Welcome back America. On 5th March, the office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the EU released a joint statement saying there would be a mutual, four-month suspension of the tariffs related to the Airbus-Boeing dispute.
Once the 25% tariffs on EU wines disappeared, US buyers were quick to move, returning to the market to take advantage of this window of opportunity.
US trade by value increased 105.5% on the prior two-month average. Other buying regions were also active and trade value increased by 15.8% (UK), 26.5% (Asia), and 32.7% (Europe).
Bordeaux was one region firmly in the spotlight as in-bottle reviews of the 2018 vintage were published by Antonio Galloni and Neal Martin of Vinous along with Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW of the Wine Advocate and Jeb Dunnuck of JebDunnuck.com.
New records
With so much attention focused on the market this month, the number of distinct LWINs traded expanded yet again. More than 1,400 different wines changed hands in March, a 16.4% increase on November 2020, the previous monthly record.
This renewed activity resulted in the Liv-ex Fine Wine 100 rising 1.62%, to close at 327.91. This is the index’s 10th consecutive month of gains and it has risen 10.7% in that period.
The biggest jump in the index came from the Rhône, Beaucastel’s Châteauneuf-du-Pape Hommage J Perrin 2012, up 14.5%.
The Super Tuscans also saw plenty of upward movement. Masseto 2014 led, up 9.6%, followed by Tignanello 2016 (7.6%), Sassicaia 2015 (6.0%), Tignanello 2015 (5.1%) and Ornellaia 2015 (4.2%).
While nearly 75% of the wines in the index saw increases, there were some declines. Brovia, Barolo Villero 2013, Comte de Vogüé, Musigny Vv 2014, and Ornellaia 2013 all drifted.
