What’s happening in the secondary market?
Trade since last Friday has been strongly dominated by Bordeaux, which accounted for almost half of all trade over that period. Five vintages of Château Lafite featured among the most traded wines by value. However, in terms of number of trades, it was Château Cheval Blanc 2016 that topped the rankings.
The Rhône also made a resurgence, increasing its trade share to 5.73% of the total, buoyed by the 2012 and 2007 vintages of Château Rayas.
Today’s deep-dive: The 100-point wines of 2023
In theory, a 100-point wine is a perfect one, at least in the eye of the reviewer. In 2023, 145 reviews from major publications* granted 121 individual wines 100-point scores. Which are these ‘perfect’ wines, according to critics?
As a note, only reviews published in 2023 were considered here, meaning the wines may be from very different vintages, and in-barrel ranges were not included. For the purpose of this exercise, 20-point scores are counted as 100-points.
The regional distribution of these 100-point wines, which are spread across five countries, is interesting. While Bordeaux was unsurprisingly the most lauded region, California convincingly came in second ahead of Burgundy. Piedmont garnered three perfect reviews as Antonio Galloni (Vinous) gave three Barolos top marks, placing the region ahead of Tuscany’s one. Australia was on par with Italy in terms of the number of perfect reviews it received.
Despite the regional spread of 100-point wines in 2023 reviews, every single one of the top ten brands in terms of number of reviews received hailed from Bordeaux. Château Cheval Blanc led with an impressive nine 100-point reviews, with seven vintages receiving top marks this year: 1982, 2000, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2020 and 2022.
At the individual wine level (LWIN11), the picture is much the same – Bordeaux unsurprisingly dominates, specifically the 2022 vintage which was released En Primeur this year, and the 2020 which came out in bottle.
It’s worth noting here that these highest-rated wines would look different had in-barrel ranges been included, as Château Léoville-Las-Cases 2022 was awarded nine potential 100-point scores by the critics considered in this dataset, but only one actual perfect score from Jean-Marc Quarin.
The only two wines to receive more than one 100-point review in 2023 outside of Bordeaux were Giaconda, Estate Vineyard Chardonnay 2021 and Harlan Estate 2019.
In coming weeks, we will consider 100-point wines beyond Bordeaux, and look at the breakdown of perfect reviews per critic or publication. Stay tuned.
*Reviews from The Wine Advocate, Vinous, Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux, Jancis Robinson, The Wine Independent, Decanter, The Wine Cellar Insider, James Suckling, Jean-Marc Quarin, Jeb Dunnuck, Matthew Jukes, The Wine Doctor, Tim Atkin, Falstaff and Wine Maniacs were considered. NB, some publications’ scores were only taken during En Primeur.
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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 20,000 wines.
