Spotlight on Tuscany

With top SuperTuscan and Brunello di Montalcino wines recently having hit the market, Decanter reports on the secondary market performance of these Italian vinous gems...

Newly released Sassicaia 2021 (99 points, Decanter) was the most traded wine by value on Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, in the week ending 29 February. In March, Liv-ex quoted Sassicaia 2021’s market price at £3,300 (12x75cl in bond).

Data from Liv-ex suggests some top Italian wines have suffered less than other names on the fine wine secondary market in the past year.

Liv-ex’s Italy 100 index fell 6% in 12 months to 29 February. Its parent index, the Liv-ex 1000, dropped 15%.

SuperTuscans have had a quieter year, said UK merchant Bordeaux Index, but its data showed average prices on four key names – Sassicaia, Tignanello, Solaia and Ornellaia – remained higher than in early 2020 (see chart, below).

That has narrowed the price gap to top Bordeaux, said Matthew O’Connell, CEO of Bordeaux Index’s LiveTrade platform. He added Tuscany may be better-placed than Bordeaux in 2024. ‘Trading in Bordeaux is still pretty subdued and I think that’s less the case for SuperTuscans.’

BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO: ONE TO WATCH?

According to several merchants, recent Brunello di Montalcino 2019 releases have enthused buyers, but this famous Tuscan enclave still has a minor secondary market presence. Charles Antin, auctioneer and head of wine auction sales at US-based Zachys, said: ‘Most producers don’t have very significant resale value – they simply taste better in the glass than they perform on the [auction] block.

‘That said, Soldera and, to a slightly lesser extent, Biondi-Santi and Poggio di Sotto have very aggressive fan bases and do quite well in our auctions.’

Zachys sold 553 lots of Brunello for a total US$385,000 (£300,000) from 84 producers in 2023, excluding Soldera wines bottled as Toscana IGP (it left the Brunello DOCG after vintage 2006). O’Connell said Bordeaux Index sees significant collector interest in Brunello di Montalcino, given its attractive quality-to-price ratio, but it’s hard to predict whether secondary market trading activity will increase. ‘It is a region that has the potential to do it.’