2009 V 1982 : Guest Post from Vin-X

It has been estimated that the price movement on the 2009 vintage, in the 24 hours following the release of RP’s record scores, sits at around the $100m mark. Not a bad day’s work for Mr Parker.In the February 29^th issue of The Wine Advocate, Parker tells us:‘2009 is the greatest vintage I have tasted in Bordeaux since 1982, of which it is a modern-day version, but greatly improved’. This generated some food for thought in the office…even better than the 1982 eh? Perhaps we should take a look at the previous greatest modern vintage and see how they shape up? The following table shows the scores and current average list prices of both the 1982 and 2009 vintages:

Lafite 1982	97	£42,658	Lafite 2009	99+	£10,856
Latour 1982	100	£19,268	Latour 2009	100	£12,829
Mouton 1982	100	£12,321	Mouton 2009	99	£7,282
Margaux 1982	98	£9,724	Margaux 2009	99	£8,422
Haut Brion 1982	95	£6,838	Haut Brion 2009	100	£7,575

It’s worth noting that release prices were much lower in the old days. The 1982 vintage was released at an average of £275 per case for each of the 1^st growths. This means a return on the Lafite ’82 in the order of 15,400%

2009 release prices were in the order of £8,000-£10,000, however we believe that the values achieved by the 1982 vintage still suggest some strong potential for the 2009 vintage:

Lafite ‘82 for example, trades today at £42,658 – a premium of 292% to the 09 even though the quality is comparable – Lafite ‘82 was originally scored at 100 and then down graded to 97 without impact on price. Our belief is that the 2009 scored by Parker on the 2^nd March at 99+ is still, a strong contender for a future 100 point score as certainly in-bottle maturation will continue to enhance this already superb wine. If 09 does go on to become the ‘best ever’ Lafite, the present price could look very attractive. Latour 09 could represent a serious bargain with 100 points, it is currently 50% off the value of its 1982 counter-part with the same Parker score. (Latour ’61 has sold at £28,000 and £33,000 in auction recently) and must also be an attractive option to the keen investor.

Finally, our attention was also caught by the 100RP points Haut Brion 09, currently priced at £7,575. It does not bench-mark that meaningfully with its 1982 counterpart, (95 RP), however, when compared to the 1989, which also hit the 100 point mark and currently trades at £14,000, it looks exceptional value considering the superiority of the vintage.