- Bordeaux led weekly trade, followed by Burgundy and Champagne.
- Two vintages of Château Lafite Rothschild were amongst the top-traded wines this week.
- This week, Liv-ex published a major indices update, a market update on trade of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and an August market report.
Though continuing to lead the market, Bordeaux’s share of trade by value fell from 39.0% to 30.5%. Château Lafite Rothschild came out on top as the most actively traded wine in the region, accounting for 25.8% of its traded value.
Burgundy’s trade share increased from 20.1% to 25.4%, thanks largely to trades of high value wines from producers such as Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Domaine Bonneau du Martray and Domaine Leroy.
Champagne’s trade share was also up on last week’s (14.2% vs. 11.7%). On Wednesday, we published our monthly indices update, and highlighted that the Champagne 50 had risen 0.9% in July. This week, Krug, Louis Roederer’s Cristal and Dom Perignon took the lion’s share of traded value in the region.
Both Tuscany and Piedmont’s share of trade fell slightly this week. Still, wines such as Tenuta San Guido’s Sassicaia, Giacomo Conterno’s Barolo Monfortino Riserva and Masseto saw regular trade.
The USA’s trade share fell from 6.3% last week to 2.9% this week. The region was overtaken by Spain, which closed at 4.4%. As we detailed in our August Market Report, over the past year, Spanish wines have been gaining in popularity on the market. Thus, we have chosen to henceforth extract the region from the ‘Others’ category in our trade reporting.
In the realm of spirits, three 70cl bottles of Remy Martin, Grande Champagne Louis XIII traded this week for £2,000 each.
What were this week’s top traded wines?
Earlier this week, we reported that while prices of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti have been falling, more volume in original packaging has been trading this year than last year. 3×75 and 6×75 cases are scarcer and should be more valuable than individual bottles, but prices have been forced down to the same level. The 2020 vintage of the producer’s eponymous label was the top-traded wine by value this week. Consistent with our analysis, a case of three traded this week for £42,000 (equivalent to £168,000 per 12×75), a 6.7% discount to a single bottle that sold for £15,000 (equivalent to £180,000 per 12×75) in April. In January 2024, a case of three traded for £55,000 (equivalent to £220,000).
Domaine Bonneau du Martray’s Charlemagne Grand Cru 2020 came in as second top-traded wine by both value and volume. The wine traded at £3,550, marking the lowest transaction price recorded for this wine on the market so far. Magnums of Bonneau du Martray’s Charlemagne have also traded fairly regularly on the market this year and incur a significant premium. All trades above the black line in the chart below are of magnums.
Liv-ex trades of Bonneau du Martray, Charlemagne Grand Cru 2020
Both the 2019 and 2021 vintages of Château Lafite Rothschild were also amongst the top five wines by traded value this week. Having only recently been physically released, the 2021 vintage has been trading on the market regularly since June 2024. Receiving a lower score from Neal Martin (Vinous) (95 vs. 98), the 2021 vintage last traded at a 9.7% discount to the 2019. As we pointed out in a market update on Bordeaux’s ‘off’ vintages, wines with lower ratings may serve as good entry points for buyers.
Top-traded wines by volume
While Australian wines, with the exception of Penfolds, have seen minimal activity on the exchange in recent years, Leeuwin Estate’s Art Series Chardonnay 2020 came in as top-traded wine by volume this week.
Domaine Tempier’s Bandol Rose also featured amongst the top-traded wines by volume this week. Often, rosé is overlooked in the realm of fine wines, but those that are well-produced continue to trade consistently in the market. While the summer is in full-swing, such wines may be worthy of consideration.
Weekly insights recap
This week Liv-ex published an update on price movements of the major indices July. in members were sent a Market Update looking into the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti dip , and how buyers are capitalising. The August Market Report was also published for members on Silver packages and above.
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.
