As the 2023 En Primeur campaign begins, Bordeaux was relatively subdued in weekly trade. A wine from Rioja topped the rankings.
- Bordeaux led weekly trade, followed by Burgundy and Champagne.
- The top-traded wines hailed from Rioja, Champagne, Bordeaux and Burgundy.
- As the En Primeur campaign began, Liv-ex published pricing analyses of the releases, as well as a campaign update for its members.
What’s happening in the secondary market?
As the En Primeur campaign began in earnest this week with a flurry of releases, Bordeaux led weekly trade with 33.2% of total trade by value. The region’s trade share was flat week-on-week, buoyed by two back vintages of Château Lafite Rothschild changing hands.
Burgundy took the second spot uncontested with 27.7% of trade. The region saw three of its wines on the list of most traded by volume and one by value. Champagne followed with 12.4% of trade, buoyed by Louis Roederer Cristal 2015 featuring among the most-traded wines by value and volume.
Tuscany and Piedmont both saw their trade shares fall week-on-week, Tuscany in particular fell by six percentage points to close at 6.7% of trade for the week. Piedmont’s decline was more modest, from 3.9% to 3.4% this week. The USA’s share fell slightly from 3.2% to 3.0% this week, while the Rhône’s rose from 2.2% to 3.5%.
The biggest winner from Italy’s demise was the ‘Others’ category, which includes Spain. This is largely because, for the second week in a row, La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904 2011 was the most-traded wine by value and volume.
What were the top-traded wines this week?
Despite the start of the En Primeur campaign, the headline wine this week was not from Bordeaux but from Rioja. For the second week in a row, La Rioja Alta, 904 Gran Reserva 2011 topped the list of top-traded wines both by volume and value, an impressive feat considering its trade price of £440 per 12×75.
Since its release in 2020, the wine’s Market Price has dipped and risen again to most recently settle around its release price of £420 per case.
La Rioja Alta, 904 Gran Reserva 2011 trades on Liv-ex
Waving the flag of Champagne, Louis Roederer Cristal 2015 was second and third on the lists of most-traded wines by value and volume, respectively. The wine has seen its Market Price tumble since its release at £2,600 per case in April 2023; it is currently consistently trading below £2,000 per 12×75.
Bordeaux did feature among the most-traded wines last week: the 2014 and 2001 vintages of Château Lafite Rothschild changed hands, the former retaining its place for the second week in a row. Interestingly, the 2014 vintage is now back at its May 2021 trading levels, before the 2021/2022 fine wine market boom.
Château Lafite Rothschild 2014 trades on Liv-ex
Burgundy occupied an uncharacteristically large place on the list of most traded wines by volume. Chablis was especially popular, with Moreau-Nadet’s Chablis Blanc 2021 and Louis Michel’s Chablis Premier Cru Vaillons 2020 making the list.
Burgundian wines with their relatively high price tag are more commonly found among the most-traded wines by value, as Domaine Bonneau du Martray’s Charlemagne Grand Cru Blanc 2019 was this week. The wine last traded at £3,374 per 12×75.
In the spirits world, there was trade in Henriques & Henriques, Old Bual, Madeira 1954 and Dow’s Vintage Port 2016.
The 2023 En Primeur campaign so far
The campaign started hard and fast, as Château Batailley came to market before May had even started. The 2023 vintage was released at £324 per 12×75.
The following wines covered by Liv-ex were released:
- Carruades de Lafite, £1,860 per 12×75
- Clos du Marquis, £462 per 12×75
- Château Duhart-Milon, £684 per 12×75
- Château L’Evangile, £1,896 per 12×75
- Château Lafite Rothschild, £4,920 per 12×75
- Château Leoville-Las-Cases, £1,662 per 12×75
- Château Pontet-Canet, £790 per 12×75
- Château Talbot, £462 per 12×75
To get a day-by-day breakdown of releases, fill in this form to see our Bordeaux En Primeur 2023 Key Prices.
Weekly insights recap
This week, Liv-ex published summaries of critics’ Bordeaux 2023 scores, including Antonio Galloni (Vinous), The Wine Advocate, and Neal Martin. Members received exclusive En Primeur pricing analyses as well as a Market Update looking deeper into the last week’s releases.
Liv-ex analysis is drawn from the world’s most comprehensive database of fine wine prices. The data reflects the real-time activity of Liv-ex’s 620+ merchant members from across the globe. Together they represent the largest pool of liquidity in the world – currently £100m of bids and offers across 20,000 wines.
