- Bordeaux led the market, followed by Burgundy, Champagne and Spain, overtaking Tuscany and the US.
- Opus One 2021 was the top-traded wine of the week by value.
- This week, Liv-ex members were sent a Market Update on Antonio Galloni’s Bordeaux 2022 in-bottle scores, including a look at Château Lafleur’s release pricing model.
Bordeaux remains in the lead of the market, taking a 36.0% share of traded value this week. Though Château Mouton Rothschild and Château Latour were the top-traded wines by value, less expensive labels such as Château Pape Clément and Château Cos d’Estournel traded more actively. Château Lafite Rothschild fell unusually low in Bordeaux’s ranks, closing in 8th place.
Champagne took an 11.3% share of traded value, down on its close last week at 14.2%. Salon was the region’s top-traded producer by value, followed by Dom Pérignon and Louis Roederer.
Spain had its strongest week in recent memory, taking 8.3% of traded value and pushing the region into fourth place behind Champagne. While wines from producers such as Dominio de Pingus, R. López de Heredia and Artadi saw some trade, this was largely thanks to Vega Sicilia, the week’s top-traded producer overall.
Following a strong close last week, the USA fell back to its December average, taking a 7.7% share of traded value. Opus One was by far the region’s top-traded wine, accounting for over half of its traded value.
Breakdown of buyer geography
European buyers had the edge over US buyers, taking a 34.0% and 32.7% share of purchased value respectively. US buyers accounted for 56.2% of US wine buying, likely capitalising on the Dollar’s gains against the Euro and Pound Sterling this week.
UK buyers took a 24.1% share of purchased value, just under last week’s share. Nevertheless, they remained the most dominant buyers of Burgundy, accounting for 42.2% of the region’s purchasing.
What were the week’s top-traded wines?
Opus One 2021 was the week’s top-traded wine by value, changing hands between £2,558 and £2,720 per 12×75. Trade prices had held steady at £2,758 since the wine’s ex-London release at £2,995. The price volatility and widening bid:offer spread observed this week indicates a level of market uncertainty. With Regional Benchmarks varying widely, however, even the upper range of offer prices may present value to buyers in the US and Hong Kong in particular.
Regional Benchmarks of Opus One 2021
Vega Sicilia’s Alion 2020 was the top-traded wine of the week by volume and second top-traded by value. Trade prices had held at c.£580 per 12×75 through H2 2024, but this week fell to £500. This price appears to have drawn diverse demand – buyers hailed from Europe, the UK and the US.
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s La Tâche 2021 traded for the first time this week, flat on its Market Price of £42,678.
Top-traded wines by volume
Both the 2019 and 2020 vintages of Château Pape Clément featured amongst the top-traded wines by volume. Trade prices of the 2019 vintage have been following a notable downward trend since its release in 2020. While the wine’s Market Price rose in 2021 and 2022, it saw very little trade until prices fell to c.£600 in early 2023. Having now fallen below the £500 mark, we are seeing an uptick in high volume trades.
The drawn lines on the chart below show the wine’s ex-London, ex-negociant and ex-château release prices (using June 2020 euro:pound exchange rate of 0.89).
Liv-ex trades of Château Pape-Clément 2019
Pape Clément provides an opportunity for buyers seeking high quality:price ratios. The 2019 vintage received 97 points from Antonio Galloni (Vinous) and 94+ points from William Kelley (The Wine Advocate); and the 2020, 98 and 94 points. Both are now trading below £500 per 12×75, with LIVE offers for the 2020 at £490.
Château de Beaucastel’s Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge has exhibited impressive price stability since the turn of the market, rarely dropping below £500 per 12×75. Trade activity appears to have a seasonal element to it, picking up when new releases are offered in September / October each year.
Liv-ex trades of Château de Beaucastel,Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge
