What affects Wine Prices?

About Wine Investment

Robert Parker, the acclaimed US ‘Wine Critic’, has astounding power. His power is such that the Bordelais will rarely release their latest vintage until Mr Parker has ‘scored’ the wines. A re-evaluation of any wine’s score upwards can affect the price of a wine almost immediately, with an upgrade provoking a spike in the price as buyers chase the wine.

Stock Availability: These are niche wines with tiny productions. With high demand and often cult followings, these wines can often reach astronomical prices. Each Château can only produce around 12,000 cases annually due to the French Law ‘Appelation Controlee’. This means that they cannot mass produce the wines. If a vineyard has a low production, they must still use 95% of that year’s grapes in each bottle. This ensures that the quality is not compromised and could result in less than 10,000 cases being produced in a year.

The Seasons: There are many worldwide public holidays that affect a wine’s price. These holidays produce significant increases in consumption levels. The law of supply and demand states that as a supply decreases, the only way the demand can go is up. So when high consumption levels come into play we see high price rises. These such times are Chinese New Year, The Moon Festival and Christmas/New Year. Please also note that the release of a new vintage can also push back-vintage prices up as we have seen with the release of the extraordinary 2009 vintage.