Wine Prices Set To Rise After Poor Global Grape Harvest

Wine Prices Set To Rise After Poor Grape Harvest, Warns Majestic Boss -- The Guardian

Majestic Wine boss Steve Lewis says supermarkets are likely to increase the price of a £5 bottle by 50p or £1 next spring. Wine lovers are facing a worse than usual new year hangover as poor harvests in some of the world's most important wine producing regions threaten price hikes of up to £1 a bottle in 2013. Majestic Wine boss Steve Lewis said the increases would be most noticeable in the supermarket where British favourites such as Italian pinot grigio, New Zealand sauvignon blanc and Australian chardonnay sell for around £5 per bottle. "I would expect to see significant price inflation at entry price points," he said. "The price of a (£5) bottle of pinot grigio could go up by between 50p and £1 come February/March."

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Update: Great leap in price of grapes: Poor harvest could mean £1 hike in cost of a bottle of wine -- Daily Mail

My Comment: There's always beer.

The Wine Market Is Stabilizing

The Wine Market Sobers Up -- Jordan Weissmann, The Atlantic

These are lush years for luxury industries, like $5,000 handbags and pricey art. But one billionaire friendly market appears to have lost its legs: fine wine. That could be a sign of trouble for all of us, even you've never paid more than $9.99 for a bottle of Cabernet.

Auction prices for high end wines have taken a 23 percent dip since peaking a year ago, according to the Liv-ex Fine Wine 100 Index, which tracks a collection of the the world's most sought after bottles. The market had previously been on a tear, rising 264 percent since December 2003. And according to today's Wall Street Journal, recent pre-sales for top bottles have been noticeably weak.

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My Comment: I personally believe that this is temporary. The market for good wine is still there .... but the steep rise in prices over the past 7 years has given everyone pause. If the economy improves within the year, the market will start to go up and price increases will be more moderate.

Bordeaux 2011 Prices Cut As Much As 45%

Bordeaux 2011 Prices Cut As Much As 45% as Lafite Demand Cools -- SFGate/Bloomberg

May 22 (Bloomberg) -- Top Bordeaux 2011 wines including Chateau Lafite-Rothschild and Chateau Cos d'Estournel are selling for between 30 percent and 45 percent below recent vintages after investment demand for the exceptional 2009s and 2010s sapped buyers' appetite for less-powerful new clarets.

First-growth Lafite is being quoted at $8,410 a case on London-based wine exchange Liv-ex, 41 percent below 2010 and 45 percent down from the 2009s. Second-growth Cos d'Estournel, its close neighbor, is at $1,680 a case for the latest vintage, 45 percent down from the 2010s and 62 percent below 2009.

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My Comment: It looks like some sanity is returning to the market.

Price Of American Wine Is Set To Rise

Drink Up! Price Of American Wine Is Set To Rise -- MSNBC

Group predicts California vintages will see upturn first, then spreading through US supply.

NEW YORK — U.S. consumers are going to be faced with a choice this year: pay more for a bottle of domestic wine, settle for lower quality, or buy cheaper imports, the Silicon Valley Bank forecast on Tuesday.

SVB, a commercial banker to the wine industry, said in its latest "Annual State of the Wine Industry Report" that it expects vintners to raise prices as the supply of grapes declines and evolves "into a state of shortage that will last for some time domestically."

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My Comment: The imports are not that bad.

Are Chinese Aficionados Fueling A Wine Bubble?

Visitors to VineExpo Asia-Pacific sample wine in Hong Kong, May 25, 2010.
Mike Clarke / AFP / Getty Images

Bordeaux Breaks the Bank: Are Chinese Aficionados Fueling a Wine Bubble? -- Time

This post is in partnership with Worldcrunch, a new global—news site that translates stories of note in foreign languages into English. The article below was originally published in Le Nouvel Observateur.

Asian millionaires' thirst for the best Bordeaux wines has sent prices skyrocketing, and the most prestigious Châteaux have been turning astronomical profits as a result.

At a May 17 auction in Hong Kong, new Chinese millionaires were fighting over the few wines that Château Latour — which was rated as First Growth under the 1885 Bordeaux Classification — brought out of its wine cellars. It took Christie's seven and a half hours to sell the 392 lots. Château Latour, which belongs to François Pinault, had planned to stimulate wine collectors' thirsts by putting 19th century wines up for auction, including one bottle dating back to 1863 which sold for 48,730 euros.

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My Comment: Considering how expensive these wines have become over the past few years ... I would have to say yes .... the Chinese have created a "wine bubble"

Demand For High-End Wines Is Dropping Worldwide (Video)

A Look At The Wine Market For 2012 (Video)

Feb. 17, 2012 (Bloomberg) -- John Kapon, chief executive officer of Acker Merrall & Condit, talks about the fine wine market. He speaks with Deirdre Bolton on Bloomberg Television's "Money Moves." Bloomberg's Courtney Donohoe also speaks. (Source: Bloomberg)