Investment Potential of Comtes de Champagne 2012
Cru Wine Investment Top Pick 2024 - Taittinger Comtes De Champagne 2012
The 2012 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne is a prestige cuvée Blanc de Blancs made entirely from Chardonnay grapes sourced from the best Grand Cru vineyards in the prestigious Côte des Blancs region. Comtes de Champagne is only released in exceptional vintages and with only 32 vintages released since 1952.
Comtes de Champagne represents only 3-6% of Taittinger’s annual production, making it one of the most exclusive prestige cuvées in the region.
If we analyse recent Comtes de Champagne vintages that have achieved both a critic and vintage score of 95/100 we can see that the 2012 vintage represents the best relative value, highlighted by the lowest price per point in the table below. To put this into context, Krug and Cristal using the same search criteria score 1.86 and 3.42 respectively, showing both the inherent value and potential of the Comtes de Champagne with its score of just 1.07.
| Vintage | Vintage Score (WA) | Critic Score (WA) | Price Per Point* |
| 2013 | 95 | 96 | 1.24 |
| 2012 | 96 | 95+ | 1.07 |
| 2008 | 99 | 98 | 1.50 |
Price per point = lowest price case on UK Wine Searcher / (critic score*case size)
*Please see the footnotes which details our value investment methodology.
With the current market correction, Comtes 2012 is currently trading at a discount of 33% from its all-time highs on Liv-Ex. Couple this with it also being the third most traded wine in both value and volume on this platform, coming only behind the considerably more expensive cuvées of Dom Perignon and Cristal, this makes it a very attractive wine for the mid to long term investor.
I recommend buying multiple cases as this is not only a great investment Champagne, but it is also a great value drinking Champagne.
The Investment Case
- Strong investment fundamentals of Brand, Supply, Critic Score and Vintage quality.
- Excellent potential performance when compared to qualitative peers such as Cristal and Krug.
- Attractive entry price with a discount of 33% versus its peak.
95+ Points — William Kelley
“The 2012 Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne is showing beautifully out of the gates, offering up demonstrative aromas of sweet golden orchard fruit, buttery croissants, peach and hazelnuts. Medium to full-bodied, pillowy and enveloping, it’s a rich, textural, vinous Comtes somewhat reminiscent of the brilliant 2002. If it gains in tension and cut (as the 2002 did and as I suspect the 2012 will) with more time on cork, it will make this initial rating seem conservative.”
William Kelley, RobertParker.com, October 2022
Read our latest Champagne Report
Footnotes:
Cru Wine’s Value Investment Methodology
In order to identify the best value fine wine investments, Cru wine applies the following selection methodology.
- Identify the top fine wine producers in each region by historic returns and brand power.
- Identify wines from each selected producer that have both excellent vintage and critic’s scores.
- Calculate the selected wine’s price per point. Price per point represents the cheapest case on Wine Searcher UK / (critic score*case size).
- Compare price per point across comparable vintages and producers.
The above methodology identifies the best wines from both a brand and quality standpoint. Using this methodology, we can identify the best value wines from a particular region using the price per point calculation. The price per point score can then be used to compare the best value investments across both vintages and producers.
Matthew Small, Senior Portfolio Manager
Following a career in Investment Banking, Matt is fascinated by tracking and understanding the analytics of the fine wine market. He works with our investor clients, helping them to build robust, diversified portfolios with long-term earnings potential.
