What’s happening in the market?
So far this week, Burgundy has overtaken Bordeaux to lead the market with a 29.3% share of traded value. Fittingly, given today’s deep dive topic, the region was buoyed by Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s eponymous Romanée-conti Grand Cru 2020. The wine changed hands at £168,000 per 12×75, 11.4% below Market Price.
Château Mouton Rothschild proved the most active Bordeaux wine, taking 21.5% of the region’s 27.0% share of value. The 2005, 2015, 2017 and 2020 vintages all saw trade.
Tenuta san Guido’s Sassicaia 2021 has come in as the third top-traded wine by value since Monday, driving Tuscany’s 11.3% share.
Today’s deep dive: the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti dip
In late June, Liv-ex published a technical analysis of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s prices. While, at the time, prices had rebounded slightly, we suggested that if this rebound proved temporary, the index could fall quickly. With the index sitting at 1,251.8, we identified the next support levels at 1,147 and 920. Since then, the index has fallen by 64.8 basis points (5.2%). Fast approaching the first support level, the index now sits at 1187.
60 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) wines – 10 vintages each of the six major cuvées — are included in the Liv-ex Fine Wine 1000. In July, 39 recorded Mid Price declines, 7 remained flat and 14 rose. Given that Liv-ex Mid Prices are calculated as the midpoint between the highest bid and the lowest offer, taking into account any trades that land in the spread between the two, the suggestion is that bids and / or offers are continuing to decline.
After Château Lafite Rothschild and Château Mouton Rothschild, DRC is the third top-traded producer by value in the market so far this year. Traded litre volumes of DRC in H1 2024 is up by 14.3% on H2 2023, while traded value is up by only 4.5%. Though prices have been declining, more bottles are changing hands. Interestingly, the number of trades is down by 30.1%. While, last year, single bottles traded frequently, buyers now are more regularly trading 3×75 and 6×75 pack sizes. Given the rarity of DRC, particularly the more mature vintages, larger pack sizes (in original packaging) are valued higher than individual bottles and appreciate to a greater magnitude in the long run. Premiums for wine in original packing have been declining – buyers are increasingly demanding original cases at single-bottle prices. DRC may be trading less often, but those with cash to spare are capitalising on low prices to buy investment-grade cases. As prices continue to fall, this trend is gaining momentum. In July 2024 alone, we have seen a quarter of the volume traded in H1 2024 change hands.
Since the start of the year, bids (by litre volume) for DRC are up 47.0%. An indication of increased demand, this figure, coupled with an increase in traded volumes, may suggest that prices will soon bounce at the support we identified back in June.
There are currently 460 LIVE opportunities on Liv-ex for Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. Log into the exchange to view them here.
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.
