January 2019 Investment update
Happy New Year!
Best wishes from the CWI team for the year ahead!
The Fine Wine market in 2018
Looking back at 2018, the Fine Wine market continued its steady growth. The Liv-ex 1000 index – the broadest measure of the market – closed 2018 on 363.3, a gain of 10% on last year’s close. After reaching a record monthly high in November, the index dipped by 0.2% over the festive period.
This is particularly strong in comparison to the very challenging financial markets – particularly in the last 3 months of the year. MSCI World index and S&P500 were both down 12% in the 4th quarter. In today’s world, it continues to be important to be diversified in uncorrelated assets. Next to having these healthy characteristics, fine wine also offers an educational and fun side to investing. Get in touch with us to start your own wine portfolio by sending us an email on: [email protected]
CWI has also continued its impressive performance this year with an 11% gain. Through our expert knowledge and thorough analysis, we are consistently outperforming other asset classes:
MOUTON ROTHSCHILD UNVEILS 2016 LABEL
Every year since 1945, Chateau Mouton Rothschild has commissioned an artist to design the label for its grand vin. Previous artists include Andy Warhol, Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud. Last month, the Chateau unveiled the design for its 2016 vintage (see below). The artwork for the label was designed by South African artist, William Kentridge. Mouton said that Kentridge is the “first internationally renowned artist from the African continent to illustrate a Mouton label”. His artwork, ‘The Triumphs of Bacchus’, depicts what Kentridge calls a “joyful procession” inspired by the Roman God of wine.
AUCTION NEWS
From time to time we are asked to sell private wine collections on behalf of clients. This can range from a single bottle to an entire cellar, and if desirable we will often arrange to sell these through auction. We recently arranged the sale of a client’s private cellar through a fine wine auction in Hong Kong, which realised over $150,000. This was part of Acker, Merrill and Condit’s first Hong Kong auction of 2019. The auction secured over US$6.2 million in sales and set 128 New World Records, kicking off the 2019 auction year in style, and demonstrating yet again the demand for fine wine.
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
Love them or loath them, the fine wine critics are highly influential on the price of wines. With the general release of the Bordeaux 2016 vintage imminent, the critics are re-tasting, and the first important critic to release a revised in-bottle report is Antonio Galloni of Vinous.
In the report Galloni says that, “the bottled 2016s capture every bit of the potential I sensed when I started tasting the wines from barrel, prior to en primeur” and that he “found many 2016s to be even better from bottle than they were during the spring futures campaign.”
Galloni awarded seven wines a perfect 100-points: Haut Brion, Latour, Mouton Rothschild, Palmer, Pichon Lalande, Tertre Roteboeuf and Vieux Chateau Certan. The critic also named several ‘Wines of the Vintage’. These wines didn’t necessarily receive the highest scores, but instead “left a deep impression on [him] for something beyond just a number”. Wines such as Figeac, Leoville Las Cases and Carmes Haut Brion featured in this list. Some of his 99-point wines of note include: Lafite, Lafleur, Le Pin, Margaux, Pontet Canet and Petrus.
LOOKING FORWARD TO 2019
2019 promises to be a very interesting year in the world of wine.
Our man on the ground in Bordeaux is telling us that the 2018 vintage is excellent, continuing the recent succession of good years. We will be tasting the new vintage in the coming months and we will keep you updated with all the latest news and opinions.
The major event on the horizon this year is the United Kingdom leaving the European Union. As things stand, we cannot tell you where we will be at the end of March when Brexit is initiated. However, we are able to say that in times of uncertainty, historically the Fine Wine market and other tangible assets are seen as safe havens. So, for us here at CWI it will be business as usual. Onwards and upwards!
We are in the process of organising a vineyard trip to Burgundy this summer for our clients. It will include tours of the leading sites as well as visits to top restaurants. Please let us know if you are interested in joining us.
We have some very exciting initiatives and events planned for 2019 and we will be in touch again soon.
HAVE A LOOK AT OUR CRU WINE SHOP
Cru Wine Investment continues to innovate – we launched our online shop in June, and invite you to explore the range.
You can check out all our offers on our newly launched online webshop: https://www.cru-wine.com
START YOUR OWN WINE PORTFOLIO
If you would like to speak with one of us or receive more information in regards to starting your own wine portfolio, just fill in this form, and we’ll get in touch.
Kind regards,
The Cru Wine Investment Team – www.cruwineinvestment.com
