Half of 100-point wines under £5,000

Over half of the 49 Bordeaux wines given a “perfect” 100-point score by Robert Parker since 2000 are currently trading below £5,000 a case.

A stark reminder of far off its peak the Bordeaux market currently is, 29 100-point wines from both banks of the Gironde are currently below £5,000 p/cs of 12, in fact all are below £4,500 p/cs and 12 of them below £2,000 p/cs(see graph).

As compiled by Liv-ex, the list has slightly more Right Bank wines on it than Left Banks with 17 to the latter’s 12. However all of the vintages are 2005, 2009 and 2010 – with the exception of the 2000 vintages from La Mission Haut-Brion and Pavie.

This chimes well with Liv-ex’s previous reports that several of La Mission’s vintages are currently at a level well below what their scores suggest they should or could be and that Pavie – which like La Mission has three wines on the list – is more of a “second growth” price-wise and not quite on the level of fellow Saint Emilion cru classé “A” Angélus (which has just one wine on the list, the 2005).

Bellevue Mondotte, Beauséjour Duffau, Ponet-Canet and Montrose all have two wines on the list, usually their 2009/2010 vintages but also the 2005/2009 in the case of Bellevue Mondotte.

As to why the wines on the list are all from just three vintages the answer is simple.

The 2005s despite being from such a fêted vintage had sunk all the way back to their release prices in the period just before Parker’s 10-year retrospective and, as Liv-ex suggested, it may be that, “they have not had time to appreciate in price – or their 100-point status has not been fully embraced.”

Then again, as trade in the 2005s has already largely burned out it’s debateable how much action those wines may see in the near future at least – although they certainly represent a prime opportunity for buyers even if certain wines such as Larcis Ducasse haven’t received quite the same high scores from other critics.

As for the 2009s and 2010s, they are still suffering from the market’s three year decline which has seen prices fall as much as 40%-50% for some wines.

However, as was recently pointed out with regards Lafite 2010, it would appear that the bottom for many of these wines has been reached.

Looking at the cheapest wine on the list, the 2010 Pontet-Canet which is below £1,500 p/cs, its price has held pretty steady since the beginning of the year and, arguably, since almost this time last year.

Liv-ex director Justin Gibbs said: “2005, 2009 and 2010 are the three most awarded vintages of all time and are still available in the market, which some may see as an opportunity.”

It should be noted too that there are several 2009 and 2010 100-pointers that are well, well above £5,000 p/cs, from Haut-Brion, Latour, Cheval Blanc, Le Pin and Petrus, while the rest of the 100-pointers come from the 2000, 2003 and 2005 vintages and include wines from those previously mentioned as well as Ausone, Lafite, Margaux, Lafleur and La Violette.