As Bordeaux’s pricing woes continue, interest in Italy as a fine wine investment vehicle grows, with SuperTuscans and Barolos leading the way. Ella Lister analyses the hot prospects
Investment analysis: Relative SuperTuscan pricing
Masseto commands an average market price of more than £400 per bottle for the last 10 available vintages, over four times that of the other top SuperTuscans, and more than some Bordeaux first growths. This is despite there being little difference in critics’ scores for the different wines, especially between Masseto and Ornellaia, both made by Axel Heinz. Ornellaia thus seems to represent relative value, and certain minor vintages in particular.
Masseto’s average price has quintupled over the last decade. Heinz believes it will continue its upwards trajectory, as ‘there are only about 30,000 bottles for the world with an ever increasing demand’. However, WAM’s Miles Davis says it is ‘too expensive’, which is why it doesn’t feature in his wine fund portfolios. ‘We may have got it wrong,’ he accepts, but Masseto’s prices have indeed flattened out over the last year, and even dropped a little.
However, many SuperTuscans still represent good value relative to Bordeaux, at less than half the price of first growths. ‘Certainly one reason why people are starting to be more interested in buying SuperTuscans as an investment is the high prices of Bordeaux,’ says Antinori. His flagship wine, Solaia, is the next priciest SuperTuscan after Masseto, and is also sold via Bordeaux négociants, but has underperformed, rising only 29% over 10 years.
Tignanello, its less expensive older brother, has fared better, rising in price by 157%. It still costs only £58, due to higher volumes and slightly lower critics’ scores than its peers.
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