Our regional ranking of grands crus sold at auction in the first half of 2017 would obviously not be complete without a focus on Bordeaux wines, a region that still accounts for more than 50% of sales on iDealwine, making it, therefore, the first region in terms of volume traded at auction.

As a reminder, in order to establish this first half-year ranking, we decided to keep only the most expensive wine of each property, auctioned on iDealwine. Moreover, if the wine was sold in a magnum, its price is converted to its bottle equivalent to allow a fair comparison between the different wines. Several observations are clear and those who predict the disappearance of Bordeaux wines on the market should surrender. First of all, the grands crus from this region account for 48% of the total number of bottles auctioned during the first half of 2017, representing 46% of the transactions in value recorded on iDealwine. This means that wine buyers are not yet completely allergic to Bordeaux wines. Another common perception to fight is that French amateurs are still very fond of great Bordeaux wines: out of the 20 lots of the ranking, 13 were acquired by French customers. Another interesting fact is that Asian buyers are absent from this TOP 20. All the lots were shipped to European countries or the United-States. Finally, bidders are ready to pay significant amounts to acquire a renowned name: the prices of the lots in this TOP 20 are all above €500, the most expensive bottle auctioned at almost €5,000.

But let’s now take a look at the wines in this ranking. Surprise: Petrus was probably expected at the top of the podium. However, Château Lafite takes the first place! A bottle of 1880 went under the hammer for €4,680 in February 2017. The collector’s vintages and the “years of the century” are indeed well represented in this TOP 20. The vintage 1947, for example, figures three times in the ranking: in the second place, Petrus sold for €3,910; Château d’Yquem 1947 (#3) was auctioned €2,700; Château Latour 1947 (#5), in magnum, reached €4,080 (i.e €2,040 converted to bottle format). In this TOP 20, we also have cult years like 1945 (Château Léoville Las Cases, #15 for €780), 1959 (Trotanoy, #11 for €900 and Palmer, #12 for €840) or 1961 (Vieux Château Certan, #18, €540).

In more recent years, there are legendary vintages such as 1982 (La Mission Haut-Brion, #14 for €782), 1990 (Château Lafleur #9, Château Margaux #10, Angélus #19 and Montrose #20 ), and of course 2000, with the iconic engraved bottle produced by the Château Mouton-Rothschild, in a magnum, sold for €3,120, which is €1,560 when converted to a bottle format (#6). Only one recent vintage (2009) is ranked and even in a good position (#3), but it concerns a very rare wine, Château Le Pin from Pomerol, a bottle sold for €2,880 last May.

Finally, the award-winning wines of the much talked-about 100/100 score by Robert Parker still have good days ahead of them at auction. Indeed, this TOP 20 counts five of them: Petrus 1947 (#2), Château Haut-Brion 1989 (#7), Château-Ausone 2005 (#8), Château Margaux 1990 (#10) and Château Montrose 1990 (#20). The mark of the American critic is not ready to fade away…

Top 20 of Bordeaux wines

See Bordeaux wines currently on sale