Petit Mouton leads 2014 risers

Second wines of the first growths and big Right Bank names have been the best performers for the crop of Bordeaux 2014.

Petit Mouton, the second wine of Château Mouton-Rothschild, has been the label that has seen its price rise the most since its release in spring last year.

With a merchant release price of £756 a case, the current market price on Liv-ex is £1,450, an increase of 91.8%.

Following close behind was the second wine of Château Lafite, Carruades, which has risen 90.2% since release. Margaux’s ‘Pavillon Rouge’ is also one of the best-performers, up 55.4% to a market price of £1,175.

The popularity of the second wines was examined by the drinks business in April last year and their continuing successes in the secondary market carried on into this year with Liv-ex noting in January that the three best-performing wines on the Bordeaux 500 were: Petit Mouton, Pavillon Rouge and Carruades de Lafite.

The Right Bank is another area, another index that has seen strong performances in recent years and this was reflected in the list of rising ’14 labels.

Le Pin, Petrus, Canon and Vieux-Château-Certan (considered by many a ‘wine of the vintage’) have all seen increases well in excess of 35% since release and Le Pin and Petrus are now close to £20,000 a case.

Mouton Rothschild likewise has continued to live up to its role as one of if not the most sought-after first growth of the moment, its grand vin has seen a strong 41% rise in price since release and buyers were also keen to pick up the solidly scored and more modestly priced Clerc Milon (from the Mouton stable of course) and Calon-Ségur.

source: Liv-ex

Where there have been risers however so there have also been fallers. Perhaps surprisingly Montrose, which released with a huge 54% hike on its 2013 price, is not in the list of notable fallers – nor is it in the risers either of course. The often poor-performing Cheval Blanc is also nowhere to be seen.

Ausone and L’Eglise-Clinet have seen so small as to be almost negligible falls of 0.1% and 0.4% respectively.

The drops pick up with Rieussec, which has slumped 1% in price since release and the rest of the list is a mix of Right and Left Bank estates which have declined between 1% to 6% (Batailley).

The worst performer though was Château d’Yquem which, true to form, has seen its price decline 9.7% from £2,850 a case on release to £2,574 now. Since 2005 when the property’s owner, Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, “adjusted” the release prices of the wine it has ailed to hold its value in the secondary market.