Talking Trade – Vinexpo pause

Lagrange (Saint Julien) most active wine by value
Robert Parker retires from The Wine Advocate
Bordeaux 2018 – the campaign so far
Latour 2018 – the critics’ choice wine of the vintage
Liv-ex interview with Jeb Dunnuck

With much of the trade attending Vinexpo and En Primeur releases put on hold, Bordeaux’s share of trade by value dipped this week. The Liv-ex 50, which tracks the price performance of the First Growths, closed at 364.4 on Thursday, up 0.16% on last week’s close.

Other regions saw increased activity on the secondary market: Burgundy rose to 24.7% and Italy to 14%. The Rhone’s share by value more than doubled on last week, up from 2.4% to 5.1%. Meanwhile, Champagne, USA and the ‘others’ category fell slightly.

Lagrange (Saint Julien) 2014 was the most active wine by value this week, with a last trade at £290 per 12×75. Two vintages of Cheval Blanc also featured in the top five – the 2005 with a perfect score from Robert Parker, and the 2006 which boasts 97 points from Neal Martin.

Robert Parker retires from The Wine Advocate

The announcement that Robert Parker has formally retired from The Wine Advocate was made yesterday evening (UK time). The “father of modern wine criticism”, using Lisa Perrotti-Brown’s words, democratised the world of wine and introduced it to a global audience.

You can look back at his first ever interview with Liv-ex, or find out more about the five times the leading critic moved the Bordeaux market here.

Bordeaux 2018 – the campaign so far

While it is still early to predict whether this year’s En Primeur campaign will be considered a success, members’ feedback suggests that sales for Bordeaux 2018 are running at or just above 2017 levels.

The top sellers – Carmes Haut Brion, Calon Segur and Beychevelle – albeit releasing at record highs, have all been offered at a significant discount to the current price of their 2016 vintage. Find out more about the releases so far and how prices compare to previous years here.

Latour 2018 – the critics’ choice wine of the vintage

This year, Liv-ex has created an average ranking of the critics’ favourite wines: the critics’ choice ranking. Latour 2018 took the top spot, as the #1 scoring wine for five of the 14 critics on our critic scores grid. You can find out more about our methodology here, or read more about the critics’ choice wine of the vintage here.

Liv-ex interview with Jeb Dunnuck

We recently had the chance to speak with Jeb Dunnuck on a range of topics including Bordeaux 2018, the changing face of wine criticism, score inflation and his future career plans. Read the full interview here.

Looking for more?

Our Bordeaux 2018 pages contain everything you need to know about this year’s En Primeur campaign, including:

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