- Bordeaux led the market, followed by Burgundy, Champagne and Tuscany.
- Château Mouton Rothschild 2021 was the top-traded wine of the week; two 2012 Champagnes also featured amongst the top five.
- This week, Liv-ex members were sent a technical analysis of the Cristal index, with focus on the price movements and trade volumes of the 2002 and 2015 vintages.
Bordeaux strengthened its lead of the market, taking 38.4% of traded value. Château Mouton Rothschild was by far the top-traded wine, accounting for over a quarter of the region’s trade. Alongside the 2021 vintage, which came in as the top-traded wine by value, a breadth of very mature vintages changed hands. A single bottle of the 1916, the oldest vintage to trade this week, sold for £3,296.
Burgundy followed in second place with a 16.6% share of traded value. Domaine Leflaive was the top-traded producer overall, followed by Domaine Gros Frère et Sœur and Domaine des Lambrays. Puligny-Montrachet and Richbourg were the top-traded sub-regions by value.
Champagne had a fairly strong week, taking a 14.6% share. The 2012 was the top-traded vintage by both value and volume, with Dom Pérignon and Cristal amongst the top 5 wines by traded value.
With a 7.4% share of traded value, Tuscany closed flat on last week. Biondi Santi’s 2010 Brunello di Montalcino was the region’s top-traded wine by value, followed by the 2019 and 2018 vintages of Sassicaia, ahead of the 2022’s release next week.
Piedmont took a 5.8% share of traded value, up on its close last week at a 3.8% share. The region’s gains were largely driven by trades of Giacomo Conterno’s Barolo Monfortino Riserva, with the 2010 and 2014 vintage in the top spots.
Following a strong close last week at 8.3%, the US’s share of trade fell to 3.0%. Dominus and Promontory were the top-traded wines by value.
Though down on its close last week, Spain retained its foothold on the market with a 4.9% share of traded value. Vega Sicilia accounted for 78.5% of the region’s trade, with Alion, Valbuena 5.°, Unico and Unico Reserva Especial all seeing trade.
Breakdown of buyer geography
US buyers’ share of trade fell again this week, dropping them into third place behind the EU and UK buyers, accounting for 31.2% and 30.3% of purchasing respectively. US buyers remained instrumental in Champagne buying, accounting for 59.7% of the regions purchases (by value). UK buyers were dominant in Burgundy buying, while EU buyers were most influential in Spanish wine buying.
Asian buyers have demonstrated solid consistency, accounting for around 10% of trade on average since the start of 2024. This week, their efforts were focused mainly on Bordeaux, with the 2021 and 2015 vintages coming as the top-trade by both value and volume.
What were the week’s top-traded wines?
Château Mouton Rothschild 2021 was the week’s top-traded wine by value. It changed hands between £3,256 and £3,340 per 12×75, marking the lowest-ever transaction prices. As shown below, the wine began to trade more frequently only when its Market Price dropped decisively below its ex-négociant release price, and has seen another uptick in traded volumes as its Market Price has fallen below its ex-château release price. While we might expect wines to trade less frequently in the years following their release – they remain in the hands of merchants who received allocations and their En Primeur customers – most other vintages of Mouton traded more frequently in the two years following release.
Liv-ex trades of Château Mouton Rothschild 2021
Writing added using the new annotation tool — available on all individual wine pages, the charting tool and technical analysis tool.
Cristal 2012 came in fourth place, trading in high volumes at £1,800 per 12×75 and in low volumes at £1,880. Trade prices have been consistently hovering between £1,750 and £1,900 since early 2024. At this price level, there appears to be both sufficient supply and demand, with both buyers and sellers finding value and keeping spreads tight.
Bids and offers for Cristal 2012
Top-traded wines by volume
Dom Pérignon 2012 was the third top-traded wine by value and fourth top-traded by volume. This week it traded in high volumes at £1,368 per 12×75, its lowest ever transaction price, but still above its ex-London release price of £1,320.
Weekly insights recap
This week, Liv-ex members were sent a technical analysis of the Cristal index, with focus on the price movements and trade volumes of the 2002 and 2015 vintages.
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 £140m of bids and offers across 20,000 wines.
