The fine wine market has seen immense growth and broken numerous records in the past year – here we outline four of the biggest wine investment trends to watch in 2022.
Bordeaux investment wines
Bordeaux remains the most important region for investable wines globally. It attracts the greatest liquidity, meaning that its wines, particularly the classified Growths, see consistent levels of trade. Bordeaux is a staple in most investment portfolios, and the annual En Primeur campaign draws attention from collectors and trade year after year.
2022 sees the launch of the 2021 vintage, which critics have largely claimed exceptional for dry and sweet white wines. Many of the new releases offer great value for money but there is also a plethora of exceptional older vintages like 2019 which are already enjoying serious price growth. A category to watch this year is the second wines of the First Growths, which benefit from the same technical expertise as the Grand Vin but represent a lower-priced alternative. These wines tend to deliver some of the biggest return on investment.
Strong competition from Burgundy
On the global fine wine market, Burgundy has emerged as Bordeaux’s strongest competitor. For the first time in 2022, Burgundy has even taken a greater share of the UK fine wine market than Bordeaux. Demand is greater than ever but so are allocations.
Driven by scarcity, early investors in the sector have seen increases of over 2,000% in some wines. Over the past two decades, Burgundy’s leading index, which tracks the price performance of the 150 most sought-after wines, has risen over 740%. Today, the trend is to seek value – and stock – within Burgundy’s appellations, as the region continues to give investors reasons to want more.
Vintage Champagne
The start of the year was all about bubbles. Vintage Champagne led the charts in our Q1 wine market report – a trend that is set to continue. Looming shortages due to the 2021 grape harvest, which was one of the smallest on record, have only increased global demand and pushed up prices. Consistent returns, stability, brand appeal and unparalleled distribution are just few of the other reasons why Champagne is very much in vogue in 2022.
The rise of other wine investment regions
The ongoing broadening of the fine wine market means that there are plenty of investment opportunities to discover outside the aforementioned French regions.
One such example is California. A string of good vintages in the past decade and high critic scores have elevated the region’s share of the fine wine market from just 0.1% to 7.6% over the past decade – a theme that is set to continue.
Italy is another success story. More Italian regions outside the pillars of Tuscany and Piedmont are delivering value and stable returns.
Want to discuss these wine investment trends in more detail with an expert? Schedule a call with one of WineCap’s investment advisors.