THE WINE “SPREAD” AWARDS ITALY: THE PRICE OF SUPER TUSCANS GREW 9% IN 2011, WHILE BORDEAUX PREMIER CRUS FELL 30%, REVEALS THE JULY LIV-EX REPORT THAT FOR THE FIRST TIME INTRODUCES THE LIV-EX SUPER TUSCAN 50

The spread between Italian and German stocks is consistently above 400 points, outlining to say the least, a very delicate situation for Italy, but Italy’s top wines demonstrate an enviable healthiness and even manage to beat the best. According to analysts of the famous and influential Liv-Ex, Super Tuscans have achieved very good performances and in contrast to what is happening to the super famous Grands Vins de Bordeaux, are popping up a constant and not a secondary increase in their prices.
The Liv-Ex Super Tuscan 50 index - Masseto and Ornellaia of Ornellaia Estate, Sassicaia of San Guido Estate, Tignanello and Solaia by Marchesi Antinori, with vintages from 1999 to 2008, among the few Italian wines capable of producing the volumes requested by the secondary market - was introduced for the first time in the July market report and shows that Italy and wine making in this niche was one of the best performing countries on the market since the crisis (only Burgundy obtained comparable results). The market for Bordeaux wines (as evidenced by the Liv-Ex Bordeaux 500) fell nearly 20% compared to 2011, and the Premier Cru prices in general, fell 30%. The Super Tuscans, instead, managed to gain a solid increase in their prices, equal to +9%. On a five-year horizon, the results are even more surprising. The Liv-Ex Super Tuscan 50 significantly outperformed the Liv-Ex Fine Wine 50 (which measures the performance of the 5 Bordeaux Premier Cru: Haut-Brion, Lafite, Latour, Margaux and Mouton Rothschild), for a total investment return of 76%, compared to 26% for French wines. 

“The top performers are especially Ornellaia and Masseto of Ornellaia Estate, which reported 17% and 13% increases in their prices. With all the bad news that has characterized 2012 for Bordeaux and with the no longer bearable sky-high prices of Premier Cru, which prompted investors to look at the Château positioned lower in the hierarchy of the 1855 classification, it is far too easy to forget that there is life beyond the Bordeaux “bubble”. However, the “case of Italy”, says the Liv-Ex Market Report, is particularly important and indicates a trend that began in unexpected periods: starting from the Wine Advocate’s last focus on Super Tuscans vintages 2008 and 2009, where most of the scores for tasting wines were repositioned to the averages (very high) that characterized the mid-nineties. Or, the 98 points score James Suckling gave to Sassicaia 2009, placed next to the legendary 1985 vintage. All these factors, according to the most important wine “merchants”, have augmented curiosity and interest in buyers all over the world.
And if we add the fact that a six bottle box of Antinori Tignanello costs around 250 pounds, or one of Sassicaia around 960 pounds, it is clear that besides just curiosity, economic convenience comes into play. This is a significant fact that in the last two months of 2012 has led these two wines to earn 4% and 3% of the market share, above the 1% average achieved in 2010 and 2011. So, if fine Italian wines are increasing their market share in 2012, together with only Burgundy, and the great wine merchants, together with their customers, are clearly extending their interest beyond the Gironde, it may be wise for investors to do the same.