The amount of unique LWINs – the universal identifier for wines and spirits – traded hit an all time high in July this year. Distinct LWIN7s broke past 1,000 for the first time and beat out the second highest month by more than 20%. Italy was the front-runner in growth, trading 30% more unique wines than the month before. The first week of trade in August saw over 400 different LWIN11s move hands.
This breadth of trade can be seen in the share of trade values above. Bordeaux’s (32.0%) share slipped for a second month and remains far under its 2019 average (54.5%). Burgundy (30.8%), after a slow start in the first six months of the year (15.5%), has started to reign in more trade share.
Italy (12.8%) was on par with its July average. Champagne (6.2%), the Rhone (3.5%) and Others (8.7%) all made gains on the previous week while the USA (6.0%) relinquished some of last weeks share.
This week’s top five traded wines by value highlights the breadth of wines available on Liv-ex, with the top five coming from five different regions. However, there was a preference towards the 2016 vintage, which made up 19% of trade by value and 16.7% by volume.
Chateau Lafite Rothschild 2016 was the most active and ranked #1. The wine is not a newcomer to the top five and sits as the fourth most traded wine of the year, just slightly trailing its 2010 vintage.
The newest Penfolds Grange release, 2016, also joined the top along with 100-point Napa Valley wine, Harlan Estate 2016.
A number of wines from smaller regions founds trades, including an English wine, Wiston Estate Blanc de Blanc 2011. This is the second time in the past month a Wiston Estate wine has moved hands. Additionally, this time in 2016, Nyetimber Classic Cuvee became the first English wine to trade on Liv-ex for £120 per 6×75.
Liv-ex Indices in July
Both the Liv-ex 100 and Liv-ex 1000 rose in the month of July, up 1.50% and 0.54% respectively. The sub-indices of the Liv-ex 1000 also all saws gains in exception to the Bordeaux 500 which drifted just 0.45%. After the month of increases, the indices stand relatively flat on the year.
