Italian fine wine prices are growing, but they are still accessible to everyone (almost)

Fine wines are accessible to (almost) everyone. Signature prices of Italian fine wines now have a prominent place in the wine investment market as well as in the wine cellars of collectors and enthusiasts all over the world. The data from the benchmark of the secondary market for fine wines, Liv-ex (which WineNews analyzes immediately), report these figures month after month. Plus, Wine-Searcher, the reference portal for wine lovers all over the world, which classifies judgments of critics and the public, and prices of hundreds of online wine shops, monitors average price trends online daily. Consequently, today’s numbers narrate a major evolution in prices of the most expensive bottles of Italian winemaking, and Piedmont is at the top of the preferences, as usual, followed by Tuscany.
These bottles of wine, though, are affordable. Only two of them are over the 1.000 euros threshold: Giacomo Conterno’s Barolo Riserva Monfortino, at an average price of 1.095 euros and, for a little less, Giuseppe Quintarelli's Amarone della Valpolicella, at 1.076 euros. Both wines, and this must be underlined, are growing in comparison to the prices that increased a year ago and those in the April survey, when Quintarelli’s Amarone cost just over half (561 euros). These are major fluctuations, due to the cyclical rarity of some bottles of wine, and the recovery of the economy. But, prices are still far from the top of Bordeaux and Burgundy. In third place, Barbaresco Crichet Paje di Roagna, 781 euros per bottle (+ 5.3% compared to April), which completes the top three, confirms the importance of investments and the accessibility of fine Italian wines even for those who have no intention of taking out a mortgage to indulge in a special toast. Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Case Basse - Gianfranco Soldera, at 775 euros per bottle (+17% compared to a year ago) is fourth, followed by Massetto, just one euro less expensive, at 774 euros per bottle, +13.3% more than a year ago, and +34% average price increase over the past five years. In sixth place, Cappellan's Barolo Piè Franco, increasing from 531 euros in April to 630 euros today (+18.6%), and in seventh position Miani's Refosco Colli Orientali del Friuli “Calvari”, at 603 euros per bottle (+3.6%). In eighth place, Toscana TGI Case Basse by Gianfranco Soldera, at 587 euros per bottle, followed by Barolo Riserva Monprivato Cà d’ Morissio by Mascarello Giuseppe e Figlio, at 584 euros (+ 6.2% more than the average price in April) and closing the top ten positions, Barolo “Le Rocche di Castiglione Falletto” by Bruno Giacosa, at 570 euros (+15.2%).