Liv-ex, Sassicaia confirmed at the top of the “Power 100”. 14 Italian labels

Beyond the historical, social and economic context, 2020 has been the year of consecration for Italian fine wines, captured by Liv-ex’s “Power 100” which, just a year ago, lined up no less than 17 Italian labels (many of them in the ranking for the first time, at their highest prices ever), a peak never reached before, which was inevitably followed by the downgrading of the 2021 edition of the “Power 100”, drawn up together with the UK magazine “The Drinks Business”, and which WineNews is able to anticipate. Actually, things are going well for Italian collectible and investment wines in 2021, with a large number of brands traded and a 15% share of trades, in value terms, on the reference index of the secondary market for fine wines, through which thousands of transactions pass every day.
Thus, if in 2020 no less than four Italian wines - Sassicaia, Gaja, Ornellaia and Masseto - were in the top ten positions, this year only Sassicaia remains (at position no. 8, four positions lower than 2020), a certainty, the seventh most traded label by value and third by volume. Scrolling through the “Top 100”, created by considering the volumes and values moved by each individual brand, the average price, the variation in quotations and the number of individual wines (labels and vintages) on the market (the analysis concerns the period between October 1, 2020 and September 30, 2021), there are 14 Italian wines in all (3 less than in 2020), with 7 exits (more or less thunderous, but in any case physiological) and 4 new entries. At the top of the podium, however, a great Burgundy name such as Domaine Leroy is confirmed, ahead of Lafite Rothschild and Armand Rousseau, which complete the podium. Dom Perignon is at no. 4, Domaine de la Romanee-Conti at no. 5, Mouton Rothschild at no. 6, Petrus at no. 7 and, after Sassicaia, Louis Roederer (no. 9) and Margaux (no. 10) to form an almost exclusively French “Top 10”, divided between Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne.
Returning to the Italian labels, at no. 19 (from no. 3 in 2020), there is Gaja, at no. 23 Giacomo Conterno (from no. 51 in 2020), at no. 24 Masseto (from no. 9 in 2020), at no. 26 Comm. G.B. Burlotto, protagonist of an impressive climb of 161 positions, from no. 187 in 2020. Bruno Giacosa also did well, at no. 35 (from no. 89 a year ago), as did Bartolo Mascarello, at no. 39 (from no. 63) and, above all, La Spinetta, at no. 40 from no. 234 in 2020, the second best performance behind Emmanuel Rouget. Going down further, here is Antinori’s Solaia, at no. 52 (from no. 13), ahead of Ornellaia, at no. 53 from no. 6 in 2020. Back to the Langa with Giuseppe Rinaldi, who climbs the “Top 100” to no. 60 from no. 171, followed by Tignanello (Antinori’s second label in the ranking), at No. 65 from no. 35 in 2020. The Italian presence is rounded out by Giuseppe Mascarello e figlio, another new entry from Piedmont, the result of a considerable leap forward (from position no. 207 to no. 82), and Biondi-Santi, at no. 91 (it was at no. 55 in 2020). As mentioned, seven Italian wines dropped out of the Top 100: Casanova di Neri (102), Tua Rita (127), Fontodi (134), Vietti (138), Poggio di Sotto (167), Giuseppe Quintarelli (182) and Luciano Sandrone (183).
Ultimately, Liv-ex’s 2021 “Power 100” has brought about a rebalancing of the market, with the blue chips returning to where they are expected to be, Bordeaux remaining a constant but not predominant presence, Burgundy still very much alive, as well as Italy, Champagne and the USA. The record set in 2020 in terms of labels and producers exchanged, due to the enormous liveliness of the market, was literally shattered, reaching this year 11,839 wines exchanged (+35.6%) by 1,668 different producers (+17.5%), the highest peak ever reached by Liv-ex in its history.