Dynamic Bordeaux
Bordeaux bashing is a thing of the past, at least on iDealwine. Wine lovers continue to be charmed by the classics, especially enthusiasts from overseas. Two cases of Château Mouton-Rothschild 2000 and Château Lafite-Rothschild were sold respectively for €20,794 (+8%) and €7,782 (+8%) and have now made their way to Hong Kong. Six bottles of Château Montrose 1990 went for €3,040 (+15%) to another Hong Kong-based oenophile. Mixed cases, “Carré d’As”, show good results and are snapped up primarily by Belgium and the United Kingdom. Petrus has registered good growth in mature vintages such as 1990 (€3,648, +17%), 1998 (€2,675, +13%) and 2009 (€3,526, +17%).
Superstar Burgundy
Burgundy, and more precisely the Côte-de-Nuits, continues to attract the crowds. Yet again, DRC is at the top of the rankings. Unsurprisingly, the only three bottles to sell for more than €10,000 bear the label of the eponymous grand cru: Romanée-Conti 2000 (€14,657, +18%), 1997 (€13,984, +7%) and 2006 (€13,802, +12%). The domain’s other monopole also stands out, with good results for mature vintages of La Tâche 1999 (€5,472, +13%), 2003 (€3,770, +7%), 1996 (€3,526, +18%) and 1998 (€3,405, +20%). Still in the Côte-de-Nuits, more specifically in Morey-Saint-Denis, a bottle of Clos de la Roche 1985 from domain Ponsot crossed the €4,000 threshold.
Rarity is still the buzzword for Burgundy, and wines from producers who have now passed away are as sought-after as ever. Two bottles of Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru 1999 from domain Jacky Truchot, thus went for €3,526 (€1,763 the bottle, +4%). Domain Jacky Truchot, who died in 2006, produced this Charmes-Chambertin from vines planted in 1920, with extremely low yields and tiny quantities of wine produced. Bottles from Henri Jayer are also becoming collectable. Wines from this excellent producer, a pioneer of carbonic maceration, are lusted-after all over the world. A bottle of his Vosne-Romanée 1992 thus sold for €2,554 to an Italian wine enthusiast.
Rare Champagne
In Champagne, aficionados still set their sights on old vintages. Rarity is one of the main criteria. Three vintages from the Salon champagne house sold on our platform: a fact worth noting when you consider that only 41 vintages have been produced by the house in the 20th century. Last month, the famed cuvée “S” featured in the following vintages: 1996 (3 bottles: €1,763 or €588 the bottle, +4%), 1999 (3 bottles: €1,435 or €478 the bottle, +17%) and 1997 (2 bottles: €827, or €414 the bottle +14%). Philipponnat’s Clos des Goisses sold in excellent vintages for champagne: 2002 (2 bottles: €353 or €177 the bottle, +51%) and 2008 (2 bottles: €340, or €170 the bottle, +12%).
Rhône: a showcase for classicism
In the Rhône, the classics are on top, with Château Rayas seeing excellent results, for instance their Châteauneuf-du-Pape 1981 sold ay €973 (+160%). Further to the North, three bottles of Auguste Clape’s Cornas 2004 sans soufre sold for €1,295 (€432 the bottle, +328%). Still in the northern Rhône, a monument of Saint-Joseph, Gonon lit up auctions, with a Chasselas 2016 selling for €214 (+522%). Although this cuvée is less well-known than the domain’s Saint-Joseph, it is nonetheless much sought-after, as only 1,200 bottles are released every year.
In other regions, natural wines have been doing well, particularly Jura producers Overnoy and Ganevat. A bottle of Arbois Pupillin VSO 1998 from Overnoy went for €486 (+63%), and a Côtes-du-Jura Les Vignes de mon Père 2002 from Jean-François Ganevat achieved a good price: €268 (+47%). In the Languedoc, Grange the Pères and their extremely rare white cuvée stands out. A magnum of the 2014 reached the €500 mark. In the Loire, the Sancerre Clos de la Néore and the cuvée Silex from Dagueneau, in Pouilly-Fumé, stand out. What’s more, these wines gain value even for relatively recent vintages: 3 bottles of Sancerre 2010 from Edmond Vatan sold for €717 (€239 the bottle, +18%) and three bottles of Pouilly-Fumé Silex 2015 from Dagueneau went for €401 (€134 the bottle, +22%).
