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iDealwine Auction Report: Cornas – a rising auction star
Showing exceptional returns for savvy investors fed up with Bordeaux and Burgundy, the Rhône appellation of Cornas is creating some remarkable hidden gems.
Next to some mythical domaine names or universally known appellations, any buyer dreams of finding a wine that will be the star of tomorrow. At iDealwine, we are well positioned to predict future trends. Angélique de Lencquesaing, deputy managing director of iDealwine, explains: “In the wake of the successful Northern Rhône appellations, Cornas appears as a rising star, especially with buyers from the US favouring mature vintages. The best producers might even soon rise to the same level as some Côte- Rôtie and Hermitage.”
In the sale of wine, especially at auction, the story is always the same: when a large number of buyers from around the world are interested in a specific domaine or appellation, prices go up and often very steeply. Just consider the great Bordeaux of 1995. The level reached by some prices discourages many enthusiasts, who then
turned to other regions, like Burgundy and the phenomenon continues: prices rise to heights that eventually become inaccessible, with buyers then resuming their pilgrim’s quest in search of great, affordable wines. And so they have arrived in the Rhône, with this region also starting to get into an inflationary spiral.
It started with a few rare wines from Côte Rôtie or certain domaines from Châteauneuf-du-Pape, but today we feel that the phenomenon is growing, which now also includes other appellations. Angélique explains that Cornas, in theory less highly regarded than Côte Rôtie or Hermitage (although under the leadership of some very talented winemakers) has proved us wrong to underestimate it.
“At a recent iDealwine Online Auction, we noticed the remarkable breakthrough of the wines of domaine Thierry Allemand: a magnum of Chaillots 1999 rose to €258 (+100% compared to the iDealwine estimate), while another of the 1998 vintage sold for €180 (+61%),” says Angélique. As for the great Reynard, it often exceeds €100 and sometimes even more in top vintages like 2005, when its starting price at a Parisian wine merchant was around €45. Similarly, the estimate of Cornas Auguste Clape wines recently rose to exceed €100 in good years, an amount that would make people dream to have bought from this domaine a few years ago for just €30.
Other domaines, often run by young winemakers, are also progressing rapidly, with healthy competition that “advances” the limits of this appellation, which has long been asleep in the gentle slumber of the négociants. The influence of négociants (and the powerful wine cooperative, Cave de Tain) also limits the development of the big sister of the opposite bank, Hermitage. A relative stagnation of the estimates of Hermitage wines could therefore have direct consequences on Cornas price increases.
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About iDealwine iDealwine is an international fine wine e-merchant with offices in Paris, Hong Kong and London. Specialising in online auctions and fixed-price sales, iDealwine was launched in France in 2000 and is now the online auction leader in Europe, supplying to 45 different countries across Europe, Asia and the US.Wine is sourced from private European cellars and directly from the wineries, with a large range that includes extremely rare bottles and vintages. iDealwine also provides wine market data and analysis, with over 60,000 price estimates based on more than 3 million auction prices. |
FOCUS ON DOMAINE NOËL VERSET
At a recent iDealwine Online Auction of June 2015, a Cornas 1985 of domaine Noël Verset reached a price of €252. He started making wine alongside his father at the age of 12(!) in 1931 and retired with the 2000 vintage, after going on his own in 1943. He then sold parcels of the domaine, one by one, only to tenants for whom he had respect, in particular Thierry Allemand. But he also sold to domaines Clape and Courbis, and his nephew, Franck Balthazar. Verset continued until 2006 (he was 87 years old then) to make wine for personal consumption and for his family, but he also made a part to sell to the haute couture négociant of the Rhône, Tardieu-Laurent.
Angélique explains: “Noël Verset is one of the legendary personalities of the appellation, the first Cornas winemaker to experience some international fame. He is a genius producer, who gave a unique style to his wines, a style that was known to balance any excess or technical complications encountered some years.”
He produced only one wine, assembled from all of his terroirs and which showcases the perfect balance of his final product. The methods used were more traditional: low yields, harvesting at maturity, vinifying whole bunches, treading by foot, fermentation in cement vats, ageing for 15 months in old demi muids (600-litre barrels). Just like Marius Gentaz in Côte Rôtie or Ernest Trollat in St Joseph, Noël Verset is one of those great traditional wine personalities that have shaped their appellations.
iDealwine is an international wine auction website. Visit it at www.idealwine.com