- Bordeaux led weekly trade, followed by Burgundy, Tuscany and Champagne.
- Château Pavie 2021 was the top-traded wine this week.
- This week, Liv-ex members were sent a Market Update on bid-to-offer ratios of the Liv-ex 1000’s sub-indices. Several La Place de Bordeaux releases (Galatrona 2022, Vinedo Chadwick 2022 and Testamatta 2022) were also covered throughout the week.
Bordeaux increased its share of traded value from 29.6% last week to 38.5% this week. Château Pavie, Cheval Blanc and Le Pin led the charge. While the First Growths tend to take the top spots, they appeared further down the list of top-traded Bordeaux producers this week.
Though Burgundy’s trade share decreased slightly week-on-week, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti came in as the market’s overall top-traded producer by value, with several high-value cuvées changing hands.
Tuscany’s trade share increased, carrying the region into third place ahead of Champagne. As expected, the Super Tuscans took the lion’s share of the region’s trade, with Tentuta San Guido’s Sassicaia, Ornellaia and Masseto trading most actively.
Champagne’s trade share increased from a relatively weak close at 9.4% last week to 11.1% this week. Bollinger’s La Grande Année 2014 was the top-traded wine of the region (see more details below).
The USA’s trade share decreased significantly from 10.9% last week to 3.6% this week. Dominus, Opus One and Joseph Phelps’s Insignia proved the most popular wines of the region, with several vintages of each seeing trade.
Spain took a 3.0% share of trade this week, up slightly from its close at 2.3%. Vega Sicilia’s Unico accounted for over half of the region’s trade, with the 2006, 2004 and 2012 vintages taking the top spots.
In the realm of spirits, two 70cl bottles of Hibiki (Suntory) – a 21YO and 30YO – traded for £8,006 and £7,692 respectively.
What were the week’s top-traded wines by value?
Thanks to high-volume trades, Château Pavie 2021 came in as the top-traded wine by value this week. At £1,958 per 12×75, the wine is still trading significantly below its UK release price of £2,784. Equivalent to € 193/bt, yesterday’s trade took place just below ex- Château price (€ 195/bt). Prices have, however, ticked up over the past few months – in May and June, the wine traded between £1,400 and £1,700 per case.
Coming in as the second top-traded wine of the week by both value and volume, Bollinger, La Grande Année 2014 traded actively, primarily in magnum format. Perhaps surprisingly, magnums traded this week at £940 per 6×150 flat on the wine’s Market Price of £940 per 12×75, thus incurring no premium ml-for-ml. The wine last traded in 75cl format at £920 per 12×75.
Liv-ex trades of Bollinger, La Grande Année 2014
Sassicaia 2021 also featured amongst the top five traded wines this week. While initially released internationally at £2,500 per 12×75 in February this year, its price quickly rose, and first entered the secondary market at £2,880. Since peaking in March at £3,156, its price has been falling. Recent increases in traded volumes of the wine, however, may indicate that the price has been sufficiently corrected – buyers are now seeing value. This week, it traded at £2,494, just below its original release price.
Liv-ex trades of Sassicaia 2021
What were the week’s top-traded wines by volume?
‘Off’ vintage Bordeaux wines dominated the top-traded by volume this week. While receiving slightly lower ratings the Bordeaux 2014s, 2017s and 2021s often come at a discount to vintages such as 2016, 2019 and 2022. Château Clerc Milon 2021, at a Market Price of £605 per 12×75, for example, sits at a 25.8% discount to the 2016’s (£761). The former received a Neal Martin (Vinous) score of 92 points, while the latter received a score of 93 points.
Weekly insights recap
This week, Liv-ex members were sent a Market Update on bid-to-offer ratios of the Liv-ex 1000’s sub-indices. Several releases via La Place de Bordeaux were also covered throughout the week – read 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.
