The twelfth edition of the Liv-ex Power 100 – the annual list of the most powerful brands in the fine wine market – was published in December edition of The Drinks Business.
Although only the top 100 wines are published, 218 brands met the criteria needed to be ranked, representing 28% of the brands trading on Liv-ex in 2017.*
There are some interesting themes developing on the environs of the Power 100. Some of these crossover from the main listing, such as the rise of Burgundy brands, but there are other interesting points to note.
New world stars
Typically, the highest ranked brands trading on Liv-ex come from the old world, with a few notable exceptions. Now, more and more new world brands are starting to establish themselves.
Perhaps the most interesting from a geographical perspective is the sole South African brand to be ranked, Sadie Family, which entered the ranking for the first time at 184. Commenting on the 2015 vintage Neal Martin noted ‘that these rare and beautiful bottlings continue to be sold at prices that would not encourage a Bordeaux Classed Growth proprietor out of his bed each morning is still quite unbelievable’
Another rising star, Vérité, debuted this year at 117. Undoubtedly a range of 100 point scores from Robert Parker, combined with the vineyard’s decision to commence distributing the wine via La Place de Bordeaux, has led to an increased presence and profile in the secondary market.
Chablis
Chablis used to be a neglected area of Burgundy in terms of secondary market activity.
This year that has changed. The two most famous and renowned producers of Chablis, Raveneau and Dauvissat, were both ranked for the first time, at 112 and 189 respectively. Raveneau’s wines were the 10th best price performer with Market Prices moving up 26.7% on average.
Large Burgundy Negociants
Running concurrently to the rise of some of Burgundy’s most revered domaines, is the fall of one of the region’s most established negociants. Since 2014 Bouchard Pere et Fils has dropped from 14th to 103rd in the most recent Power 100. Perhaps this reflects the Burgundy market prizing the small and rare, rather than the larger negociant houses. By way of comparison Louis Jadot and Louis Latour ranked 130th and 141st respectively.
Bordeaux
For Burgundy brands to rise, other brands have to fall. Given how many Bordeaux brands used to populate the top 100 it’s not surprising this year to see brands that trade more thinly such as Beasejour Duffau, Branaire Ducru and Issan vacate that space.
*To be classified a brand must have traded a minimum of three wines or vintages and a total trade value of at least £10,000
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