2014 En Primeur | Strong Buys
As the dust settles on this Curate’s Egg of a campaign, it is worth highlighting a couple of very well priced offers which we consider an excellent addition to most portfolios.
Do bear in mind that we have not strongly recommended an En Primeur purchase since the 2008 vintage, since which time the pricing strategies seemed to lose contact with reality. Even this year certain chateaux (Palmer, Pavie, Pontet Canet, to name but three) have ignored the demands of the market place on the spurious grounds that they HAD to price above the inferior 2012 and 2013 vintages otherwise no-one would have bought them! Pontet Canet, remarkably, greeted the very lukewarm reception of its first tranche with a delusional 18% hike in the price of its second.
In general we are strongly of the view that the market’s rebound from its mid 2014 lows is now established. To the extent that Bordeaux left bank wines have borne the brunt of the correction, we think it reasonable to suggest that they may well outperform in the early phase of the recovery. We would therefore be overweighting portfolios now with lower priced First Growths.
Three En Primeur offers in particular are worth pursuing:
Lafite Rothschild released its second tranche to the market at the end of last week. The first tranche was available between £2,800 to £2,900 from merchants and the second is finding buyers between £2,950 and £3,000. At this price level coupled with the mid 90s score we are seeing Lafite selling well to drinkers and investors. The last ten vintages currently have an average price of £4,400 with an average score of 94.7. This vintage is likely to score above the average but at £1,400 below the average price this is a very strong buy.
Quantitatively, only the 2013 would appear to be the superior investment. However, with a qualitative overlay, the ’13 is to be dismissed; this is the worst Lafite for over two decades, and may struggle to find a future market.
Haut Brion is also very attractively priced. At £2,275, is slightly cheaper than Mouton, (also well priced, but bought up immediately), but is probably the better wine. A lot of Haut Brions (’04, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’11, ’12) sit between £2,500 and £2,750 per dozen so this price for what could well be a superior wine is very attractive.
On a relative basis, only the 2013 appears to be better value than the 2014. However, ’13 generally considered a weak vintage and vulnerable to downgrade at the in-bottle re-grading later this year. 2014 trading at a 20% discount to critically similar 2006 and 2008.
La Mission Haut Brion’s release price is £1,350. Its consistently high score (95+ from most critics) makes it the best Mission of the last 15 years after the stellar ’05, ’09 and ‘10s, but its price is well short of the £3,500 – £4,000 bracket that these sit in. Even relatively weak vintages of La Mission tend to be £1,200 a dozen, so this wine really does appear to be right in the sweet spot for investors.
On a relative basis, the 2008, 2011 and 2014 are of interest. 2013, whilst seemingly attractive is generally considered a weak vintage and vulnerable to downgrade at the in-bottle re-grading in 2016. 2014 is gaining critical acclaim, and likely to be considered the equal of 2005 and 2010.
These three wines sit at the top of our list of En Primeur offers but availability is painfully limited.
Lafite Rothschild 2014 £2,925 per case (12×75)
Haut Brion 2014 £2,275 per case (12×75)
Mission Haut Brion 2014 £1,350 per case (12×75)
First come first served, to enquire click here.
All prices quoted in bond, OWC and exclude management fee.