- Liv-ex Fine Wine 100 ticked up 0.1% in October, rising for the first time since March.
- The California 50, Rest of the World 60 and Second Wine 50 indices took strong hits, each recording more than a 2% decline.
- October 2024 saw the highest number of unique wines (LWIN11s) traded on the exchange in a single month since January 2022.
The Liv-ex Fine Wine 100, the industry leading benchmark, ticked up slightly (0.1%) for the first time since March 2024. Joseph Drouhin’s Marquie de Laguiche 2020, Louis Roederer’s Cristal Rose 2014 and Biondi-Santi’s Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2016 were the three top-performers. Each recorded price increases of 10% or more.
Looking at the wider market, the Liv-ex Fine Wine 1000 (which tracks 1,000 wines from across the world) fell by 0.8% to close at 374.57.
The Italy 100 was the only sub-index to a record a month-on-month rise. Averaged across vintages, Fontodi, Flaccianello delle Pieve and Giacomo Conterno Barolo Monfortino Riserva performed the best, rising 3.2% and 2.0% respectively. While Masseto was the worst performing brand in the Italy 100 (down 1.1% on average), price drops were mainly concentrated in the 2015 and 2016 vintages.
The California 50 and Rest of the World 60 were the worst performing indices month-on-month, falling 2.5% and 2.8% respectively.
October saw the highest number of unique wines (LWIN11s) traded on the exchange in a single month since January 2022, a 20.5% increase on September. Traded liter volume in October is up 31.0% on September, and traded value by 24.4%. Buyers are continuing to remain active in the market, expanding their breadth of wines.
California 50
Of the vintages included in the California 50 (2010-2019 or 2011-2020 depending on release dates), the 2013 and 2015 vintages performed the worst on average, prices falling by 5.3% and 5.1% respectively. The 2010, 2018 and 2019 vintages were the best performing, all close to flat on last month’s close. Averaged across vintages, prices of all brands in the California 50 fell during October. Ridge Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon fell 4.4%, making it the worst performing wine in the index this month. Opus One was the best month-on-month performer, closing 0.6% down on September.
The 2018 was Opus One’s top-performing vintage, recording a 7.1% month-on-month price increase. It last traded at £2,664 per 12×75, below its ex-London release price of £2,760. There is currently a LIVE bid open just above its last trade at £2,666.
Liv-ex trades of Opus One 2018
Rest of the World 60
Since the start of the year, the Rest of the World 60’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) has hovered around the ‘30 line’, the threshold at which a wine is considered ‘oversold’. It crossed this threshold in September and is now firmly in oversold territory. But with the index’s Bollinger Bands wide and the 20-month Simple Moving Average (SMA20) recently crossing over the SMA50, technical analysis would suggest the likelihood of further weakness ahead.
While we have recently reported on the promising performance of the Vega Sicilia Unico index, averaged across vintages, it came in as the worst performer of the Rest of the World 60 in October. Still, the 2012 and 2013 vintages performed well, recording 2.1% and 9.7% price increases.
Liv-ex trades of Vega Sicilia Unico 2013
Second Wine 50 vs. Liv-ex Fine Wine 50
In a Market Update published in October, we reported on the artificial inflation of prices of the First Growths’ second wines relative to their first wines. Prices of the second wines have been falling faster than the first wines: the Second Wine 50 recorded a 1.5% decline in October, steeper than the Liv-ex Fine Wine 50’s 0.7% decline.
What are Liv-ex indices?
The Liv-ex Fine Wine 100 Index is the industry leading benchmark. It represents the price movement of 100 of the most sought-after fine wines on the world’s most active and liquid marketplace from France, Italy, USA, Australia and Spain. Stretching back over 20 years, the Liv-ex 100 is quoted on Bloomberg and Reuters screens.
The Liv-ex Fine Wine 1000 Index is the broadest measure of the market. It represents the price movement of 1,000 of the most sought-after fine wines on the world’s most active and liquid marketplace. Stretching back over 20 years, the Liv-ex 1000 is comprised of seven sub-indices from across the world: the Bordeaux 500, the Bordeaux Legends 40, the Burgundy 150, the Champagne 50, the Rhône 100, the Italy 100 and the Rest of the World 60.
All Liv-ex indices are calculated using our Mid Price; the mid-point between the highest live bid and lowest live offer on the market. These are the firm commitments to buy and sell at that price; transactional data rather than list prices. It represents the actual trading activity of 620+ of the world’s leading fine wine merchants. Because Liv-ex doesn’t itself trade, this data is truly independent and reliable.
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.
