Roumier Amoureuses: Solid Returns and Hyper-limited Production

A Unique Dowry that Impressed the Wine World

Speaking of the greatest, most expensive and exclusive burgundy wines, there is nothing that surpasses the legendary Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and the mighty Domaine Leroy. The ranking hereafter may be up for debate, though no one will contradict Domaine Georges Roumier's rightful place in the top-5.

The tale of Domaine Geroges Roumier's began in 1924, when a young Georges Roumier married Geneviéve Quanquin of the Burgundy municipality of Chambolle-Musigny. In the marriage followed a dowry from Quanquin's family, who had a fine collection of parcels on acclaimed vineyards. The pair thus came to have parcels in vineyards such as Les Amoureuses, Bonnes-Mares and La Combe d'Orveau. No one knew at this time how important the marriage should be to the family's wine production and what imprint the name Roumier would later have on the wine world.

Finding the right successor to Georges Roumier proved to be difficult. Partly because the couple got a child flock of seven and partly because of the strict French inheritance law, which guarantees all heirs equal parts of the inheritance. However, they succeeded during the 1950s when the oldest son Jean-Marie took over the domain, which in 1982 again passed to Jean-Marie's son, Christophe.

Christophe Roumier is largely responsible for lifting the domain wines to what they are today, and the status is not to be mistaken: The top wines from Domaine Georges Roumier are among the absolute best in the world!

Les Amoureuses - The Princess of Chambolle-Musigny

Although Domaine Georges Roumier was founded in 1924, it was not until 60 years later, in 1984, that all the wines of the domain were produced at the domain itself, and from that point on, the development of the Roumier we know today started in earnest. The domain's greatest wines are today, respectively Musigny and Bonnes-Mares from the Grand Cru fields of the same name. But if focus is turned slightly towards northeast of the mythical Musigny lies Les Amoureuses, which probably is the most famous Premier Cru mark in Chambolle-Musigny. Premier Cru is the second highest classification in Burgundy and although the field is shared with prominent names such as Vogüé, Mugier and Bertheau, Roumier’s Les Amoureuses stands as the greatest and most recognized and prestigious.

Although the two Grand Cru fields can undoubtedly be seen as the area's main attractions, Roumier's Les Amoureuses still shines through as one of the municipality's brightest stars and is often referred to as the Princess of Chambolle.

Hyper-limited Production

Les Amoureuses measures 5.4 hectares and consists of more than 40 plots managed by a wide range of producers, with Roumier, Vogüé, Mugier and Bertheau as the most significant. Of Les Amoureuses' more than 40 plots, Roumier alone has four. These are located in the attractive southern part of the field and account for just 0.396 ha, which is just over 7% of the total area of ​​the vineyard.

Not only is this the best and most recognized Amoureuses, the world's wine lovers must find that production is limited to just 1,400-1,500 bottles per year according to the domain itself. An unfortunate situation, but extremely attractive from an investment perspective! The limited production is probably also one of the reasons why Domaine Georges Roumier Les Amoureuses has delivered solid returns in recent years. See more about it after the photo.

Investing in Roumier Amoureuses secures an investment in the best Amoureuses produced only in limited quantities

Domaine Georges Roumier Amoureuses has thus beaten the market, which also holds true in the past year, despite stagnant prices in Burgundy in 2019 so far.

What is interesting as well is that the older vintages (after the year 2000) have generally delivered some of the biggest returns, whether looking at a two- or five-year period, while the quality has only improved until today. See the chart below where the trend line clearly illustrates the rising quality from Domaine Roumier’s Amoureuses. Note: The green color indicates vintages currently available for investment.

The Amoureuses from Domaine Georges Roumier have been subject of large price rises in recent years, and while these will probably not continue at the same pace, this is a solid burgundy investment. Given the rising quality and high interest in the Premier Cru field Amoureuses, where Roumier is arguably the most important producer, there is still potential for good returns.

* vintages that have been on the market for at least two years (2001-2015)

**vintages that have been on the market for at least five years (2001-2012)

Can the Second-best become the Best?

Speaking of the best and the second-best, there can quickly be a subjective discussion, although there is no discussion that, for example, Roumier’s Musigny is a more prestigious wine than their Amoureuses, which the price reflects as well. However, precisely the difference in price may be an upside in the second best - in this case the Amoureuses. For example, a 2011 Musigny from Roumier costs around € 9,500 per bottle * while the same vintage of Roumiers Amoureuses costs just € 1,850 per  bottle*. In other words, this means that in this case five bottles of Amoureuses can be obtained at the same price as for a single bottle of Musigny. To buy the best from Roumier, Musigny is the most prestigious at all times, but the option of five bottles of Amoureuses at the same price is extremely attractive to many.

Looking at the neighboring municipality of Vosne-Romanée, recent price increases have also made wine connoisseurs, who would normally choose the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti's primary wine Romanée-Conti, to a greater extent be tempted by the crown prince of the domain, La Tâche. The price of Romanée-Conti has become so high that La Tâche has become extremely attractive to many in the light of the price-quality ratio.

In this way, the second-best wine can become the best, seen from an investment perspective.

* Price ex. duty, VAT and duty, in whole cases and perfect condition.

Rare Wine Invest’s Opinion

Domaine Georges Roumier is approaching the status of a cult producer, well helped on the way by the house's greatest wines; Musigny, Bonnes-Mare and Amoureuses. In addition, the Premier Cru vineyard, Amoureuses, seems to have been subject of growing interest and, as the largest and most prestigious wine of the vineyard, Roumiers Amoureuses is highly suitable for investment.

Although these wines have been the subject of large price rises in recent years and though this is unlikely to continue at the same pace, there is still considerable investment potential to be found.

Domaine Georges Roumier has since the turn of the millennium managed to raise the quality of the wines from Amoureuses, but also the earliest vintages of these have delivered great returns, which represents a promising future for the subsequent vintages of higher quality.

Add to this that only 1,400-1,500 bottles are produced per vintage, which is an extremely limited production even in burgundy contexts. It is extremely difficult to obtain these wines, but succeeded, every wine connoisseur will know that if these are stored and matured optimally, an eminent wine awaits those who are so lucky to be able to buy it in the future.

Do you want to learn more?

Read more about why investing in wine is the perfect investment and get wiser on what mechanisms make investing in wine especially attractive right here: Why invest in wine?

If you are not yet a wine investor, you can also benefit from reading more about how to invest right here: How to Invest

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