- Buyers concentrated efforts on Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne, allowing Tuscany’s market share to slip.
- Petrus 1990, Haut-Brion 2021 and Lafite 2021 were the week’s top-traded wines.
- This week, Liv-ex members were sent a deep dive on Chateau Les Carmes Haut-Brion, including a technical analysis of its Market Price index. An update on the movements of Liv-ex’s major indices was also published for members only.
Bordeaux was again in the lead of the market this week, taking a 38.1% share of traded value. Three of the week’s top five wines by traded value hailed from the region – Petrus 1990, and the 2021 vintages of both Chateau Haut-Brion and Chateau Lafite Rothschild. The 2021 vintage came in as the top-traded overall by value. While buyers initially struggled to find value in the vintage, prices have now, for the majority of Bordeaux 500 2021 components, fallen below ex-chateau release prices. At this level, there appears to be emerging demand.
Burgundy took a 22.9% share of traded value, down slightly on last week’s close with 23.8%. Domaine Leflaive was the region’s top-traded producer,
Champagne’s share of traded value increased from 10.5% last week to 14.2% this week. Jacques Selosse 2012 and Cristal 2016 took the top spots by traded value.
Buying efforts were concentrated mainly in French wine, at the expense of most other regions.
Tuscany had a weak close at 6.0%, down from 14.8% last week. Brunellos (Valdicava and Biondi-Santi) joined Super Tuscans Sassicaia and Tignanello as the region’s top-traded wines by value (across vintages).
Australian and South American wines (both captured in the ‘other’ category) saw more trade than usual this week.
Breakdown of buyer geography – US buyers pull their bids
Following the announcement of 20% tariffs on EU goods on Wednesday, US buyers quickly pulled out of the market. Overnight, the value of US bid exposure fell by 86.9%. Negotiations are still possible – the EU has yet to impose retaliatory tariffs – but the impact of these tariffs is already clear. US buyers had been resilient to market conditions (thanks in part to Dollar strength), in turn propping up the demand-supply balance internationally. The market will need to reckon with this sudden drop in demand, notwithstanding already-poor market conditions.
In brighter news, the Euro has rallied against Pound Sterling, presenting opportunities for European buyers. If the dollar continues to weaken, the market may turn to Europe to step into the role of US buyers.
Asian and UK buyers remain steady, accounting for 13.0% and 29.3% of purchased value respectively.
What were the week’s top-traded wines?
Chateau Haut-Brion 2021 and Chateau Lafite Rothschild 2021 are the second and third top-traded wines of the week by value. Haut-Brion last traded at £2,600 / $3,388 per 12×75 / € 256.1/btl, 26.8% below its ex-chateau release price (€ 350/btl).
Liv-ex trades of Haut-Brion 2021
Lafite 2021 hasn’t performed much better. It last traded at £3,960 / $5,156 per 12×75 / € 389.4/btl, flat on its ex-chateau release price (€ 390/btl)
The recently released Chateau Latour 2016 is amongst the week’s top-traded wines. Alongside 3×75 and 6×75 cases at $2,158 / £1,645 / € 650.9 / btl and $3,901 / £3,012 / € 601.4 respectively, a double magnum traded for $2,753 / £2,100 / € 2507.4. As we have previously reported, Latour’s restricted release model has improved its demand-supply balance. This can be seen clearly below – demand for Latour 2016 outweighs supply.
Top-traded wines by volume
Weekly insights recap
This week, Liv-ex members were sent a deep dive on Chateau Les Carmes Haut-Brion, including a technical analysis of its Market Price index. An update on the movements of Liv-ex’s major indices was also published for members only.
Next week, members on our expert-level packages will receive the Liv-ex Bordeaux Opening Report, and pre-release analyses for 110 of the top chateaux to better inform their buying decisions as they prepare to taste the 2024s in barrel.
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.
