By the end of August, Italian trade by value had surpassed the entirety of 2019. While Italy has seen the fastest growth this year, it has not been alone in contributing to the continued broadening of the market – Chile, Germany, Portugal, USA, Spain, New Zealand, South Africa, and even England have exceeded their 2019 trade by value year-to-date.
Opus One was in the spotlight this month. David Pearson, the long-time CEO of the Estate, leaves this September to embark on a new project with Bill Harlan (Harlan Estate, Promontory, Meadowood, Bond). Opus One 2017 will be released next week. Also in the news was Neal Martin who released his scores and notes on 2016 Bordeaux tasted blind, leaving only one wine with a perfect score – Cos d’Estournel.
In another record month for market breadth, distinct LWIN7s (wine) traded rose 15% from the July record. Establishing a near inverse relationship with the broadening market, Bordeaux’s share fell once again, to a record monthly low of 34.6% – it started the year at 55.3%.
Prices of wine rose for the third consecutive month, up 1.2% in August, turning the Liv-ex 100 index positive year-to-date after a five-month drift. Buying interest from the US emerged as tariffs were left unchanged (as opposed to the market fear that they may be broadened) while new releases from both Australia and Italy captured the attention of the market.
