Recent trading activity
Over the weekend, Bordeaux maintained its position as the leading region in terms of trade by value. The momentum was driven by two 2020 wines, including Château Angélus, and Château Canon.
Champagne accounted for 20.0% of total trade during the same period. Louis Roederer, Cristal 2015, Rare, Champagne 2013 and Taittinger, Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs 2018 were among the wines traded.
Dominus 2020 pricing analysis
The 2020 wine harvest in California was impacted by devastating wildfires, which raised concerns among wineries about potential smoke taint affecting their grapes and wine production. However, many Napa Valley winemakers defied expectations and have produced small amounts of 2020 wines. Among the wineries set to release their 2020 red wines is the Dominus Estate.
Dominus 2020 was released last week at $359 per bottle (roughly £280) and is the smallest vintage ever for the estate. As a result, the bottles available are expected to become some of the rarest and most sought-after in the history of Dominus.
The wine received 96 points from Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW (The Wine Independent). In her tasting note, she said ‘the full-bodied palate delivers a firm, grainy texture with just enough freshness to support the generous fruit, finishing long and oh-so-spicy. Yum’.
James Suckling also reviewed the wine. He scored it 98 points and described it as ‘full-bodied with an impressive and refined structure that runs deep and vertical in the wine’. He further noted that the wine ‘needs five or six years to soften’.
The 2020 vintage is being offered to the international trade at $359 per bottle (Roughly £3,360 per case) and has only been released on the domestic US market so far. In comparison to the 2020, three 100-point scoring vintages can be purchased at a lower price and including the 2010 (£3,170 per case), 2015 (£2,800 per case) and 2016 (£2,747 per case).
Dominus is the fourth most-traded Californian wine by volume on Liv-ex. There are currently 1,170 LIVE opportunities for California on the exchange. Log in to view them and trade.
In case you missed it:
Here’s what we’ve been reading:
- Liv-ex: The Bordeaux 2014s that are ageing like fine wine
- The Drinks Business: What impact does Neal Martin have on the Bordeaux market?
- Financial Times: Is the UK economy still a global outlier?
Liv-ex analysis is drawn from the world’s most comprehensive database of fine wine prices. The data reflects the real time activity of Liv-ex’s 620+ merchant members from across the globe. Together they represent the largest pool of liquidity in the world – currently £100m of bids and offers across 16,000 wines.
