Luxury wines capture the stock exchange

Among the luxury wines, the Masseto of Tenuta dell´Ornellaia achieved an amazing record. The vintage 2006, En primeur, was auctioned off at Gelardini&Romani in Italy on March 14th 2009 for 604 euro per 0,75 liter bottle and thus reached about double its recommended retail price. In light of the economic crisis, this is a very significant result which also shows continuing growth and which was confirmed at the last Vinexpo in Bordeaux.

The auctions of the Masseto have constantly increased in Italy (Pandolfini, Gelardini&Romani, etc) as well as abroad (Christie s, Sotheby's London and Sotheby's New York, etc). The value of the bottles has constantly increased from 1998 up to now. The same bottle of a 1998 vintage recorded an economic increase of 446 percent in comparison with its price ten years ago.

After Ornellaia announced November 11th last year that 20 percent of its production was to belong to the Negociants of Bordeaux (C.V.B.G., Barriere Fr Barriere Frères, Ballande & Meneret, Descaves, Joanne), the Masseto was present at the Place de Bordeaux with a degustation of 14 vintages from the years 1987 to 2006, that - separated into four flights - were served from magnum of the historic cellars. Marco Sabellico of the wine guide Gambero Rosso, the oenologic consultant Michael Rolland and the oenologist Axel Heinz hosted the tasting for 30 important international wine- and food journalists, who unanimously expressed their appreciation for the Cru from Bolghei in terms of its quality and durability.

"It is a great success that confirms the quality of our Merlot", says Giovanni Geddes, CEO of the Tenuta dell´Ornellaia. "Being here in Bordaux is a very significant privilege. Since the negociants have been leading the big Cru from Bordeaux for years, they have the perfect know how to represent even a large Italian Cru", he emphasizes.

"Our work together enables us to fully control the traceability of our wines", says Geddes. "An agreement ensures transparency about where the wine is sold to and guarantees that certain nations are excluded from that", he explains.

This project is remarkable and also of international importance, since up to now wines that had no connection to Bordeaux producers or to the Châteaux, were denied the sale through Negoce de Bordeaux. Thus, the Masseto is a pioneer and an absolute innovation which can bring new ways of the tradition of great international wines.

The Masseto, which is bound very close to its Tuscan terroir, has proven itself as a rarity abroad and has turned into one of the most wanted wines in the wold. A Cru from a single plantation of only seven hectares with an annual production of about 30 000 bottles. (aw.yoopress)

*Index: From 2001 until today - while the international stock exchanges have almost remained the same with a loss of one percent - the stock exchanges of big wines showed an increase of + 11% - a very favorable development which is only topped by the value of gold. (its growth rate is 15%, a plus, that was reached between November 2008 and February 2009 - source: Liv-EX.