Old vintages and fine wines living a second youth. The story about Wine Tip

The fine wines market has never been so prosperous, as the results of auctions and Liv-ex numbers have confirmed. This is true even in Italy, where demand is growing while sales from auctions are certainly not enough to satisfy it. The niche of fine wines, and consequently the great more or less old vintages, however, was not born yesterday, and there are many in Italy who have been dealing in it for more than 15 years, like Wine Tip that since 2000 has been buying and selling vintages not on the market, directly from companies, as well as from private collectors and restaurants. “Restaurants often need rotation in their cellars”, Wine Tip’s founder, Alberto Cristofori, told WineNews. The catering world, though, is actually only one of the three channels that Wine Tip addresses, which as a buyer looks “specifically to the wineries and distributors, as well as to collectors. One of our strengths”, Cristofori said, “is definitely speed - we have thousands of wines available”, which end up in 40 different countries, “but especially in Italy, London and Hong Kong. There is no main sector, however, among the different channels, since catering, wine merchants and collectors all have the same weight”. Taking a look at the most sought after wines, and considering that “rarity is not in itself a value and the particularly old vintages do not necessarily guarantee better margins, the great Piedmont and Tuscan wines stand out: Barolo Monfortino di Conterno, Giacosa Reserves, the wines of Bartolo Mascarello, Gaja, and also Masseto, Sassicaia, Solaia, Pergole Torte di Montevertine, which is one of the surprises, together with Valentini, from the classic areas, and Soldera (Case Basse). But there are also some brands of Amarone, such as Quintarelli, Del Forno and Bertani, and the old vintages of Brunello di Montalcino by Biondi Santi. Half of our turnover, though, comes from French wines, primarily Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne”, continued Cristofori. It is not easy to talk about profitability, “because the differences among the different bottles is quite impressive”. Any suggestions? “Do not let the wines you have become undrinkable: open them, give them away, sell them, share them”.