Recent trading activity
With 25% of trade by value, California was in the spotlight this weekend. Several high-value wines from the region changed hands including Screaming Eagle, Opus One and Dominus.
Having been released in-bottle back in February, Bordeaux’s 2020 vintage was the most traded for the region. Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 2020, Château Lafleur 2020, and Château Trotanoy 2020 were all among the top-traded labels.
Château d’Yquem 2020 pricing analysis
*All d’Yquem scores shown are the most recent Neal Martin (Vinous) scores.
Ahead of Château d’Yquem 2020’s release on the 23rd March, we review its price in the context of other vintages currently available.
Liv-ex members on a Silver package or higher can see real-time prices for Château d’Yquem on our Fair Value tool. The dashboard allows you to view the charts from our blogs in real-time and in multiple currencies: GBP (12×75), EUR (1×75) and USD (1×75).
It is being reported that 80% of production is coming to the market.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW (The Wine Independent) awarded the wine 97+ points. In her tasting note, she said that it is ‘a showy Yquem that is gregarious in youth but is reserving that extra something for those with the patience to wait twenty years or more’.
Neal Martin has yet to score the 2020 vintage. However, as Liv-ex’s member’s most influential Bordeaux En Primeur critic, the chart above shows d’Yquem Market Prices compared to his (Vinous) scores.
If the 2020 were to be released at £3,000 per 12×75 (the same price as the 2019 release), followers of Martin may want to consider the 2014 vintage. With several years in bottle and 97-points from the critic, it is currently available for £2,900 per case.
The equally-scored 2009 and 2017 vintages are also available at £3,600 and £3,156 respectively. Although Martin only awarded it 97 points when reviewing for Vinous, the 2009 was awarded 100-points by both Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW and Neal Martin when they were reviewing for the Wine Advocate.
Fair Value
As the chart below shows, d’Yquem prices are 51% correlated to Wine Advocate scores*. If the 2020 were to be released at £3,000 per 12×75, it would fall above the ‘Fair Value’ line.
For those seeking other options, several vintages fall below the line, including the 2014, 2016 and 2018.
With a Market Price of £2,986, the 100-point 2015 is also below the line. In her tasting note for the Wine Advocate, Lisa Perrotti-Brown noted that ‘the freshness on the palate is just astonishing’ and added that ‘this is a legendary vintage for d’Yquem’.
As always, the market will ultimately decide the success of the 2020 release. But for buyers eyeing up other opportunities, there are many options.
*All d’Yquem scores shown are the most recent Wine Advocate scores, with the exception of the 2019 and 2020 vintages, for which there were none available. For these vintages, Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW’s The Wine Independent scores were used.
There are currently over 635 LIVE d’Yquem opportunities on your exchange.
Liv-ex analysis is drawn from the world’s most comprehensive database of fine wine prices. The data reflects the real time activity of Liv-ex’s 620 merchant members from across the globe. Together they represent the largest pool of liquidity in the world – currently £100m of bids and offers across 16,000 wines.
