With only limited space available in our monthly Market Report, we thought it worth posting some additional data on DRC here on the blog. Below is chart that shows the year to date price increases by vintage for a basket of one each of the red Grand Crus. (Each of the wines in the basket have been give an equal weighting).
At first glance, the percentage increases appear relatively random. If we overlay the total basket price for each vintage, however, we can see that they were actually entirely rational. The recent price movements have positioned each of the vintages into one of three distinct price bands. The 1999s have moved up to match the 2005s at £15,000 per case; the 1996s and 2002s have moved ahead of the pack to arrive at £11,000; with the rest positioned at around £9,000. This simplification of pricing stuctures is the exact same phenomenon that we saw take place amongst the First Growths in 2010 – with only the very best vintages able to attract a significant premium over a rapidly increasing baseline.
