Gaja, Sassicaia, Ornellaia, Masseto, Solaia: Italy at the top in the “Liv-Ex Power 100” 2020

Gaja, which leaps to position no. 3 (from 34 in 2019), Sassicaia to no. 4 (from no. 7), Ornellaia to no. 6 (from 91), Masseto to no. 9 (from 72), Antinori’s Solaia to no. 13 (from 72): here is the synthesis of the golden year, this paradoxical 2020, for Italian fine wines, true stars of the secondary market according to the Liv-Ex benchmark, which has just drawn up its Power 100 for 2020 (with two great Burgundy names at the top, Domaine Leroy and Domaine Leflaive), together with the UK magazine “The Drinks Business”, and which WineNews is able to anticipate.
A “Top 100” made considering the volumes and values moved by each individual brand, the average price, the variation of quotations and the number of individual wines (labels and vintages) on the market (the analysis concerns the period between October 1, 2019 and September 30, 2020), which counts as many Italians as ever: 17, up by 9 compared to 2019, the largest increase (while Bordeaux, however the most present territory, which stops at 37, down by 5, and with Burgundy at 24, with 10 fewer brands). Including the two brands that, by far, worldwide, have climbed the most positions since 2019, namely the Piedmontese Luciano Sandrone, up from position 277 to 62 (+215), and the Tenuta Greppo di Biondi Santi, cradle of Brunello di Montalcino (today of the French group Epi, ed.) passed from 219 to 55 (+164).
In the Italian ranking, the Tignanello of Antinori (the only one in Italy with two brands in the “Top 100”, editor’s note) is at no. 35, ahead of “Mr Monfortino” Giacomo Conterno, at no. 51, and ahead of Biondi Santi, at no. 55. At no. 62 there is Luciano Sandrone, in front of another brand from Piedmont and Barolo such as Bartolo Mascarello, at no. 63, followed by one of the great names of Brunello di Montalcino, such as Casanova di Neri, at no. 67. At number 71, one of the most famous wineries of Chianti Classico, Fontodi, in front of another Montalcino brand, Poggio di Sotto of Collemassari group of Claudio Tipa, at number 74, and another top brand of Langhe, Vietti. Tua Rita, from Tuscany, reached no. 88, ahead of Bruno Giacosa at no. 89, and the icon of Amarone della Valpolicella, Quintarelli, at no. 95.
A real consecration for the big names of Italian wine in the Olympus of fine wines, in the year in which Liv-Ex was “bigger” than ever, with over 8,734 different wines at the center of trade (up 37.2% on 2019) produced by 1,420 wineries (+42.6%). Among the top 10 brands for growth in the Liv-Ex ranking, in addition to Sandrone and Biondi Santi, Italy also counts Tua Rita (up 241 to 88), Ceretto (up 259 to 139), Quintarelli (up 206 to 95), Le Macchiole (up 249 to 153) and Montevertine (up 220 to 125). Again, looking at the price increase, at the top of the list there is still Italy, with Piedmontese winery Ca’ Nova, which registered a 28.09% growth in the average price of its wines, in front of another top name from Veneto, such as Romano Dal Forno (+19.4%). But among the top 10, in this particular ranking, there are also G.B. Burlotto (+15.8%), Solaia (+14.4%) and Conti Costanti (+12.9%).