Domaine Jamet of Rhone: A Future Star Of Wine Investment?

Wine Investor, Welcome To Rhône

It is hardly a surprise to the wine lover that Rhône is a stronghold of beautiful and highly beloved wines, but also in an investment perspective, the top wines from Rhône only become more interesting. While the best and most prestigious wines from Burgundy and Bordeaux, for example, have reached record high prices, parallel opportunities arise where, for example, Rhône hosts attractive investment potential - a potential that Domaine Jamet could very well fulfill.

Côte-Rôtie - Rhone's Toasted Slope

In the northern part of Rhône lies the Côte-Rôtie - a wine region that extends through the municipalities of Saint-Cyr-sur-le-Rhône, Ampuis and Tupin-et-Semons. The vineyards here are particularly unique due to their locations on the steep slopes pointing down towards the river Vienne. Côte-Rôtie can be translated to “the toasted slope” and refers to the many hours of sunshine the steep slopes are favored by especially throughout the summer.

Here in Côte-Rôtie, Domaine Jamet was established by Joseph Jamet in the early 1950s. Here, as we know it from many other wine regions, the harvest was primarily sold to the negociants of the region. But Joseph Jamet wanted more than this and began producing wine by his own name in 1976. The story went on and the domain was inherited by the sons of Joseph, Jean-Paul and Jean-Luc who managed to raise the name, quality and reputation to new heights.

In 2013, Jean-Luc left the family business and Domaine Jamet was hereby run by Jean-Paul, who along with his wife Corinne has continued to develop the brand and made Domaine Jamet the producer of some of the most sought-after wines from the Northern Rhône.

Domaine Jamet's wine, Côte-Rôtie, is made from 100% Syrah from 20 different parcels in Côte-Rôtie and is matured for 22 months. The wine is not the most expensive nor limited wine from the domain, but precisely in this lies a strength: An attractive price has created a huge audience for Côte-Rôtie and an apparently high supply leads to high consumption and extremely limited tradition holding on to it - something that can be an attractive upside.

Côte-Rôtie In Investment Suitable Quantities

There is uncertainty about how large quantities of Côte-Rôtie Domaine Jamet actually produce, and the exact number of bottles is very well known only by the domain itself. If you do a little research, you will find information that claims everything from a production of 300 boxes (3,600 bottles) and upwards.

If you work more rationally, you can manage to get an idea of the domain's maximum production. Domaine Jamet's 20 Côte-Rôtie parcels correspond to the area of approx. ​​eight hectares of cultivated vineyard. The Côte-Rôtie appellation dictates a maximum yield of 40 hl / ha. In this perspective, Domaine Jamet's production of Côte-Rôtie will be at most of 42,000 bottles in a strong, rich vintage. In addition, it is usually seen that the top producers neither can or will achieve the full benefit, due to the whims of the weather and their own strict quality requirements. A qualified guess on the size of Domaine Jamets Côte-Rôtie production is therefore a size of substantially under 30,000 bottles in a rich vintage.

Even in a worst-case scenario, a production of 30,000-40,000 bottles per vintage is a particularly investment-friendly quantity - at least in this case where a strong wine brand is the subject of large ongoing consumption, and in a price rally where storage tradition is probably as good as nonexistent.

The vintages 2015 and 2016 today cost around € 140-150**, with 2015 being the most expensive, while the latest vintage, 2017, can be acquired for just € 120**. This difference can be due to the fact that 2017 vintage is the most recently released vintage of Côte-Rôtie by Domaine Jamet and is still available in the market, while the more expensive price of the two previous vintages testifies the wine's popularity and potential.

The historical price increases at Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie also indicate a particularly attractive investment potential. The past 10 vintages, which have been on the market for a minimum of two years, have yielded an average return of 25.1%, which corresponds to an average annual return of 11.8%. If you make the same calculation with the last ten vintages that have been on the market for a minimum of five years, the average return is 87.5%, which gives an average annual return of 13.4%.

The 2017 vintage, with the comparable quality of the 2015 and 2016 vintages and Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie's great historical return, is an attractive investment case, where the timing seems ideal with 2017's low price taken into account.

** Price per bottle without duty, VAT and tax, in whole cases ad perfect condition

Rare Wine Invest’s Opinion

If you want to invest in an alternative region than the absolute greatest, here is a very interesting potential and Domaine Jamet has what it takes to be able to deliver in the northern Rhône.

Domaine Jamet is among the top producers in the region and the domain's Côte-Rôtie is subject to immense popularity thanks to excellent quality and attractive price - a price that has secured an audience that may well become much larger as prices in, for example, Burgundy in the recent years have risen dramatically. This does not mean that the potential of, for example, Burgundy is diminishing, but if you want to look in other directions, this is an obvious opportunity for an investment case with strong potential.

The price difference of respectively the 2015 and 2016 vintages compared to the 2017 vintage looks very attractive, while an average annual return of the last ten years, which has been on the market for a minimum of five years, of 13.4% also indicates a strong potential.

Invest in Domaine Jamet and get a solid alternative to the classic French investment wines.