The 2016 Bordeaux vintage offers the best value for money in the market right now, when considering the First Growths from 2004-2018.
Two years ago, we highlighted the relative value of the 2016 Bordeaux vintage. That value is still there, and can clearly be seen among the First Growths.
During the 2016 En Primeur campaign, release prices for the vintage were generally considered high.
Our concluding report on the vintage noted that price increases for UK buyers were 31% higher than the year before, partly due to the weakness of the pound against the euro.
Since then, we have not seen much movement in 2016 prices, bar for the occasional label; Chateau Les Carmes Haut-Brion (+38.9%) and Chateau Calon Segur (+25.2%), for example. Around 80% of the 2016s are still below their London release. This despite almost unanimous support from critics. Neal Martin said in his in-bottle report that, “the 2016 vintage in Bordeaux will surely be seen as a high point of this decade”.
According to the Liv-ex Fair Value methodology, the 2016 First Growths (excluding Latour) offer excellent value for money given the calibre of the vintage.
In terms of their average score from Martin, the 2016 Firsts trail only the 2005s yet are the cheapest in the cluster of leading vintages (top right corner of the chart), with an average price of under £5,500 per case.
Further down the points scale, vintages 2012, 2014, and 2017 all offer impressive value. Purchasing a punnet of 2017 First Growths would cost you the least of any vintage but score-wise would put you firmly in the middle of the pack.
Attached are LIVE bids and offers for Mouton Rothschild, Lafite Rothschild, Margaux, and Haut Brion. The chart below suggests that the 2016 vintage is the best value for money buy in the market right now.
