by Wine Owners
Posted on 2019-02-11
Sassicaia 2006, 94 points £2,050 per 12
Sassicaia 2009, 96 points £1,590 per 12
Sassicaia 2010, 94 WO points £1,430 per 12
Sassicaia 2015, 97 points £1,750 per 12
Sassicaia 2016, 100 points (WA) £2,700 now, released yesterday at £1,270!
I am now editing this blog originally written on the 25th January as yesterday saw the release of
Sassicaia ’16. Monica Larner of the
Wine Advocate heaped the magical three digit score and a boat load of praise meaning it sold out in seconds (she does hold sway!). I would have enjoyed being a fly on the wall of Armit’s office yesterday as the phones must have been red (pun intended) hot! If, like she says it will, the ’16 turns out to be just as good and valuable as the ’85 vintage, 31 years from now, that would yield a most respectable 8%
CAGR (compound average growth rate). One should take note, however, that the price of the ’85 more than doubled in the last three years so buyer’s beware! I repeat my recommendations from before.
Original post:
When we began researching Sassicaia for this post we began by thinking it would turn out be a good and solid egg. We were right. Other than the stratospheric and legendary 100 point ’85, now c.£30,000 per 12, up from £12,000 three long years ago, Sassicaia is a really steady holding. It’s a wine that gets drunk readily, is approachable at a younger age than most investment grade wines and doesn’t tend to get dumped in a downturn.
The 2015 is another exception to this generalisation, not least because last November it claimed the coveted Wine Spectator’s ‘Wine of the Year’ 2018, causing the price to do this:
It is interesting to note that the Wine Advocate’s upgrade from 91-93 to 97 points in February 2018 had no lasting impact on price – do they not influence this corner of the market, we wonder?
In an efficient market, there’s a great short to mid-term switch play here, selling '15 and buying the cheaper and older ’09 or ’10 vintage where supply is shrinking faster. This is the wine market though, and trades like these not always play out. Judging from the price of the ’06, there is sufficient upside to these two vintages to suggest a purchase, especially if conservative is your thing!
The younger 2013 also looks cheap (but much more plentiful):
Buy: 2009, 2010, 2013
Trading sell: 2015
by Wine Owners
Posted on 2019-01-25
Sassicaia 2006, 94 points £2,050 per 12
Sassicaia 2009, 96 points £1,590 per 12
Sassicaia 2010, 94 WO points £1,430 per 12
Sassicaia 2015, 97 points £1,750 per 12
When we began researching Sassicaia for this post we began by thinking it would turn out be a good and solid egg. We were right. Other than the stratospheric and legendary 100 point ’85, now c.£30,000 per 12, up from £12,000 three long years ago, Sassicaia is a really steady holding. It’s a wine that gets drunk readily, is approachable at a younger age than most investment grade wines and doesn’t tend to get dumped in a downturn.
The 2015 is another exception to this generalisation, not least because last November it claimed the coveted Wine Spectator’s ‘Wine of the Year’ 2018, causing the price to do this:
It is interesting to note that the Wine Advocate’s upgrade from 91-93 to 97 points in February 2018 had no lasting impact on price – do they not influence this corner of the market, we wonder?
In an efficient market, there’s a great short to mid-term switch play here, selling '15 and buying the cheaper and older ’09 or ’10 vintage where supply is shrinking faster. This is the wine market though, and trades like these not always play out. Judging from the price of the ’06, there is sufficient upside to these two vintages to suggest a purchase, especially if conservative is your thing!
The younger 2013 also looks cheap (but much more plentiful):
Buy: 2009, 2010, 2013
Trading sell: 2015
by Wine Owners
Posted on 2015-09-21
Chateau Batailley 2010
Region Bordeaux (Medoc)
Appellation Pauillac
Classification Cinquieme Cru Classe
Current Market Price
'Made in a more charming style than the normally backward, rather formidably tannic wines of Batailley, this 2010 is an endearing, elegant wine, but it has no shortage of power, richness and intensity. It displays loads of beautiful cassis, cedar and Christmas fruitcake notes along with impressive purity, texture and a full-bodied mouthfeel. Usually much more austere, this vintage seems to have produced a richer, more layered and opulent style of Batailley that can be approached in 3-5 years and consumed over the following 25 years.'
92 points - Robert Parker
Current best offer on the exchange £290 IB (12x75)
* * *
Tenuta dell' Ornellaia Ornellaia 2001
Region Italy (Tuscany)
Appellation Bolgheri
Classification /
Current Market Price
'The 2001 Ornellaia is easily the finest in the history of the estate, warm and spicy on the nose with superbly focused plum and black currant fruit, much complexity and elegance in its concentrated and supple body, and a velvety, enveloping close. It will easily drink well for another two decades'
96 points - Robert Parker
Current best offer on the exchange £600 IB (6x75)
* * *
Le Clarence de Haut-Brion 2010
Region Bordeaux (Graves) Pessac-Leognan
Classification /
Current Market Price
'It is a broad, powerful and more muscular wine than its cross-street rival, La Chapelle de la Mission, but all the same, it is wonderfully fresh and precise, with notes of blueberry and boysenberry as well as hints of smoke and wet stones. Endowed with gorgeous fruit, texture, purity and elegance, this relatively dense second wine demonstrates how draconian the selection process has become for the top estates in Bordeaux in recent years. The blend of this wine is 52% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest mostly Cabernet Franc with just a touch of Petit Verdot. I would expect it to last at least 20 years, which is remarkable.'
93 points - Robert Parker
Current best offer on the exchange £300 IB (6x75)
by Wine Owners
Posted on 2014-07-09
Current Market Price: £4,540 per 12.
Wine Owners average score: 98/100.
Critics reviews: 'An utterly brilliant, focused Merlot, alive and vibrant' according to Antonio Galloni (Vinous Media), with 'a crystalline quality that I have never before seen in Masseto'. The Wine Advocate said it is 'truly monumental, leaving you breathless and wordless all at once.'
Tenuta dell' Ornellaia: 99 hectares of vines near the village of Bolgheri, Located near the sea and sheltered by the neighbouring hills, the microclimate guarantees perfect ripening conditions; gentle sea breezes temper the summer heat, and hills provide protection from the cold winter winds.
Highest Bid: £1,135 per 3 IB.
Best offer: £1,100 per 3 IB.
Access full profile
by Wine Owners
Posted on 2014-02-06
Average cellar size £60,000
Total cellars under management £40m
|
January |
Overall |
| Bordeaux |
26% of total trades |
39% |
| Tuscany |
23% |
12% |
| Rhone |
21% |
13% |
| Burgundy |
21% |
17% |
Enthusiastic reviews from Antonio Galloni seem to have piqued interest in the 2010 vintage in Tuscany and Piedmont, with back vintages in Tuscany hanging on the coat-tails of the 2010. The tried and tested Supertuscans seem to be the big winners, with trading users offering and bidding around Sassicaia, Ornellaia and Masseto in mid January, with a high correlation of offers to trades across the region.
The inclusion of some excellent new private collections of Rhone and Burgundy in December and January have pushed up the market share of those regions to rival Bordeaux in those months, with a spread of private and trade buyers picking up top wines from producers like Guigal, including a rare parcel of 1989 la Turque trading at £2,900.
Bordeaux, even in a relatively flat market for the region, continued to account for the largest percentage of Exchange trades in January. Interest focusses around classic wines such as 1982 Latour (recent trades at £13,300), top scorers, and ‘off’ vintages, particularly among the first growths. On the right bank in particular, 2005 appears to be attracting new interest where the price is right, so perhaps the prospect of an uninspiring En Primeur season is already encouraging sparks of interest in great vintages with a track record of quality and performance.
Index comparisons show a relatively flat year’s market, with Medoc Classed Growths slightly underperforming, and top level Burgundy slightly bucking the trend by showing 5.6% growth compared to a base value at Feb 2013.
by Wine Owners
Posted on 2013-11-21
Among all wines that were bought and sold this week on the Exchange, let's take a look at Tenuta dell' Ornellaia Ornellaia Bolgheri 2004.
Bolgheri is one of Italy’s most prestigious vineyard areas, with a reputation based around terroir-driven Bordeaux style blends from iconic estates such as Sassicaia and Ornellaia. The main focus of the Bolgheri DOC is the importance of terroir and for this reason, the Bolgheri Rosso and Bolgheri Superiore wines are labeled without the mention of grapes, as terroir is considered more significant than grape varieties. It is also why Bolgheri wines are reputed for their true expressions of terroir.
Tenuta dell' Ornellaia Ornellaia Bolgheri 2004 reached a market price peak of £1403.76 at the beginning of November and is now hovering around £1,380, with the most recent trade on the Exchange at a level of £1244.
'The 2004 Ornellaia (magnum) has always been a beautiful wine, but stylistically it stands out quite a bit from other vintages of this era, something that is particularly evident in this tasting. The 2004 is perhaps the most delicate, feminine Ornellaia ever made. Silky tannins frame a perfumed core of ripe fruit all the way through to the sublime finish. The wine's inner fragrance, sweetness and balance are all impeccable. The 2004 remains one of my all-time favorite Ornellaias, and it is firing on all cylinders on this night. In 2004 the growing season was long and even, with a cool early summer and warmer late summer. Yields were on the high side, as the vines released the stored energy they had held in reserve from the previous year, which required the estate to aggressively green harvest in order to keep the plants in balance. The 2004 Ornellaia is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. The relatively high percentage of Cabernet Franc may explain the 2004's gorgeous, vivid bouquet. The wine spent a total of 18 months in oak (70% new) prior to being bottled. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2024.' 95 points, Antonio Galloni
Interestingly, the younger 2009 vintage, rated 97 points by Robert Parker, gravitates around a market price of £1,108. It slightly dropped from its release price of £1186. This raises two questions. First, can the 2004 stand as a benchmark against which younger vintages are compared? In which case will the 2009 follow the same trajectory over the next few years?
