Burgundy Wine, Luxury Giant And A Strong Business Case: Invest In Clos des Lambrays

Clos des Lambrays – A Truly Unique Grand Cru

Clos alludes to a vineyard surrounded by stones. And right there behind the stone wall is a very special vineyard with a very unique location in the very heart of Burgundy, namely the Clos des Lambrays. The Grand Cru vineyard Clos des Lambrays is today almost a monopole where Domaine des Lambrays owns over eight hectares of the vineyard's total 8.84 hectares which only just leaves Domaine Taupenot-Merme enough land to produce less than 300 bottles a year. The story tells of a vineyard that has lived a tumultuous life until today where it is considered to be part of the burgundy elite. Despite a fantastic history and coveted wine, it is only in recent years that the Clos des Lambrays really has become interesting from an investment perspective thanks to a French luxury giant and one of the world's most well-oiled marketing machines - but more on that in a moment.

The History Of Clos des Lambrays

Clos des Lambrays can be dated all the way back to 1365 when the vineyard was first mentioned in official documents. During the French Revolution, the vineyard was divided into many plots and only reassembled around 1868 when negociant Louis Joly bought the individual plots. In the late 1930s, Clos des Lambrays was bought by Renée Cosson, who did not do much good for the property. She did not replant and only succeeded in making good wine in the easy and strong vintages such as 1945.

In the late 1970s, the Saier family bought Clos des Lambrays and began replanting with winemaker Brouin and soon the quality went up. As early as 1981, this was rewarded with an upgrade from Premier Cru to Grand Cru. When the property changed owners in 1996, Brouin remained cellar master and winemaker. He continued a hard fight to raise the quality all the way up on par with the very best - a potential that was so much noticed that they invested heavily in the development of the domain to lead the Lambrays all the way up among the very biggest in Burgundy.

Domaine des Lambrays Today

In addition to the top wine Clos des Lambrays, Domaine des Lambrays produces four other wines, including two from Morey-Saint-Denis as well as two plots on Premier Cru vineyards in Puligny-Montrachet. However, there is no doubt that in terms of investment potential one must look at Clos des Lambrays. Only 30,000 bottles of wine are produced a year. And although this is relatively much, seen from a Burgundian perspective, it is actually incredibly little when we talk about wine for around € 200 / btl. In this price range, there are an awful lot of buyers and younger consumers. Also, the tradition of storing these types of wines until they are ready to drink is not further developed - an attractive situation for the Burgundy investor.

Supertanker Takes Over Historic Burgundy Domain

In 2014, it was announced that the French luxury conglomerate Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy Group (LVMH Group) had taken over the historic Domaine des Lambrays and thus control of the Grand Cru vineyard Clos des Lambrays, and control of branding and production.

LVMH Group is the parent company behind a wide range of luxury brands, which in addition to those described in the name, include brands such as Dior, Tag Heuer, Belvedere, Krug, Veure Clicquot and many more. LVMH Group is notoriously known for building, developing and maintaining luxury brands and with a staggering turnover of more than € 53 billion in 2019, it is fair to say that LVMH Group is a luxury supertanker in a league of its own.

What does this have to do with investment wine? It's actually quite simple. With a giant company like LVMH Group, there is no such thing as a passion investment - it is all about hardcore business as the investors must be kept happy. In other words, when LVMH Group enters into such a case, they see a potential and, incidentally, have one of the world's largest and most well-established marketing devices specializing in luxury products to unleash this potential. It gives the wine investor a unique opportunity to buy into the Clos des Lambrays and put themselves in the wake of the supertanker that is going to do everything in their power to influence prices in the future. It is not something that happens overnight, but it is certainly one-way traffic.

All this happens without compromising the brands, history and heritage, as LVMH Group has French roots and resides in Paris, which gives a natural respect for the values ​​of the various brands - incl. Domaine des Lambrays’.

LVMH's Effort Causes Prices To Rise At Clos des Lambrays

Right now, you can invest in the 2014 and 2016 Clos des Lambrays for respectively € 150 and € 160. Looking at the latest vintage, namely vintage 2018, the market price of this, directly from the domaine, is approximately € 210 pr. bottle. The quality is roughly comparable on these three vintages, if not the 2014 and 2016 vintage is marginally stronger. In this way, there is particularly high value-for-money to be picked up in the 2014 and 2016 vintages, as you as an investor both get wines of at least as high quality and with a few extra years in the cellar. At the same time, this is a testament to the fact that LVMH is doing what they can to push the price up on new releases - something that will affect prices across all vintages in the future.

2014 And 2016 In Burgundy - Which One To Choose?

The 2014 vintage in Burgundy is known for its finesse and very elegant style. Not a vintage with big heavy fruit taste, but more pure and precise fruit. This is a classic vintage for those who want classic Burgundy red wine. 2014 is vintage that is highly recognized for its excellent white wines, and where the red wines have only now begun to show their class. For Clos des Lambrays, this was the first vintage for the new ownership, but still with the old cellar master at the helm. A solid vintage with lots of value-for-money.

2016 was a difficult vintage for winegrowers in Burgundy. At the end of April, large parts of Burgundy were hit by frost, but accurately Clos des Lambrays went free due to its high placement on the slope. The severe frost in the 2016 vintage has meant that a greatly reduced amount of wine came on the market in response to a demand that is already significantly higher than the supply. This certainly contributes to rising prices for the best wines from this particular vintage.

RareWine Invest’s Opinion

Investing in Clos des Lambrays is in many ways an investment in a stable and solid Burgundy case, but at the same time, it is also a very interesting investment in a very exciting business case.

With LVMH Group's takeover of Domaine des Lambray, everything points to the fact that the French luxury giant sees enormous and untapped potential in the historic Burgundy domain. LVMH has both the capacity and the will to lift luxury brands to new heights and if you get to see the same work with Domaine des Lambrays as we have seen with the other of LVMH's brands, there is no immediate ceiling for the possibilities.

This means that you, as a wine investor, now have the opportunity to lie in the wake of the luxury supertanker and enjoy a massive marketing device with the aim of lifting the Domaine des Lambray and thus the top wine Clos des Lambrays to unprecedented heights.

Some of the work already seems to be read in the price difference of respectively 2014 and 2016 vintage and the 2018 vintage, where the ladder is significantly more expensive, without being of higher quality and despite the very young age.

If you believe in the potential of such a business case, this is your chance to get on board early.