Investing in Italian wine: market on the move

Good momentum for SuperTuscans and a debut Barolo en primeur auction suggest Italy’s fine wine market presence has continued to expand in 2021, even if opinion varies on the number of investment-grade names.

Bordeaux Index said Italian wine trading volumes have continued growing strongly and consistently on its LiveTrade platform this year, driven by Tuscany, even as French wine royalty has also performed well.

Investing in Italian wine: prices

In terms of prices, LiveTrade’s Italy index was up by 22% over the 18 months to 30 September 2021. The rise slows to 12% for the first nine months of 2021, but that’s still equal with Bordeaux gains, Bordeaux Index head of investment Matthew O’Connell said. For context, Champagne has significantly outperformed both.

Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, said in September that Italy accounted for a record 16% of trades by value year-to-date on its platform. The company sees higher trading in Piedmont, alongside Tuscany, and has also reported broadening interest in other Italian regions.

Still, Liv-ex told Decanter that SuperTuscan Sassicaia 2018 was its most traded Italian wine by value and volume so far in 2021. By value, the next four are: Sassicaia, Tuscany 2017; Soldera, Case Basse, Tuscany 2016; Giacomo Conterno, Monfortino Riserva, Barolo 2014; and Bibi Graetz, Colore, Tuscany 2015.

O’Connell said the investment scene was still largely focused on top SuperTuscans Masseto, Sassicaia, Solaia, Tignanello and Ornellaia.

Tignanello traditionally lags on price, but LiveTrade data covering the 2014 to 2016 vintages shows the wine outperforming Solaia, Ornellaia and Sassicaia this year. ‘It will be interesting to see how much [Tignanello] will close the price gap,’ said O’Connell. ‘Scores are similar to the others,’ he said, adding that market demand ‘is well above release-price levels’.

Nothing is guaranteed, but Miles Davis, head of professional portfolio management at Wine Owners, said the top SuperTuscans were ‘very tradeable’ and looked solid. ‘I can’t remember seeing the prices go down.’ Shaun Bishop, CEO of California-based merchant JJ Buckley, told Decanter: ‘Even the top SuperTuscans, like Masseto, are still priced considerably lower than their Bordeaux and Napa counterparts, leaving room for further price appreciation potential.’

Bishop said customers enjoyed the great value on offer more widely in Tuscany and elsewhere in Italy. ‘Burgundy clients are increasingly seeking out top Nebbiolos from Piedmont, focusing on Barolo and Barbaresco as alternatives to premier and grand cru Burgundy,’ he said.

Ben Aneff, managing partner at Tribeca Wine Merchants in New York, agreed: ‘Our offers of great mature Barolo and Barbaresco sell out quickly, and the requests we receive for the best current-release wines far outstrip the allocations we receive.’

Piedmont’s investment credentials divide opinion, as previously reported. O’Connell said Giacomo Conterno’s ‘Monfortino trading volumes on release are significant’, and several other names had potential, yet liquidity is an issue; some wines were easier to buy than to sell. ‘With Piedmont, I’m a firm believer in the long-term view,’ observed Davis. He said Piedmont price performance has been mixed since 2019, but could improve, and Wine Owners has seen several names, such as Sandrone, Giuseppe Mascarello and Cavallotto, trading more regularly.

In a move that may further raise the region’s profile, Christie’s co-hosted an inaugural Barolo ‘en primeur’ charity auction in October. Bidders raised €600,000 (£511,840) via the sale of 14 ‘bespoke’ barriques of still-maturing wine. Organisers said the event is to become annual. The Barolo and Barbaresco consorzio said it is supporting the initiative.

Investing in Italian wine: the latest sales activity

Tuscany selling high

Several top SuperTuscans have beaten pre-sale high estimates at recent auctions. A 12-bottle haul of Solaia 2006 was the best-selling Italian lot at a Christie’s auction in Geneva in November, fetching CHF3,430 (£2,772) against a pre-sale high estimate of CHF,3000.

Other highlights included two 12-bottle lots of Tignanello 2006, each fetching CHF1,838 (pre-sale high e: CHF1,500), and a two-bottle lot of Masseto’s lauded 2015 vintage, which sold for CHF2,205, about CHF1,000 above its pre-sale high estimate.

Several vintages of Masseto stretching back 25 years appeared to generate strong demand at a recent Zachys auction in New York. Six bottles of Masseto 2001 sold for $7,470 (£5,511), including buyer’s premium, against a pre-sale high estimate of $6,000. Six bottles of Masseto 2004 fetched $6,848 (pre-sale high e: $4,800); three bottles of 2008 fetched $2,988 (pre-sale high e: $2,400); three bottles of 2007 sold for $2,739 (pre-sale high e: $2,400); and three bottles of 1996 fetched $2,366 (pre-sale high e: $1,800). New-release Masseto 2018 also appeared to find demand. Analyst group Wine Lister reported ‘only limited remaining stocks’ shortly after its September release.

Tasted & rated for Decanter Premium

Antinori, Solaia, Tuscany 2018

From a 20ha hillside vineyard in Antinori’s Tenuta Tignanello estate, Solaia 2018 is a delicious balance of ripe fruit with acidity, elegance and ‘creamy touches’, wrote Decanter’s Georgina Hindle. It could be one to watch. After its release in September 2021, analyst group Wine Lister noted that Solaia ‘has seen some of its top-scoring vintages appreciate [in price] significantly post-release’. Liv-ex said UK merchants released Solaia 2018 at about £2,300 (12x75cl in bond). At the time of writing, it was £2,600 (12x75cl ib) at Farr Vintners and $1,795 (6x75cl ib) at US merchant K&L Wine Merchants.

The Bordeaux Index View

Fine wine & spirits specialist Bordeaux Index kindly sponsors this section of Decanter, and provides its view on the market here. It can be found at bordeauxindex.com

Italy – along with Champagne – led from the front in the fine wine market in 2020, but we had expected this to slow given the lack of tailwinds such as the strong back-to-back 2015 and 2016 vintages, and the US tariffs exemption. The region has not kept pace with Champagne in 2021, yet its performance (+12% year-to-date on the LiveTrade online trading platform) has admirably kept pace with Bordeaux and Burgundy.

The increase in Italian trading volumes across recent years has been primarily concentrated on SuperTuscans rather than Piedmont or other Italian regions. Tignanello has been the standout performer with its combination of brand recognition, high scores and low prices driving a broad buyer base across on-trade, collectors and investors. Sassicaia remains in strong demand at increasing prices, but Solaia and Ornellaia appear to be at more of an equilibrium at current market levels. The post-pandemic reopening and increasing global interest in the wines should continue to move the SuperTuscan segment forward in 2022.

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Chris Mercer is a Bristol-based freelance editor and journalist who spent nearly four years as digital editor of Decanter.com, having previously been Decanter’s news editor across online and print.

He has written about, and reported on, the wine and food sectors for more than 10 years for both consumer and trade media.

Chris first became interested in the wine world while living in Languedoc-Roussillon after completing a journalism Masters in the UK. These days, his love of wine commonly tests his budgeting skills.

Beyond wine, Chris also has an MSc in food policy and has a particular interest in sustainability issues. He has also been a food judge at the UK’s Great Taste Awards.