With buyers looking for value beyond 2009, this month has seen increased trade of Bordeaux 1986 and 1996. Both vintages offer a number of high-scoring wines at relatively low prices. But how do the vintages compare with more recent years?
The table below shows the score, price and POP – price over points ratio (see explanation below) – of some of the best value First Growths from 1986, 1996, 2000, 2003 and 2005. Of the vintages in our study, 2003 and 1996 are the cheapest on a pounds-per-point basis, whilst 2000 is by far the most expensive. Haut Brion 2003 boasts the lowest POP score overall (making it arguably the best value buy) at £2,350 (RP 95).
Those looking to pick up a perfect wine may want to give Mouton 1986 a look. The vintage is the cheapest 100-pointer at £8,000 per case and is fast approaching its drinking window.
All prices are in GBP and are for 12x75cl cases stored in bond. All scores from erobertparker.com.
POP
A wine’s POP score is its price-over-points ratio, our loose measure of value. It is calculated by dividing the price of a nine-litre case of wine by a shortened 20-point Parker score. We calculate this 20-point score by simply subtracting 80 from the official Parker rating, on the basis that any wine under 80 points is unlikely to attract a secondary market. It also gives more weight to each point than if we used Parker’s official 50-point scale (he gives all wines a base score of 50). In theory, the lower the POP score the better value a wine is.
