Italian wine at auction 2007-2011

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Table 1: Top 10 most expensive Italian lots sold at auction, 2007-2011

Wine	Date sold	Lot price	Auction house
Sassicaia 1985	May 2010	£19,420	Acker Merrall & Condit (HK)
Barolo Monfortino Riserva 1955 (Jeroboam)	March 2007	£18,279	Zachys NY
Sassicaia 1985	May 2007	£18,060	Zachys NY
Sassicaia 1985 (magnums)	May 2007	£18,060	Zachys NY
Sassicaia 1985	April 2009	£15,762	Zachys NY
Barolo Monfortino Riserva 1952 (Jeroboam)	March 2007	£15,232	Acker Merrall & Condit (NY)
Sassicaia 1985	April 2009	£13,667	Sotheby's HK
Sassicaia 1985	March 2009	£13,667	Sotheby's HK
Sassicaia 1985	November 2010	£13,123	Sotheby's NY
Sassicaia 1985	November 2010	£12,868	Christie's HK
Source: Fabian Cobb

THERE WERE approximately 1,200 lots of Italian wine that came to auction in 2011 – less than 3% by volume of all auction lots last year. Nonetheless, for fans of some of the scarcer Italian wines this might be the only opportunity to acquire certain bottles. While a number of wines of Brunello di Montalcino come on to the market, because these are widely distributed among many producers including Biondi Santi, Frescobaldi, Giulio Salvioni, Livio Sassetti and Antinori, they do not form part of the sample used in this article. ^{Note 1}Unmixed, non-verticals from Sotheby's, Christie's, Acker Merrall & Condit, Zachys, Hart Davis Hart.

Table 2: Top 10 most traded Italian wines at auction, 2007-2011, by value (all vintages)

Wine	Lots	Value
Sassicaia	1076	£1,723,695
Masseto Tenuta dell'Ornellaia	457	£888,247
Ornellaia	547	£524,249
Barolo Monfortino Riserva	203	£469,439
Barolo Sperss	322	£409,988
Solaia	379	£390,671
Barbaresco Sori San Lorenzo	282	£387,612
Barbaresco Sori Tildin	243	£351,579
Tignanello	384	£233,962
Gaja Barbaresco	235	£227,475
Source: Fabian Cobb

For the purposes of analysing producers, labels, values and vintages the list has been restricted to some top dozen or so which make up a major proportion of all auction lots. Amarone has also been excluded because lots are still very limited (Allegrini, Dal Forno and Quintarelli being the main producers) and the numbers of lots, especially after taking into account specific wines and vintages, are small.

The most expensive lot sold at auction during this period was a 12-bottle case of Sassicaia 1985 sold by Acker Merrall & Condit in Hong Kong in May 2010 for nearly £19,500, including buyer’s premium (see Table 1). Sassicaia 1985 is the most traded wine from the entire sample, 2007-2011, selling 166 lots worth almost £750,000 (see Table 4). Judging by the volume of lots handled by the top auction houses for Italian wines, these wines are not, as yet, so highly sought after in the Far East. Zachys (NY), Hart Davis Hart (Chicago), Sotheby’s (London), Acker Merrall & Condit (NY), Sotheby’s New York, Zachys Los Angeles, Christie’s New York and Christie’s London. Zachys and Hart Davis Hart lead the way by a considerable margin over the other houses. However, looking at the prices obtained generally, there can be considerable interest generated at any auction, at any venue. The flip side to this is that lots may be completely overlooked, for whatever reason, and prices can fluctuate considerably.

Table 3: Wines that have shown the largest price increases (Jan-Dec 2011)

Barolo Monfortino Riserva, Giacomo Conterno 1999	37%
Barbaresco Santo Stefano di Neive Riserva, Bruno Giacosa 1985	60%
Masseto Tenuta dell'Ornellaia, Frescobaldi 2001	25%
Tignanello, Angelo Gaja 1997	40%
Barbaresco Sori Tildin, Angelo Gaja 1997	23%
Masseto Tenuta dell'Ornellaia, Frescobaldi 1998	70%
Source: Fabian Cobb

CONCLUSION
Clearly, Italian wines have some way to go in the auction market but if the quality, quantity and availability of offers improves in 2012 there is every reason to suppose the trends will continue. Barolo has a considerable upside and Tuscan wines (for example, Tignanello with 127 hectares of vineyards), Sassicaia and Ornellaia will continue to confirm their place in the worldwide auction market. This is a market which is relatively undeveloped and for collectors or investors, Table 3 shows that picking the right wine could yield some handsome profits in the future.

_{This article first appeared in the May edition of the drinks business Hong Kong.}

Table 4: Top 10 most traded wines at auction 2007-2011
(by wine and vintage)

Wine	Year	Lots	Value
Sassicaia	1985	166	£749,414
Barolo Spers	1997	99	£205,033
Masseto Tenuta dell'Ornellaia	1997	63	£169,359
Sassicaia	1997	122	£166,938
Solaia	1997	122	£163,453
Masseto Tenuta dell'Ornellaia	2001	43	£144,640
Ornellaia	1997	103	£124,473
Sassicaia	1990	89	£117,927
Masseto Tenuta dell'Ornellaia	1998	67	£116,187
Ornellaia	1998	93	£87,100
Source: Fabian Cobb

Table 5: Top 10 most popular vintages of
Italian wines sold at auction 2007-2011

Year	No. of lots
1997	806
1998	454
1990	392
2000	357
1999	303
1985	299
1995	280
2001	275
1996	218
2004	214
Source: Fabian Cobb

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