Underrated Prestige Cuvée: 2012 Belle Epoque MAG Available

Pierrer-Jouet-Jouet is not only behind one of Champagne's most distinctive bottles, with the prestige cuvée Belle Epoque, but also hosts an attractive and untapped potential. For while the quality is undeniable, the pricing is exciting for the Champagne investor. At the same time, the small prestige cuvée is backed by some massive muscle that has one thing in mind: satisfying investors and developing the conglomerate.

But the commercial goes hand in hand with art and love - and there is potential in that.

Perrier-Jouet: Art, Botany And Champagne In A Wonderful Trinity

In 1810, Pierre-Jouet-Nicolas Perrier and Rose Adélaïde were married. She came from a cultured Norman merchant family, while he was a botanist and winegrower. Their shared love of art and botany brought them together, and with Pierrer-Jouet-Nicolas' status as a winemaker, a duet was transformed into a trio, with champagne as the final element of a perfect trinity. In 1811, they founded the Maison Perrier-Jouët champagne house, and their vision was clear.

They wanted to create a different champagne house with nature and creativity as its core values, which still characterise the house today. Rose quickly became responsible for the vineyards and production, while Perrier took care of sales and marketing, with great success.

Art Nouveau And A Prestige Cuvée

Even if you were unaware of the family's inherent interest in art, a quick glance at the Champagne house's visuals will paint your mind with art. Belle Epoque is the house's prestige cuvée, and it was created as a result of a quest for perfection. The bottle's appearance had to reflect its contents, and the choice fell on the art nouveau style.

Belle Epoque is beautifully decorated with an array of glazed anemones, and the inspiration came from a bottle found in the Champagne house's back rooms. It was made in 1902 by glass artist Emilie Galle, who is today considered one of the most important figures in the French art movement: Art Noveau.

Current Ownership Can Boost Profit

Today, Perrier Jouet is owned by French spirits giant Pernod Ricard, and despite a change in ownership, Perrier Jouet remains entirely its own and its own set of values is completely intact, with Belle Epoque as its darling.

Since 1959, Perrier-Jouet Jouet has been owned by Champagne company G.H. Mumm, which became part of the Pernod Ricard group in 2005. Perrier-Jouet Jouet's support base has thus gradually grown in strength - indeed, Pernod Ricard is the world's second largest spirits producer by volume, second only to Diageo, and since 2003 Pernod Ricard's turnover has increased by 151.2 % to $11.2 billion by 2022

They manage brands such as Havana Club, Absolut Vodka, Kahlua, and Malibu, as well as The Glenlivet, Ballamtime's and Chivas Regal, all of which are brands that ensure high profits for Pernod Ricard and contribute to a large proportion of the company's operating profit. To the above portfolio can be added separate supermarket wines, and Perrier-Jouet is ultimately the largest and only prestige brand here.

And while G.H. Mumm, Chivas Regal and Perrier-Jouet Jouet can all be categorised as prestige brands at Pernod Ricard, Belle Epoque belongs at the ultimate top of Pernod Ricard's product portfolio, as Jouet's prestige cuvée. If they were to pinpoint a trophy within their own ranks that would be worth developing - Belle Epoque would run away with the win.

The bottom line is that Pernod Ricard is accountable to their investors. And for a behemoth like them to turn up the profit on a prestige brand, they have to turn up the price. If they increase production, they risk destroying the brand.

2012 Belle Epoque Among The Best

Only Richard Juhlin has consistently tasted and rated Belle Epoque over time, so it makes sense to view the quality of the 2012 vintage through his professional taste palate.

The 2012 Belle Epoque is awarded 94 points by Richard Juhlin, which places it among the best. By comparison, the legendary 2008 vintage scores 95 points, while Juhlin has only once awarded 96 points to a Belle Epoque* - which is the highest than Belle Epoque has ever received from the Champagne expert.

*The 1964 vintage tasted and judged in 2008.

Availability is reduced

At the end of 2018, 2012 Belle Epoque in regular format started to be available on wine-searcher.com and in the following months it took off. In February 2021, availability reached a peak with 571 offers available. Since then, availability has dropped by 70%.

A regular 2012 Belle Epoque is harvested in June 2012, then aged on the lees for six years and released in late 2018/early 2019. Prestige cuvees in magnum are often aged 2-3 years longer, which is why this 2012 Belle Epoque in Magnum is released during 2021, and the quantities of magnums are only a fraction of the regular bottles.

The 2013 Belle Epoque has been released, but the market has yet to see a 2013 Magnum, and opportunities to get your hands on this 2012 are dwindling. The opportunity is therefore now if you want to secure available Belle Epoque on magnum.

A Sweet Spot Among The Great Prestige Cuvées?

Belle Epoque has an interesting profile as a prestige cuvée from a great and respected house, solid quality and an even more interesting pricing. Looking at some comparable prestige cuvées, this becomes clear. Below you will find a comparison of price and quality among the top three vintages from this millennium:

While the chart may not paint such a clear picture, the picture is nevertheless clear: Comtes de Champagne, already almost famous for being too cheap, is generally more expensive than Belle Epoque. In fact, with 2012 Belle Epoque, you only have to pay € 1.6 per Juhlin point, while 2012 Comtes, which is the cheapest Comtes in this comparison, costs € 1.8 per point.

At the other end of the scale, you have to pay € 3.7 per point for a 2008 Cristal.

But is this directly comparable? Not quite, but it still gives a good idea that Belle Epoque is very attractively priced and thus has exciting potential – because it simply looks too cheap. But what will it take for the price to rise? More demand. A well-known and tried method for this is more marketing - something Pernod Ricard certainly has both the capacity and the resources to do.

Belle Epoque under management of RareWine Invest

This is the first time you have the opportunity to invest in 2012 Belle Epoque on magnum through RareWine Invest. In March 2019¹ you had the opportunity to invest in regular sizes of the 2008 and 2012 vintages. If you had invested then, today you would have achieved returns of 30.8 % and 42.9 % respectively (average annual returns: 10.9 % and 14.8 %).

In October of the same year, the 2008 vintage became available on magnum². Those who followed the recommendation at that time can today enjoy a return of 44.2 % (19.3 % average annual return)

Now it is time for the 2012 Belle Epoque on magnum...

1: 2008 Perrier Jouët Cuvée Belle Epoque - the best ever! (Only available in Danish)

2: Best Belle Epoque ever: On magnum at no extra cost! (Only available in Danish)

Rarewine Invest's Opinion

The 2012 Belle Epoque Magnum has many advantages. On the one hand, it ranks among the best of the house, and on the other hand, the format means that it is already much rarer than those in regular format at release. And with the availability history as per wine-searcher.com, there is much to suggest that it is about time if you want to secure the 2012 Belle Epoque.

Furthermore, this simply seems too cheap compared to other prestige cuvées in the same class, and this attractive pricing is obviously to the investor's advantage. And muscle in the engine room can push the price up where it belongs - Pernod Ricard has that muscle. Add to that the fact that both 2008 and 2012 in general format have performed well under the management of RareWine Invest.

Now it is the magnum format's turn to do the trick, and this is your unique opportunity to join in.