What’s happening in the market?
Trading activity since last Friday has been dominated by Bordeaux, which accounted for 56.8% of total trade by value. Wines from the 2020 vintage were particularly active, including Château Lafite Rothschild 2020 which was the most traded wine by value, and Château Belair-Monange 2020 which was among the top-traded by volume.
Argiano, Brunello di Montalcino 2018, The Wine Spectator’s Wine of the Year, still led trade by volume over the weekend, buoying Tuscany’s trade share to 8.0% of the total. Bibi Graetz’s Testamatta Rosso 2018 also featured among the most-traded wines by volume.
Champagne saw its trade share dip to just 6.3% despite Dom Pérignon Luminous 2013 being the second-most traded wine by value since last Friday.
Today’s deep-dive: The Wine Advocate’s 100-point wines of 2023
In 2023, The Wine Advocate’s reviewers granted 36 different wines 100-point scores (NB: we did not include in-barrel ranges for the purposes of this article). The wines selected hail from 11 regions spanning eight countries.
Burgundy was the region with the most perfect scores of 2023, all granted by William Kelley. The reviewer upgraded some wines to 100-points, including Jacques Frédéric Mugnier, Musigny Grand Cru 2015 which was previously scored 95-97 points by Neal Martin in 2016.
The critic also notably awarded Domaine Comte Georges de Vogue, Musigny Grand Cru Cuvée Vieilles Vignes 1947 100 points, an impressive feat for a 73-year-old wine. Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, La Tâche Grand Cru 1962 was also upgraded from Robert Parker’s 96-point score in 1996 to 100 points in 2023.
There are currently 111 LIVE bids and offers on Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, La Tâche Grand Cru. Log in to the exchange to view them and trade.
Unsurprisingly, the region with the second-highest number of scores was Bordeaux (had in-barrel ranges been included, it would likely have come in first). Seven wines from the 2020 vintage, which came out in bottle earlier this year, were awarded top marks by William Kelley.
The critic scored Château Canon 2020 the top-end of the range awarded En Primeur by Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, and upgraded Châteaux La Conseillante, Figeac, Mouton Rothschild and La Mission Haut-Brion beyond their in-barrel score.
There are currently 782 LIVE bids and offers for Bordeaux 2020 wines on Liv-ex. Log in to view them and trade.
Yohan Castaing also found perfection in a 1962 wine, the Château d’Yquem. The wine had previously been scored 90 points by Robert Parker back in 1998.
Over in the United States, reviewers Erin Brooks and Joe Czerwinski awarded three 2019 Californian wines 100-point scores: Harlan Estate, Vérité’s Le Désir and Hundred Acre’s Few and Far Between Cabernet Sauvignon. As mentioned in a previous update, Anthony Mueller also gave top marks to two wines from Washington State.
There are 1,391 LIVE bids and offers for Californian wines on the exchange. Log in to view them and trade.
In the rest of the world, The Wine Advocate reviewers awarded 100-point scores to some of La Place’s Beyond Bordeaux autumn releases, notably Nicolás Catena Zapata 2020 and Viñedo Chadwick 2021.
In case you missed it
Here’s what we’ve been reading:
- Liv-ex: Which are the most popular Californian wines?
- Financial Times: How David popped Goliath in the world of champagne
- The drinks business: £2 million Macallan whisky breaks sales record
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.
