Champagne overtakes Bordeaux, Cristal 15 again leads the charge 

PREMIUM
CONTENT

• Bordeaux led the market with a 36.4% share of traded value, followed by Champane with 19.8% and Burgundy with 16.0%.  
• Louis Roederer’s Cristal 2015 and Krug’s Grande Cuvée 171ème Édition were the top two traded wines by value for the second week running.  
• This week, Liv-ex members were sent an analysis of the bid-to-offer ratios of the Liv-ex Fine Wine 1000 and Bordeaux 500 sub-indices.  

Champagne had an unusually strong week, overtaking Burgundy with a 19.8% share of traded value. Louis Roederer’s Cristal 2015 and Krug’s Grande Cuvée 171ème Édition led the charge, coming in as the two top-traded wines of the week by value.  

Bordeaux maintained its lead of the market, its 36.4% share of traded value almost flat on last week. Château Lafite Rothschild and Château Mouton Rothschild were almost tied as the region’s top producers, taking a respective10.8% and 10.6% share of the region’s trade. While the 2018 vintage was the top-traded by volume, the 2021 vintage traded most frequently. 

Burgundy’s share of trade fell from 22.4% last week to 16.0% this week. Though the 2009 vintage of Richebourg featured amongst the top-traded wines of the week by value, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti saw less trade than usual. 

Piedmont closed with a strong 6.1% share of traded value. Barolos traded actively, with Gaja’s Sperss 2008, Cavallotto’s Bricco Boschis San Giuseppe Riserva 2015 and Giacomo Conterno’s Francia 2020 coming in as the top-traded wines by value.  

Spanish wine saw very little trade last week, but has made a comeback on the market this week, taking a 6.1% share. US buyers accounted for 78.3% of Spanish wine purchases, concentrated largely on Vega Sicilia Unico and Dominio de Pingus.  

Breakdown of buyer geography

US merchants continued to increase their share of purchases accounting for 39.2%. Some US merchants will be growing their stockholdings before tariffs are most likely imposed in January.  Buying was mainly concentrated in Bordeaux and Champagne, followed by Tuscany and Piedmont.  

The UK’s share of buying was flat on last week, while Europe’s and Asia’s both fell.

What were the week’s top-traded wines?  

Louis Roederer’s Cristal 2015 and Krug’s Grande Cuvée 171ème Édition came in as the top-traded wines by value for the second week running. Both traded flat on last week’s prices. Cristal 2015, in particular, has seen a significant and persistent uptick in demand. This could be, in part, thanks to the release of the 2016 generating interest in back vintages. It seems also that trade prices have now reached a level at which a higher number of buyers are finding value. 

Liv-ex trades of Cristal 2015 

Château Latour 1982 also featured amongst the top five.  Receiving a perfect 100-point score from all major critics, Latour 82 is highly coveted. Given its scarcity it has traded relatively frequently. Though its transaction prices are volatile, it has remained largely resistant to the downturn of the broader market. It traded this week in 12×75 case format at £21,500. It is now within its drinking window and should remain so until 2045.   

Liv-ex trades of Latour 1982 

Top-traded wines by volume 

Altesino’s Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2016 was the top-traded wine of the week by volume. Having seen relatively sparse trade on the exchange, activity picked up in October. It has since traded frequently between £516 and £528. 

Château Musar 2016 has occasionally featured on the list of top-traded wines by volume. UK members accounted for 71.4% of buying, with US members taking the rest. In September it traded frequently above the £300 per 12×75 mark, but this week’s trades have taken place around £250.