What’s happening in the market?
Burgundy clawed back a proportion of overall trade since yesterday, its share now sitting at 14.4% from Friday to Tuesday. The region was buoyed by trades of Domaine Leroy, Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru Les Beaux Monts 2009 and two 2021 Gevrey-Chambertin from Kei Shiogai.
The Rhône accounts for 4.7% of trade by value over the same period, with Domaine de Pegau, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Laurence 2018 and Famille Perrin, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Château de Beaucastel Rouge 2021 among the most traded wines by volume.
Bordeaux remains firmly in the lead with 42.0% of total trade by value, with Tuscany still coming in second at 15.7% of the total. Champagne, Piedmont and the United States continue to lag behind with 8.0%, 6.0% and 3.1% of trade respectively.
UK labelling law: UK wine business could save tens of thousands of pounds by not applying UK importer labels to fine wines in bond. See this article from 2022 for further details or speak to your account manager.
Today’s deep-dive: Harlan 2020 pricing analysis
Harlan Estate 2020 will be released in the UK on the 16th of February at £16,200 per case. The release will come in as the most expensive of the last ten, but also the lowest-rated by Antonio Galloni.
The 2020 vintage in Napa was particularly difficult, as wildfires ravaged over 27,000 hectares of vineyards. Many producers did not release 2020 wines, and there was widespread concern that smoke taint may have affected the wines of those that did.
Antonio Galloni (Vinous) awarded the wine 95 points, calling it ‘one of the very best wines [he had] tasted from this challenging vintage so far’, further adding that it ‘is a truly eye-opening wine with regards to what was possible in 2020’.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown awarded the wine 100 points exclaiming ‘Wow: it’s a pure, effortless, truthful wine’.
Jancis Robinson awarded the wine 18 points out of 20, calling it ‘very pure and fresh on the nose – already extremely aromatic’.
Fair Value analysis
As the chart above shows, the 2020 vintage of Harlan Estate is the most expensive of the last ten. It is also, according to Antonio Galloni, the lowest-scoring wine. It’s worth noting that wildfires during the 2020 growing season may have considerably affected yields, which may go some way towards explaining the price point of the latest release.
Buyers looking for value may wish to consider the 99-point 2013 or 2019 vintages, with a Market Price of £14,470 per case for the 2013 and £14,403 for the 2019. The 98-point 2014 and 2018 vintages also look attractive, presenting a discount of 35.2% and 24.0% to the new release respectively.
There are currently 124 LIVE bids and offers for Harlan Estate wines on Liv-ex. Log in to the exchange to view them and trade.
In case you missed it
Here’s what we’ve been reading:
- Liv-ex: Sassicaia 2021 pricing analysis
- The Drinks Business: Weingut Robert Weil debuts on La Place
- Financial Times: Chinese investors buy gold as property and stock markets fall
Liv-ex analysis is drawn from the world’s most comprehensive database of fine wine prices. The data reflects the real time activity of Liv-ex’s 620+ merchant members from across the globe. Together they represent the largest pool of liquidity in the world – currently £100m of bids and offers across 20,000 wines.
