What’s happening in the market?
As of Tuesday’s closing, Bordeaux had increased its market position, now holding a 33.3% share, buoyed by Le Pin 2016, Pétrus 2004 and Château La Fleur-Pétrus 2020 trading. Meanwhile, Burgundy experienced a slight decline, settling at 27.0% of total trade from Friday to Tuesday.
Champagne saw an increase in its trade share by value, rising to 9.4% compared to last week’s 7.8%. Wines from Louis Roederer, Dom Pérignon, Krug and Salon have been actively traded this week.
The USA continues to see increased activity, particularly Screaming Eagle 2019, 1997 and 2015 which have all changed hands since Monday.
Today’s deep-dive: Vega Sicilia Único 2014 pricing analysis
The latest wines from the Spanish ‘First Growth’ Vega Sicilia, including the 2019 Valbuena and the 2014 vintage of Único, have been released. The latter has been offered internationally for £3,348 per dozen, a 6.1% increase on last year’s release price of £3,156 per dozen.
While the latest release of Único has one of the top scores of recent wines, there are plenty of back vintages that offer value, including the 2004 and 2010. See more Fair Value analysis below.
Critical response
Luis Gutiérrez (Wine Advocate) awarded the wine 98 points, calling it ‘very balanced’, adding this wine is ‘elegant but also powerful, more like the Únicos from yesteryear’.
Joaquin Hidalgo (Vinous) awarded the wine 97 points and mentioned that ‘the combination of aging methods brings out the wines nuances in what was a generous year’, assessing this wine as a ‘nuanced red just at the beginning of its life’.
Jancis Robinson gave the wine 17.5+ points out of 20, noting that it is ‘powerful’ and has a ‘savoury nose that’s extremely intense’.
Fair Value
At this price, the new release of Único costs more than the 2004, which has the same score from The Wine Advocate and comes in at a 14.0% discount to the 2014.
Buyers might also wish to consider the 97-point 2013, 2010 and 2009 vintages, which are all available at a discount to the 2014 release.
Vega Sicilia was the number one Spanish producer in 2023 in terms of trade by value, representing 32.7% of total Spanish trade value. Vega Sicilia, Único was the 5th most-traded Spanish label by volume on the exchange. In terms of specific vintages, the 2005 and 2012 were the most-traded by value and volume, with the 2012 and 2011 coming out top in terms of number of trades.
Other releases
The 2019 Valbuena was also released at £999 per 12×75, down on the 2018’s release price of £1,272 per 12×75.
The NV Vega Sicilia Único Reserva Especial was also released at £1,100 per 3-bottle case, down from last year’s release price of £1,041 per 3-bottle case.
There are currently 192 LIVE opportunities for Vega Sicilia, Unico, Ribera del Duero on Liv-ex. Log in to the exchange to view them and trade.
In case you missed it
Here’s what we’ve been reading:
- Liv-ex: Liv-ex Fine Wine 1000 turns 20, up 300% since its inception
- The Drinks Business: How does Lunar New Year impact the secondary wine market?
- Financial Times: UK inflation unexpectedly increased to 4% in December
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.
