2012 was the seventh year that Liv-ex – in collaboration with The Drinks Business – produced the Liv-ex Power 100, a list of the 100 most ‘powerful’ brands in the wine industry. With 2012’s list seeing a number of new entrants, we took a look back at the changing trends within the Power 100 over the last seven years.
The Power 100's top 10: 2006-2012
Between 2006 and 2011 the top of the list was monopolised by
First Growths and the crème de la crème of Right Bank wines: Petrus, Ausone, and
Cheval Blanc. Other brands that regularly crop up include Krug and DRC – 2012’s
leader.
Yet with prices for First Growths falling, and dwindling
demand for expensive Ausone seeing it drop to 25th place in 2012, a
host of new wines has entered the Top 10. The new power of the Right Bank is
Pavie, which along with Montrose and Pontet Canet is decidedly more affordable
than the Power 100’s usual suspects. Pontet Canet has forged ahead: since 2009,
its share of trade on Liv-ex has risen from 0.6% to 2.99%, its average critic
score from 94.10 to 96.31, and its average price from £471 per 12×75 to £941 –
yet it is still the most inexpensive of the top 25.
Meanwhile Lafite tends to come out top in the power battle
between the Firsts (shown below), except in years of market stress (2008 and 2012)
when Latour comes to the fore. Haut-Brion has moved up a gear while Margaux has
fallen to fifth.
First Growths in the Power 100 (in relation to each other)
