Top prestige cuvées on a roll
Champagne houses and growers may have seen lower overall orders in 2020, but analysts remain enthusiastic about the performance of prestige cuvées on the investment market. Liv-ex said Taittinger’s newly released Comtes de Champagne 2008 sparked a ‘flurry of trade’ on its global fine wine marketplace. It is one of the last top names to be released from Champagne’s class of 2008, said by many critics to rival the outstanding 2002 vintage.
Although ‘Comtes’ 2008 was released at a higher price than either the 2007 or 2006 wines, analyst group Wine Lister said the 2008 ‘retains its value proposition against the wider backdrop of the vintage’.
It remains uncertain how a fall in overall Champagne shipments in 2020, due to the impact of Covid-19, might affect top-end prices and the secondary market. However, Liv-ex said that its Champagne 50 index was up by 5% year-to-date, outperforming other regional indices.
It noted that bid and offer prices for Champagne were ‘perfectly matched’ on its platform and that the region has ‘built quietly’ to account for 8.7% of trades by value in 2020 so far.
Liv-ex figures suggest some prestige cuvées have seen price momentum stall this year, such as Bollinger, La Grande Année and Salon, Cuvée S Le Mesnil from the vaunted 2002 vintage. Yet, a longer-term view shows that both were up by 42.5% and more than 100% respectively in five years to 30 September.
‘The Champagne market deserves more
Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 2008
limelight,’ said Wine Owners head of professional portfolio management Miles Davis, in an October market report. He noted the sector’s solid annualised growth rate.
Looking ahead, some Champagne houses have already moved on to 2012, another highly regarded vintage for collectors to watch.
The 2007 incarnation of this SuperTuscan has risen by almost 26% in the last year, underlining strong buyer interest in Italy in general.
This wine was down by about 12% over 12 months, reflecting a sluggish market for young Bordeaux more generally.