lingers somewhere around 38%, proof that the market has undergone some big changes over the years.  The regions that have expanded their market share to take up the remaining percentage is long but could be summarised, in size order, as follows – Burgundy, Italy, Champagne, USA, Rhone and interest in these regions has grown exponentially.


Italy had been something of a sleeping giant but the progress of Italian wine in the market has been explosive, something that we predicted several years ago.  Clients that put faith in our early Italian recommendations have seen impressive levels of growth, many have even traded their initial holdings to take up positions with younger vintages or alternative brands.  Italy is a region that continues to grow and with a wide selection of wines available at varying price points, the opportunity to tap into this sector of the market remains for almost any budget.

There are other external factors that have helped to boost Italian wine’s performance. Italian wines were excluded from the recent USTR tariffs, and unlike Bordeaux and Burgundy, there is no complicated En Primeur system to navigate or unnecessary classification issues to be argued over.  All of these combined in 2020 to propel Italian wines upward and moving into 2021 the trajectory has continued.  In the first quarter of this year wine trade by value was up 125% on 2020 and the number of buyers seeking Italian fine wines had grown by 45%.

 

Performance has been very reliable in recent years and acquiring a parcel of Italian wine or vintage Champagne now could give you good reason to raise a glass and celebrate in years to come.

 

The most-traded Italian sub-region is still Barolo, followed in order of popularity by Tuscany, Brunello di Montalcino, Bolgheri and Barbaresco. However, this is also followed by a further 40 sub-regions that are currently traded on the secondary market, nearly double the number in 2020.

However, The Champagne 50 Index has grown by 12.7% in the past year, outperforming Italy and many traditional mainstream investments products.  Even though Champagne has had an excellent run of late there remains huge scope for growth. Champagne offers some of the most affordable wines on the market, especially when compared to the premium wines of Burgundy or Bordeaux.


The performance of specific Champagne brands and vintages often far exceeds that of the index.  A great example is the 2002 vintage of Salon ‘Le Mesnil-sur-Oger’ which was available five years ago for £2,790 per case.  Today cases are trading for around £6,900 which represents a 147% growth over five years and a £4,110 return.  This figure generates a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 19.85%.


Performance has been very reliable in recent years and acquiring a parcel of Italian wine or vintage Champagne now could give you good reason to raise a glass and celebrate in years to come.

In this episode of The Cult & Boutique Show, Daniel is joined by the CEO of Acker Wines, John Kapon.  Acker Wines has grown to become the most successful fine wine auction house on the scene. Last year saw Acker set another plethora of new world records to become the highest-grossing wine auction house of 2020.

John explains how Acker overcame the challenges posed by the pandemic and walks us through his view of today’s fine wine auction market.

We also hear about market developments he has seen first hand and his thoughts on where the wine market is heading in the coming years.

To learn more about Acker Wines you can visit their website by clicking HERE

Stephanie Barnett of 67 Pall Mall, a private members club for wine lovers, dropped by to chat with Daniel about the club’s inclusive approach to membership and its aim to create a rich mix of members from different generations and walks of life.

Stephanie explains how the club creates tailored events for today’s younger generation of wine lovers, as well as discussing how they quickly shifted to a virtual offering during the pandemic and news of what’s on the horizon for 67 Pall Mall.

Check out 67 Pall Mall’s Website , Instagram & LinkedIn

The current economic climate has led most to focus attention on personal finances and the performance of investment portfolios.  The majority of both high net worth and retail investors’ investment pots consist of a mixture of equities, bonds and SIPPs but with recent performance being either unsatisfactory or underwhelming many have decided to look for growth outside of the norm and increase their exposure to tangible assets.

Tangible assets have an intrinsic monetary value and exist in the physical form.  Fine wine is one such asset and provides a great example of why many are turning to tangibles in the current financial climate.  Contemporary investors see their wine portfolio as a form of value diversification to be used as a hedge against underperformance in their traditional investments, as well as wider economic uncertainty.

 

Top investment advisers recommend that investors diversify part of their portfolio with resilient alternative assets such as fine wine.

The Telegraph, December 2020

 

Often described as an Alternative Investment, wine has performed very well in recent years due to its low positive correlation to equities and bonds.  A carefully selected portfolio of fine wine could actually help to reduce your exposure to overall market risk and offer some protection against volatility.

Wine can also offer some protection against inflation.  To give a historical example, the value of the dollar declined by 95% over 100 years since the creation of the Federal Reserve.  Over the same period, the inflation-adjusted value of gold (another tangible asset) increased by more than 2,500%.  However, as an additional boost wine differs from most commodities as each individual vintage can be collectable in its own right and has a finite, reducing supply.  Wine is after all a consumable and this can help to increase demand and values as remaining stocks begin to dwindle.

 

Amidst 2020’s turbulence, the fine wine market showed its strength – steadfast returns and low volatility.

Liv-ex, January 2021

 

Although not essential, if you also happen to be a wine lover you will benefit from the enjoyment of building a portfolio of world-beating wines, and also provide yourself with the opportunity to consume wines that might otherwise be out of reach to you.  One tried and tested strategy is to purchase multiple cases of investment-grade wine and wait for the value to increase, effectively allowing you to consume one case either for free or at a greatly reduced price.

Of course, due to the current climate, we appreciate that fresh investment capital may not be readily available, but if you already have a portfolio of wine we could help to identify selling opportunities within your portfolio and reassign the capital to wines that offer the potential for an improved growth profile.

We would be happy to take a look at your portfolio and highlight any immediate opportunities that could elevate your growth rate without the need for fresh capital.  If you would like to explore your options or discuss them in further detail, please get in touch.

 

By Spencer Leat

Last year we had an interesting chat with local businessman and Founder of London based taxi app Arrive.

Aiming to offer the user more transparency and choice, Hans explains the principles behind Arrive and discusses his inspirations, passions and thoughts on entrepreneurship.

Director of the London Wine Fair Hannah Tovey joined us in December 2020 to speak about the challenges they have faced over the last year and gives a sneak peek at what’s in store for the fair’s 40th anniversary show.

Update: Since recording this episode London Wine Fair have announced that due to the ongoing lockdown restrictions, this year’s show will be fully digital. This is such a shame as we know how hard Hannah and the team have worked to try and provide a fully functional event, but this is the right decision given the circumstances. We hope the show goes well for all involved.

For more information, you can visit the London Wine Fair website HERE

The wine market entered 2020 full of gusto and positivity but as the bizarre events of the year began to unfurl, the market’s direction for the coming year initially looked uncertain. One thing we knew for sure is that wine had a history of performing well in times of financial stress, and this year soon became a new proving ground for this belief.

The Hong Kong disruption, US wine import tariffs, Brexit and then the Covid-19 pandemic presented unique challenges, and the global wine trade reacted by improvising and overcoming a deluge of obstacles to keep the market on track. The biggest wine trade fairs were cancelled and the Bordeaux En Primeur campaign became a mail-order type affair to keep the wheels moving. Bordeaux producers worked wonders to ensure that critics and buyers were supplied with premium condition barrel samples to allow for pre-release tastings. This, combined with some very attractive pricing resulted in the campaign being heralded as a success.

But behind all of this, prices held firm. The financial performance of many leading wines remained remarkably stable at first and then continued to rise. This is particularly true of Champagne, Italy, California and Rhone, who all saw either growth in value and market share. This was good news for our clients as these regions have been an area of particular focus for us over the last couple of years something highlighted in our first podcast episode in January 2020.

Market Performance

All of the major Liv-ex indices showed positive growth in 2020 with the Liv-ex Fine Wine 50 growing by 3.26% and the benchmark Liv-ex 100 gaining 4.65%. November saw the latter reach its highest level in two years, with trade by value reaching a ten year high.

As traditional investments and equities either struggled or became extremely volatile, wine stood firm and offered stability amid the growing financial storms. The wine market had once again shown unmatched stability, as demonstrated in the chart below. By the end of November, only the Liv-ex 100 and the S&P 500 were in positive territory. The FTSE and the Hang Seng were both negative and the DAX ran flat.

A weakening of Sterling against other currencies helped to highlight UK based wine holdings as an attractive purchase but there were also other forces at play. Wine is simply more appealing to people as an alternative asset and as central banks pumped liquidity into the global economy, investors and collectors were drawn to low-volatile, hard-assets such as fine wine.

There’s plenty of evidence to show why. 2020’s biggest price performer was Bordeaux’s Chateau L’Eglise-Clinet 2010 which grew by 37% to the end of November. This was closely followed by Sassicaia 2013 and Bollinger 2008 which saw 30.7% and 27.4% respectively. You could argue that similar performance could have been found elsewhere but probably not with the added protection that low volatility and stability can provide.

A Broadening Market

The wine market’s regional diversification is something that we have been at the forefront of for over a decade and this year we saw this broadening really take hold, with great results.

The US fine wine market is huge and American buyers have helped to drive the performance of regions outside of Bordeaux and Burgundy by side-stepping Trump’s 25% wine import tariffs.

This resulted in Champagne outperforming all other fine wine regions for the first year ever. The Champagne 50 index grew by 8.27%, bolstered by critically acclaimed releases from the 2008 and 2012 vintages. Italy, another US tariff-dodging region, gained 6.72% with collectors increasingly turning to premium Piedmont, such as Giacosa Conterno, Vietti and Gaja, names by now very familiar to our clients.

The Rhone 100 was the third best-performing regions, gaining 3.64% and although the Rhone was still subject to US tariffs geographically, many of the region’s wines were deemed exempt by having an alcohol content above 14% abv. Rhone wines have a strong following in the US, thanks to critics such as Jeb Dunnuck and Robert Parker which resulted in US-based buyers accounting for over half of region’s trade share by value.

US wines, predominantly from California, had a great year increasing their trade share from 2.3% last year to 7% at the time of writing. The Napa Valley, in particular, has provided some of the best performing wines with Harlan Estate 2016 creeping into the top ten wines traded by value this year. The USA is still very much a growing region outside of the US but we have experience and contacts, having worked with the region’s top wines for many years. The future for these wines is very exciting and we’re well-positioned to guide you through the best products as the market for them develops.

Where from here?

If you were looking for some positive news to end the year, look no further than the wine market. With a ‘no-deal’ scenario with the EU seeming the most likely outcome for 1st January, any further weakening of Sterling could have huge benefits for your wine portfolio moving into 2021. Next year seems very uncertain at this stage with so much hanging in the balance but the wine market has a very positive outlook and we remain committed to seeking out the best wines to maximise market conditions and deliver growth over the coming years.

Zoran Ristanovic joins us on The Cult and Boutique Show.

We caught up with Zoran Ristanovic, Managing Director and Wine Buyer for Richmond-based City Wine Collection, who dropped by to tell us about growing up in Bosnia, viticulture & winemaking. Zoran also shared his opinions on Bordeaux En Primeur, spotting future wine superstars and the importance of provenance.