What’s happening in the market?
Ornellaia is the top-traded producer of the week so far, with the 2021 vintage trading in good volume at between £1,482 and £1,428 per 12×75, c.20-23% below its international release price.
US buyers have so far accounted for 37.1% of purchases this week, just above the average for the year (34.8%).
Today’s Deep Dive: Top price performers in the Power 100
With only 11 brands in the Power 100 recording positive changes in their Market Price over the past year, there can be no sugar coating the current state of the market. To fare well in this climate, however, is all the more impressive.
Four of the top price performers are Italian, three Spanish, two Burgundian, one Rhône (Famille Perrin), and one Grower Champagne (Egly-Ouriet). The lack of Bordeaux on this list is notable. This is not to say that some individual brands and vintages have not performed well but that as a whole, the region’s brands are suffering from price drops and stagnation. Certain vintages provided areas of relief – for instance the 2015s saw 15 year-on-year risers. However, the Bordeaux wines whose prices have held steady tend to be of a lower price point. We see this with the 2015s. With the exception of Smith Haut Lafitte and Montrose, they all have a current Market Price of less than £850 per 12×75 (€86.0 /btl).
No Grand Marques have found their way onto this list either, the success of some wines and vintages offset by the underwhelming performance of others. Egly-Ouriet‘s wines recorded a modest 0.6% rise on average. It was not a Champagne, but a still red – Ambonnay Rouge Cuvée des Grands Côtes 2018 – that performed best, recording a 42.8% Market Price increase over the past year.
While one can hardly consider any brand included in the Power 100 an underdog, few of the top price performers are amongst the top-traded by value. R. Lopez de Heredia’s wines, for example, trade relatively infrequently on the exchange and are not yet included in a major Liv-ex index. And yet, prices have displayed remarkable resilience.
The average price points of the best-performing brands stand out. With few exceptions, prices of these brands’ wines are over £1,000 and under £3,500 per 12×75. Expensive as a result of quality and heritage, they are no doubt investment-grade wines but are affordable enough to encourage their consumption. A point we have consistently returned to in recent months – the wines that hold the least risk in this market are those that not only carry brand name, but are also priced for drinkers rather than just collectors.
The Burgundian brands on the list are testament to this notion. While the region’s heavy hitters sit high on the list of top-traded by value, their prices have fallen considerably. It is no secret that the Burgundy bubble had to burst, but those producers that did not fall victim to over-inflated prices have not had as far to fall. In the case of Henri Boillot and Anne Gros, some prices are recovering.
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.
