Recent trading activity
Bordeaux accounted for 50.2% of total trade in the first few days of the week. The 2018 vintage was in focus, with buyers after Le Pin, Château Gruaud Larose and Château Talbot.
Meanwhile, other Bordeaux highlights included Château Haut-Brion 2015 and Château Ausone 2017.
With the 2019 released yesterday, there was also activity around Masseto 2018. In other regions, Champagne trade (14.8% of the total) was led by Ulysse Collin’s Le Jardin d’Ulysse Extra Brut.
Finding Fair Value for ‘the king’ of Latour
Another tranche of Château Latour 2010 is being released on 13th September. It is the ‘perfect’ Latour with 100-point scores from Robert Parker and Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW (Wine Advocate), Neal Martin (Vinous) and James Suckling. It is, said Martin, ‘the king’.
It is also one of the most expensive wines of any First Growth over the last 20 vintages, with a Market Price of £12,500 per case (12×75). It is currently the most expensive vintage of Latour from the vintages 2005 to 2014.
Analysing the Fair Value of such a wine is difficult. For the re-release to represent relative value it would have to be released at around the current Market Price of the 2009 vintage – £10,250.
The estate has not yet released any stock that undercuts the price on the secondary market. Therefore, the likelihood it would do so for such a storied vintage is even more unlikely.
On the other hand, for stockholders, this is good news. The 2010 was released at £11,000 per dozen and has taken over a decade to make a modest return.
In addition, there also comes a point where collectors are often prepared to spend a premium on a vintage with the status of the 2010; especially with perfect provenance as well.
Best-performing Latour back vintages
Then again, as the chart above shows, other top-rated Latour vintages such as the 2009 and 2005 currently offer relative value in comparison to the 2010.
Furthermore, as the chart below shows, the 2005 has been the better-performing wine over the last two years. And as has been pointed out before, back vintages such as the 2008, 2014 and 2012 command prices far below the 2009 and 2010.
In other words, buyers looking for value have plenty to choose from when it comes to Latour.
Opportunities to buy First Growths
There are always multiple LIVE bids and offers on blue-chip Bordeaux to be found on the 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 600 merchant members from across the globe. Together they represent the largest pool of liquidity in the world – currently £80m of bids and offers across 16,000 wines. Independent data, direct from the market.
