What’s happening in the market?
Bordeaux continued to lead trade from last Friday through to Tuesday, the region accounting for more than half of total trade with 55.2% of regional trade. Activity in the region was buoyed by several vintages of Château Lafite Rothschild trading, specifically the 2011 and 2005.
Burgundy sat in second place with 12.1% of regional trade. The region’s share was bolstered by wines from Domaine Jacques Prieur and Joseph Drouhin changing hands. Champagne trailed behind with a 7.2% trade share, driven by Dom Pérignon Luminous 2013 and Krug 2008 trading.
Tuscany further increased its market share since yesterday’s update to hold 9.4% of trade by value from last Friday through to Tuesday. Argiano, Brunello di Montalcino 2018, the Wine Spectator’s wine of the year, traded 15 times during the period.
Today’s deep-dive: The market reacts to the Wine Spectator’s top wines of 2023
Wine of the Year is warmly received on the secondary market
Last Monday, Wine Spectator magazine revealed its top 100 wines of 2023.
The Friday before, the publication named Argiano Brunello di Montalcino 2018 as its Wine of the Year. The wine, which hadn’t seen any activity on Liv-ex before, experienced a surge in trading activity following the announcement, first changing hands at £486 per case. Since then, it has maintained high activity levels, ending last week as the most traded wine by volume. 164 6×75 packs have traded since the announcement and the wine last traded today at £634 per case.
Argiano Brunello di Montalcino 2018 trades on Liv-ex
Château Lynch-Bages and Château Pichon Baron also see activity
The only two Bordeaux wines in the Wine Spectator’s top 10 – the 2020 vintages of Château Lynch-Bages in 3rd position and Château Pichon Baron in 8th position – have seen increased trading activity since the announcement as well.
Château Lynch-Bages 2020, initially released at £1,040 per case, recently saw its trading activity double, with a last trade price of £960 per 12×75. Various bottle sizes changed hands, including four Jéroboams at £377 per bottle. James Molesworth of the Wine Spectator awarded the wine 96 points.
Château Lynch-Bages 2020 trades on Liv-ex
Similarly, Château Pichon Baron 2020, initially released at £1,327 per case, went from recording no trading activity in the two weeks prior to the announcement to trade 20 6×75 packs after. The wine traded at an all-time-high of £1,316 shortly after it was featured on the list, but dipped back down to £1,218 per case a few days later. The wine received 97 points from Wine Spectator, Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW and Neal Martin, while Jane Anson scored it 96 points and Antonio Galloni 98 points.
Château Pichon Baron 2020 trades on Liv-ex
The wine’s Market Prices are 66% correlated to Wine Advocate scores and even at its current price of £1,300 per case, the 2020 falls under the Fair Value line. See below chart:
There are currently 10 LIVE offers for Château Pichon Baron 2020. Log in to view them and trade.
Increased demand for the top ten wines
Other wines in the Wine Spectator’s top ten also enjoyed heightened demand post-ranking.
Antinori Chianti Classico Marchese Antinori Riserva 2020 (7th) fielded seven bids, up from none in the two weeks preceding the announcement. 12 6×75 packs have traded since it was ranked, with three live bids still on the exchange.
Likewise, Mastroberardino Taurasi Radici Riserva 2016 (5th) received six bids post-announcement, although it has yet to see trading activity as no there are no current live offers on the exchange.
New Zealand’s Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2022 (10th) went from three bids in the two weeks pre-announcement to seven bids after. The wine last changed hands at £300 per 12×75.
The US lags behind
The remaining wines in the top ten are all from the US and are yet to record trading activity on the exchange: Occidental Pinot Noir West Sonoma Coast Freestone-Occidental 2021 (2nd), Dunn Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain 2019 (6th), Raen Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast Royal St. Robert Cuvée 2021 (4th) and Résonance Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 2021 (9th).
Young wines in the spotlight
The Wine Spectator’s top wines of 2023 were predominately from the 2021 vintage, which had 32 wines on the list. Close behind were the 2020s with 24 and the 2019s with 21 wines. Three NV Champagnes also featured in the ranking.
The oldest vintage represented was the 2016, with two wines making the list. This year’s wines are much younger on average than in previous rankings: in 2022, the oldest vintage included was 2014, in 2021 it was 2008 and in 2020 it was 2009.
Download the excel sheet below to add the Wine Spectator’s top 100 wines of 2023 to List Studio via Wine Matcher. You can then customise this list as you wish by adding Liv-ex data points and monitor prices, bids and offers against the wines on the list.
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Here’s what we’ve been reading:
- Liv-ex: Wine Spectator’s top wines lead weekly trade
- The Drinks Business: What does climate change mean for fine white wine?
- Financial Times: Stagnation nation: governing the UK when ‘there is no money’
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.
