iDealwine eyes rise of Rhône and ‘natural’ icons

Online fine wine auctioneer iDealwine has picked up on rising demand for top Rhône and ‘natural’ producers in its ‘2019 wine auction barometer’.

Organic, biodynamic and natural wines made up 19% of the volume sold on the iDealwine platform last year and 17% of the value.

Certain producers in the French natural wine scene have accumulated real followings in the past few years.

These include Overnoy from the Jura, Richard Leroy and Bernaudeau from the Loire, L’Anglore and Thierry Allemand in the Rhône and Yvon Métras from Beaujolais.

Meanwhile, the Rhône is seeing an uptick in growth as well, its total value rising 3% on iDealwine last year and the volume rising 2%.

The north of the region is the prime driver of this growth with Chave, Jamet, Clape, Gonon and Allemand leading the pack.

In the south, Châteauneuf du Pape rules with buyers seeking out Château Rayas, and Henri Bonneau in particular but iDealwine also noted that some domaines in Cairanne and Vacqueyras were also coming to the fore.

As was noted in the report: “The market’s underlying trends remain unchanged: the search for quality and rarity represent wine lovers’ primary guiding lights, particularly in 2018 – with the death of several iconic wine producers such as Henri-Frédéric Roch and Auguste Clape. The volume of production, the wine’s age, the death or retirement of revered wine producers are all factors which influence the fine wine market.”