Burgundy prices have declined by an average of -14.0% (Liv-ex-.com) over the past 12 months.  But the average result hides some dramatic price moves at the top of the market. 

As we believe that fine wine is approaching a cyclical bottom, we are increasingly excited by some of the opportunities now emerging in premium Burgundy.

Below are our Top 20 ‘Best Buys’ in Burgundy, screened from almost 40,000 wines:

Don’t Bet Against Burgundy

As a fine wine collector, if you weren’t invested in Burgundy over the past 20 years you underperformed significantly: 

Even over the past two years, despite the pullback, Burgundy’s performance is still well ahead of the broader market (and ahead of the S&P 500 and Hang Seng).

The declines in price at the very top end of the market are therefore to be seen as an overdue correction in a segment of wines which got too far ahead of the overall market.   But following this healthy correction, the stage is set for opportunistic buyers to come back in at much more attractive, and reasonable, levels. 

Long-Term Burgundy Price Drivers Haven’t Changed

The structural drivers of Burgundy’s long-term price performance haven’t changed. 

Burgundy prices are still driven by the same factors which have made it unique in world wine for decades:

-       Miniscule production quantities; and

-       Fanatical global collector base.

It is physically impossible for production of almost any top Burgundy domaines to increase, as all Grand Cru vineyards are tightly restricted in terms of what can be grown where.

And amongst our clientele, we have noticed no diminution of enthusiasm (bordering on obsession!) with the greatest domaines of the Côte d’Or.

Watch out for Burgundy’s ‘Release Price Premium’  

The only note of caution we would sound is over the (sometimes very wide) gap between release prices and immediate secondary market trading prices in Burgundy. 

This gap is shown below for some of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s 2020 releases.  It is potentially dangerous because it allows owners of primarily allocated stock to mark down their secondary market offers significantly and still make a substantial profit when selling:  

A (very lucky) collector who was allocated three cases of La Tâche 2020 (3x75cl) could sell one today at £19,500, another at £12,500 and a third at £7,500 and still make a significant profit even on the last case, given what they paid for it (£4,035). 

The above scenario would not be good for the first buyer at £19,500.  So it is important to factor the gap between release prices and secondary prices when bidding for very recent vintages of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Domaine Armand Rousseau, Domaine Leroy, Domaine Leflaive etc.

Obviously where a wine is sufficiently old, this gap is unlikely to be such a problem because there won’t be much inventory left unconsumed or unsold from initial allocation. 

Top 20 Best Burgundy Opportunities Today

We screened almost 40,000 Burgundy wines to find Top 20 most attractive opportunities right now.   Our criteria were:

1. A recognised ‘big name’ producer. 

2. Average critic score of at least 94 points or more (which is pretty high in Burgundy).

3. A recognised top vintage.

4. A 12-month price decline of at least -20% (since October 2022).

We would strongly advise using the bidding functionality on the Cru World Wine platform to ensure that you get the best possible entry point.  Given the tiny production volumes, liquidity in top end Burgundy is necessarily much lower than in other areas.   So collectors looking to profit from the sharp pullback in prices should pick their entry level, stick to their price and be prepared to be patient. 

That patience should be handsomely rewarded over the coming years.