This month, the start of the 2010 harvest in Champagne coincided with reports that global shipments of fizz increased by nearly 40% in the first six months of the year. And though champagne trade on Liv-ex remains well below last year’s average, prices appear to be edging up. The Liv-ex Champagne 25 Index – which tracks 25 top vintage wines from Dom Perignon (9 vintages), Louis Roederer Cristal (8) and Krug (8) – rose 5.58% in August to a new high of 262.57. The index is currently up 3.23% year-to-date and 4.63% year-on-year.
If we take a closer look at each brand individually, it appears that Louis Roederer Cristal has put in the strongest price performance since August last year, having risen in value by 8.84%, followed by Dom Perignon at 4.05%. Krug vintages have seen very little movement, gaining just 0.03% year-on-year.
The chart below shows the year-on-year price performance of the three brands that make up the Liv-ex Champagne 25 Index. With Christmas and New Year just around the corner, will champagne prices continue to push upwards?