Chateau Petrus named king of wine investments with 14% annual return

Wine expert Anthony Hanson has declared Chateau Petrus the top investment of 2012

Christie's wine specialist Anthony Hanson has dubbed Chateau Petrus the king of wine investments at the Fine and Rare Wine Specialist course in Vienna.

Chateau Petrus is the king, while Lafite and Latour are the most valuable

According to The Drinks Business, Hanson assessed the performance of a range of top labels before declaring: "The king has been Petrus". The wine has shown an average annual return of 14% "all the way through bull and bear markets" and is "incredibly dependable as a chateau".

Hanson attributed Petrus' dependability on the fact that modern winemaking techniques are not used to produce the fine Bordeaux, with the estate favouring traditional methods instead. He also stressed the importance of investing in what he described as the "big ten" from Bordeaux, which includes all the five first-growths, as well as Petrus, Cheval Blanc, Ausone, Le Pin and Lafleur.

After analysing data from auctions in 2012, Hanson then stated that Chateau Lafite Rothschild and Chateau Latour were the most valuable of the first growth wines, naming 1986, 1989, 1996 and 2000 among the most popular vintages from Lafite.

In Burgundy, the most popular estate is, of course, the mighty Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, with Henri Jayer following in second place after a remarkable auction of his cellar earlier in the year. Hanson stated that DRC had reclaimed its top spot after quality improvements, while Henri Jayer's nephew - the successor to the estate - "hasn't quite made the impact of his uncle."

Hanson's assessment of the market is consistent with the figures shown by the Liv-ex DRC Index, which has shown a 9.1% increase in value for the estate's leading crus since July 2011.

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