|Objects| How Champagne
|Objects| How Champagne Became Collectable More than just celebratory fizz, the French sparkler is now a fine wine – with a burgeoning collectors’ market to match. By Tom Harrow P utting together an enviable cellar to be enjoyed as the wines mature over the years is the dream of many, as is meeting and sharing bottles with fellow devotees and the winemakers themselves. Selling those cases whose market value has increased allows collectors to reinvest proceeds and fund future purchases. Traditionally, wine portfolios were dominated by the top Bordeaux Classified Growths, but then burgundy became increasingly collectable, with barolo and the storied wines of Tuscany also starting to feature, supported by a smattering of top Rhône and New World producers. More recently, however, champagne, once largely treated as an apéritif or celebratory wine, is carving out a well-deserved niche, featuring more prominently in many serious collections, and the most sought-after cuvées are being eagerly anticipated and fought over. Essi Avellan, MW (Master of Wine), a renowned champagne specialist, says, “Champagne has become PHOTO MICHAEL BOUDOT 42 CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM
a fine wine, instead of being a mere celebration drink, which has led to increased interest in its rare cuvées, grower domains, single-terroir champagnes and best vintages.” The statistics back Avellan up: Justin Gibb, co-founder of Liv-ex (the wine trade’s most reliable resource for price performance and trends), says that “in 2015, Champagne represented seven per cent of the French market traded internationally, but, by 2022, this was up to 15.8 per cent and in 2023, is holding at 15 per cent, putting it only behind Bordeaux and Burgundy as the most traded fine wine region”. He suggests that “the emergence of the first 2008 prestige cuvées really seeded interest, given the ‘greatest ever’ reputation of the vintage”. Between the end of 2019 and 2022, Gibb notes that the average price of a case of champagne rose by a staggering 76.7 per cent. By October 2022, Liv-ex’s Champagne 50 Index (which records the price performance of the most recent physical vintages of the most actively traded champagnes) outperformed all other wine regions as well as all mainstream equities. Peter Crawford, a champagne fanatic and latterly importer of up-and-coming artisan producers, says somewhat ruefully that “champagne is a drink of joy, of special moments, but prices are taking us towards sipping seriously rather than pouring joyously”. However, in line with a general correction in finewine pricing over the past 12 months, due in part to “prevailing macroeconomic headwinds,” says Gibb, “our Champagne 50 Index has recorded a 16 per cent drop in value”. So has the bubble burst? “The recent years have seen a great boost in champagne sales globally, leading to shortage and exponentially risen prices, but now, the overheated market is finding a new balance with better availability and stabilising prices,” says Avellan. “Ambitious positioning from certain maisons has come down from its peak,” agrees collector and Dame Chevalier de L’Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne Queena Wong. “We should expect some caution from the houses with regards to pricing, and see steady progression rather than the previously rapid increases after release,” she adds. At the end of September, Gibb said that “the decline in champagne prices is showing clear signs of levelling off”. He reminds us that “even at £200 a bottle, the most highly critically rated cuvées offer great value compared to the equivalent top tier of wines in Bordeaux and Burgundy, with the latest vintages of First Growths at £500+ and Grand Cru Côte d’Or icons at £1,000 or more”. This should surely pique the interest of shrewd collectors looking to access exceptional wines at the right time. But what are the benefits of bubbly and which bottles should be on your list? For Avellan a collectable wine is “for future enjoyment or investment. Thus, by keeping it, the wine needs to improve in taste or increase in value, hopefully both.” However, unlike other fine, collectable wines – bordeaux and burgundy being the obvious foils – champagne is released already aged; it is shipped shortly after being offered (usually within a couple of months); and a significant majority is consumed upon arrival. “As soon as champagne appears on shelves and restaurant lists, it is consumed immediately as it has already been matured,” says Wong. (It is worth noting this creates an immediate scarcity that can impact demand and subsequent price repositioning). However, Wong contends that “being a collector is different from being a champagne lover, as you are rarely CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM 43
