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Case Study: Chateau Lafite Rothschild 2000

Case Study: Chateau Lafite Rothschild 2000

In this entry, we follow the trajectory of a blue chip wine from its release through the present day:

2000: Climatic conditions align to yield wines of remarkable structure and longevity in Bordeaux.

2003: Lafite Rothschild 2000 hits the retail market at a price of $300-$365 USD per bottle, more than double the release price of the previous vintage. This initial valuation was buoyed in part by a perfect 100 point score published by the critic Robert Parker in April 2003, though he would later downgrade the wine to a score of 98+ points.

2006: The wine spikes in value to an average price of $599.91 due to a surge in demand in the Far East markets. This trend of frenzied acquisition continues through 2011, when the wine reaches an all-time high average price of $2480.60 per bottle.

2012: Due to an increasing interest in Burgundy on the part of investors and a rising number of counterfeit bottles of Lafite, the bubble bursts, and the wine plummets in price to an average price of $1729.16.

2017: The wine seems to have stabilized in recent years, with a current average value of $1323.07 per bottle.

Conclusion: Despite the fact that the price of the wine has has varied greatly over time, its aggregate value has increased by 440% since release, far outperforming the S&P 500 in the same period. Given the current state of the secondary market (First Growth Bordeaux has increased in value by 5.79% YTD over 2016) and the fact that the wine will become increasingly scarce as consumption takes its toll on supply, we believe that 2000 Lafite Rothschild is a savvy investment that will continue to appreciate in value over time.

Full cases of Lafite Rothschild 2000 in original wood are currently available from Estate Wine Brokers.