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La Place hots up with Penfolds and Vérité released onto the market
Penfolds Grange and Vérité’s lead this week’s releases on La Place, with releases at a premium to others already on the market.
Penfolds Grange 2020 was released on La Place on Monday morning, at £4,740 per case of 12×75. This marked a slight increase (1.3%) on last year’s opening price for the 2019 vintage on the UK secondary markets, Liv-ex noted (although it should be noted that Penfolds kept the price of 2020 vintage to its negociant partners the same as for the 2019 Grange) but the market price for the 2019 vintage on the secondary market has since slid 12.3%, from £4,680 per case to £4,106 for a case of 12.
This makes the 2020 vintage one of the most expensive vintages currently available on the market, behind the higher-scored 2010, 2012, 2016 and 2018 vintages, which received an impressive 99-point score from The Wine Advocate, and are all available at a discount to today’s release. However, db’s Colin Hay called it “elegant and delicate, yet complex and very aromatically expressive and engaging”, awarding it 98+ points.
Also out on Monday was the 2021 vintage of the trio of wines from Sonoma’s Vérité. The estates’ La Joie, Le Désir, and La Muse were released at €825 ex-negociant with a recommended retail price of £1,139 per case of three (equivalent to £4,558 per case of 12), which marked a 7.4% fall on the release of the 2019 collection (the 2020 vintage not having been released via La Place), although it still comes at a premium to all other recent vintages, Liv-ex notes.
Also recently released was Château de Beaucastel Hommage à Jacques Perrin 2022, which hit the market on Friday, released at €230 per bottle, or at an international release price of £2,650 per case of twelve. While flat on last year’s release price, the volumes available on La Place have been cut by around 50% on the 2021 release, and it is one of the most expensive vintages currently on the market. Hay called it “very pure and refined”, while Nicolas Greinacher of Vinous said it was “on track to rank alongside the spectacular 2020”.
Also out on Friday, the 2022 vintage of Hermitage La Chapelle was released slightly down (1.4%) on last year’s price at £2,263 per case, but as Liv-ex points out, it is “at least 28.3% above the current Market Price of the previous ten vintages”, making it “by far the most expensive vintage available on the market”. db’s Colin Hay noted that “despite the sustained intensity of the record heat of the vintage, the exceptional terroir has retained an essential freshness”, awarding it 97 points, with winemaker Caroline Frey agreeing that “everything on granitic soils coped so well despite it being the hottest vintage ever”
Meanwhile Solaia 2021, which was critically acclaimed, has been offered at a 15.7% premium on the 2020 release. With a recommended release price of £3,240 per case of 12, only the 100-point scoring 2015 vintage is more expensive on the market. However, db’s Bordeaux correspondent Colin Hay described it as “a wine of incredible intensity, great impact, massive depth and concentration, yet with great lift, levity and grace”, awarding it 98 points, while Antonio Galloni Vinous called it “a fine example of the style Antinori favours these days, an approach that favours finesse over opulence”.
Another hors Bordeaux icon, Seña 2022 from Chile’s Aconcagua Valley was out at the end of last week (5 September), released at €90 per bottle ex-négociant, and available to the international trade at £1,120 per case of 12. While the release price is flat on last year’s price, the new vintage remains at a premium to other vintages already on the market, Liv-ex said, noting that the market price of the 2021 fell by 18.8% (initially this was erroneously calculated as 32.3%). However, db’s Colin Hay called the 2022 vintage “singular”, and “one of the more delicate vintages of this wine that I’ve tasted”, awarding it 97 points, while Matthew Luczy of The Wine Advocate called it a “gorgeous, energetic and exuberant example of poise and clarity that should be a pleasure to follow in the cellar”.
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