Tag: Burgundy 2022

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Assessing the Burgundy 2022 En Primeur campaign

Burgundy 2022
  • Burgundy prices continued to spiral downwards in January, falling 3.7%.
  • This created a challenging backdrop for the unfolding Burgundy 2022 campaign, which saw about 10% of producers reduce pricing year-on-year.
  • The current market dynamics offer investors a unique window to enrich their collections with both new gems and proven performers.

Burgundy took the spotlight at the beginning of the year with the unfolding 2022 En Primeur campaign. Already in our Q4 2023 report, we questioned the potential of the new releases to stimulate an otherwise dormant market. On the one hand, there was the excitement of the new mixed with high quality and quantity playing to the campaign’s advantage; on the other, much depended on pricing.

Market conditions and pricing challenges

Burgundy prices continued to spiral downwards in January, with the Liv-ex Burgundy 150 index starting the year with a 3.7% decrease. To say that this created a challenging backdrop for the new releases would be an understatement. Prices at release had to come down.

And partially they did. According to Liv-ex, about 10% of the top producers ‘lowered their prices year-on-year’. However, ‘about 40% raised their prices, even if only modestly’. Thanks to greater quantities, allocations were mostly restored.

Burgundy 2022 – ‘a treasure trove’

As the first releases landed, Burgundy 2022 enjoyed a positive reception from critics and trade. Neal Martin (Vinous) advised that ‘if your favourite growers’ price tags seem fair, then I would not hesitate diving in’. He described the 2022 vintage as ‘Burgundy’s latest trick: a treasure trove of bright ‘n bushy-tailed whites and reds in a season that implied such wines would be impossible, wines predestined to give immense drinking pleasure’.

Investment perspective and older vintages

However, prices for older vintages remain under pressure, creating buying opportunities for already physical and readily available wines. For instance, three of Burgundy’s outstanding long-term wine performers have all seen dips between 15% and 10% in the last year. Over the last decade, however, DRC Vosne-Romanée Cuvée Duvault Blochet is up 388%; Georges Roumier Bonnes Mares – 339%, and Armand Rousseau Chambertin – 279% on average.

Burgundy wines performance

Meanwhile, the Burgundy 150 index has decreased 16% in the last year. Still, the overall long-term index trajectory remains upwards, as the chart below shows.

Burgundy index

Searching for value

The current market dynamics offer investors a unique window to enrich their collections with both new gems and proven performers across older physically available vintages.

When it comes to the latest, the Burgundy 2022 En Primeur campaign presents a complex tapestry of quality, quantity, and pricing amidst challenging market conditions. Despite initial price pressures, the adjustments made by producers and the positive critical reception underscore the potential of the new releases. Neal Martin’s endorsement further elevates the vintage, suggesting that for the discerning buyer, Burgundy 2022 provides not just immediate drinking pleasure but also long-term investment opportunities.

WineCap’s independent market analysis showcases the value of portfolio diversification and the stability offered by investing in wine. Speak to one of our wine investment experts and start building your portfolio. Schedule your free consultation today.

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Burgundy 2022: a promising vintage in a challenging market

  • The 2022 vintage boasts high quality and quantity – ‘the largest crop in 23 years’.
  • It is being launched in a downward market, following ten months of consistent price declines.
  • As demand has tempered and stock has (re-)entered the market, the success of the upcoming releases will largely depend on pricing.

Burgundy’s 2022 vintage is being launched in a downward market, following ten months of consistent price declines. The success of the upcoming releases will largely depend on pricing, but will its quality and quantity have the potential to turn the tables?

Critical opinions on Burgundy 2022

Critic reports thus far have been overwhelmingly positive, applauding both the quality and the quantity of the vintage. 2022 marks the largest crop in 23 years, with some producers seeing double the yields of the previous year. According to Matthew Hayes (JancisRobinson.com), ‘across the whole of Burgundy, 2022 offered a whopping 75.4% more wine (red, white and crémant) compared with 2021’.

Contrary to expectations, the vintage produced wines with typicity, purity, and freshness despite the extreme weather. Hayes commented that ‘2022 was the second-hottest year that the Côte d’Or has endured this century and should logically have followed in the footsteps of the equally stifling solaire years of 2019 and 2020, producing wines with rich, deep fruit profiles and vibrant acidities to ensure long life but […] the wines show a generally impeccable balance of tidy, ripe fruit, discreet acidity and equally (and mostly) refined tannins’.

Hayes revealed that ‘the best-sited and best-rooted vines appeared to have coped well with the heat and in the Côte d’Or the excellence of the top premiers and grands crus shines clearly’.

The prevailing opinion is that 2022 is an excellent year for white wines, reminiscent of 2017 and 2020. Meanwhile, tasting notes from the Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits highlighted dense red wines with well-integrated tannins, simultaneously offering elegance and concentration. The wines are expected to be approachable in youth but with significant ageing potential.

However, the market onto which they are released is just as important as the releases themselves.

The current market for Burgundy

In October 2022, the Liv-ex Burgundy 150 index reached an unprecedented peak, marking a staggering 809.4% increase since its inception in December 2003. Twenty years later, Burgundy remains the best-performing fine wine region.

However, since its peak, prices have tumbled 17.4%. This decline has been attributed to various macroeconomic factors that led to a shift in investor sentiment. As the economic landscape became more uncertain, fine wine buyers have grown increasingly risk-averse, causing a contraction in demand for more volatile investments.

This trend was particularly pronounced in Burgundy, which had soared too high across the whole spectrum. At these stratospheric prices, the market saw more sellers than buyers, with investors keen to liquidate their stock. Top-tier Burgundy (re-)entered the market as sellers were looking to make gains.

This perception of increased risk and a preference for stability among investors led to a decrease in Burgundy’s trade share by value. The falling prices further exacerbated this trend.

Burgundy fine wine prices

The market conditions present a challenging backdrop for the high-quality high-quantity Burgundy 2022 En Primeur campaign. Will the excitement of the new be enough to stimulate demand?

WineCap’s independent market analysis showcases the value of portfolio diversification and the stability offered by investing in wine. Speak to one of our wine investment experts and start building your portfolio. Schedule your free consultation today.

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Hospices de Beaune 2022 Wine Auction

Exterior of the Hotel Dieu in Beaune with the sun falling on the roof's tiles

Each year since 1859, the Hospices de Beaune has taken place on the third weekend in November. It’s the world’s most famous charity wine auction that happens in the heart of Burgundy’s Côte d’Or: the town of Beaune. Christie’s auction house had organised the annual event since 2005 and it is undeniably the key occasion in any Burgundy lover’s calendar. However, it bounced back last year with a physical auction (2020 was virtual due to Coronavirus) and with a new auction house at the helm too: Sotheby’s.

The History of the Hospices de Beaune 

The Hôtel Dieu (God’s House) was built in 1443 by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Burgundy Nicolas Rolin and was originally a charitable hospital. It was founded to house sick Burgundians and help them recover there. The auction was first created in order to raise funds to support the Hospices’ benevolent works. Today, it is no longer a hospital, nor are any wines made there as a new winery was constructed in 1994. However, the funds raised from the auction continue to support those who work in the vineyards. Even those who may not be familiar with the auction might just recognise the eye-catching roof tiles of the Hôtel Dieu that shimmer in the Côte d’Or sunlight.

The 2022 Wine Auction

This year’s 162nd edition of this prestigious wine auction will take place on Sunday the 20th of November. Sotheby’s has announced that it is set to be one of the largest auctions in its history, with a total of 802 barrels from the 2022 vintage that hail from all of the 51 cuvées.

The auction will be made up of 620 barrels of red wines and 182 barrels of white wines from 60-hectares of holdings belonging to the Hospices which are in their second year of organic conversion. Two new cuvées that are included are the Corton Grand Cru, Cuvée Les Renardes and Beaune Premier Cru, Clos des Mouches, Cuvée Hugues et Louis Bétault.

Each year the auction features a special charity barrel – the Pièce des Présidents – (the Presidents’ barrel). This year, the selected charity barrel is a Corton Grand Cru, in honour of Louis Fabrice Latour, former head of Burgundy négociant Maison Louis Latour, who passed away in September. 

The proceeds from this charity lot will help support the Princesse Margot Association that helps children with cancer and the World Vision Organisation that comes to the aid of vulnerable children.

The 2021 auction, which was run by Sotheby’s for the first time, raised  €12.6 million in total, with a record €800,000 solely for the Presidents’ barrel.

Read more about this year’s Burgundy vintage here.

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Why the 2022 Burgundy Vintage is Looking Promising

Burgundy vineyard with rustic house

Frosts descended on some of France’s key fine wine regions in April for the second year in a row. Producers in Burgundy, Bordeaux and Champagne braced themselves for the coldest temperatures the country had experienced since April 1947. Burgundian winemakers were perhaps the most hypervigilant out of all the country’s producers who were taking measures in the vineyard to prevent the frost from settling. Burgundy’s vignerons were poised to battle the elements each night in the hope of escaping the same losses that impacted the 2021 vintage.       

Fortunately, the Bureau Interprofessionnel des Vins de Bourgogne (BIVB) – Burgundy’s wine board – has just announced that this year’s frost damage isn’t as bad as first thought. While ‘everyone had feared the worst’, due to a mild winter and two snaps of frost in April, it commented that ‘this event is different’ to last year’s. ‘The vines are less advanced in the growth cycle and in general terms, the frost was shorter and less intense.’ The areas which came under the most pressure from frost were ‘certain sectors in the northern part of the region.’

The BIVB’s technicians found in their analysis of vineyard plots that early May’s warmth and rainfall had helped accelerate the growing season and that flowering had begun mid May.  

While the climatic challenges experienced this year hadn’t resulted in as much damage in Burgundy’s vineyards as previously feared, the BIVB warned last month that there are still potential difficulties that lie ahead. This stems from a combination of increased global demand from consumers and reduced yields in 2021. Another factor the wine board highlighted was the financial pressure winemakers were under, having had to pay for additional vineyard equipment, such as candles, to ward off the frost. 

With frosts becoming more and more of a yearly occurrence and with producers’ margins becoming even tighter, could we see already high Burgundy prices rise even more? WineCap will be keeping a close eye on the 2022 Burgundy vintage and its progress. 

October 2022 update: Now that the harvest is in, discover the BIVB’s initial thoughts on the quality of the vintage and yields in our article.

Want to learn more about Burgundy, its producers and appellations? Download our Region Report to find out more.