- Bordeaux’s share of trade continued to decline in the first half of 2021.
- Burgundy and Italy so far this year command bigger shares than in 2020.
- Global members searched for an eclectic basket of wines from January to June.
Regional trade share in the first half of the year continued the trend towards a broader secondary market.
Bordeaux trade has continued to slip. Although En Primeur has driven up interest in Bordeaux in recent weeks and months and its trade share has improved, overall in the first six months of the year its share of trade by value was 39.5% - below its 42% total share in 2020 as a whole.
Continued interest in Bordeaux wines, not least the First Growths, will likely mean its total trade by value in 2021 is closer to its 2020 figure but there is still no escaping the extent to which the region has lost its absolute grip on the secondary market.
Rest of the World trade was also down on its full-year 2020 level (3.6% in 2021 H1 against 5.7% 2020 FY). It will have a bit of work to do to match its trade share last year which was one of its best ever levels.
On the up
Champagne’s share of trade so far this year stands at 8.3%. It was 8.6% of the total in 2020, suggesting it may yet improve on that figure by the end of 2021. The Champagne 50 index has been one of the leading indices over the past year.
The Rhone 100 has also been doing well and that region’s share of trade so far in 2021 (4.3%) is its strongest since 2003 (when it commanded a mighty 8.1% share).
The USA, likewise, has continued to build on its 2020 momentum, taking a 7.5% share of trade at the halfway mark in 2021.
The best performances so far though have been Burgundy and Italy. With a 20.3% share of trade, Burgundy is currently outpacing its best ever year, which was 2019, when it took a 19.7% share of trade by value.
Italy has booked a 16.5% share of total trade so far this year, above the 15% it took in 2020.
Most searched for wines
Looking at members’ searches for wines by market provides some interesting insight as well. Strangely, despite Burgundy’s strong performance so far this year, in the top 10 most searched for wines by members in the UK, USA and Asia respectively there was only one Burgundy label – Domaine Perrot-Minot’s 2015 Chambertin Clos de Bèze.
Both the UK and Asia showed a strong interest in Lafite and Mouton Rothschild. The UK was principally after younger vintages and Asia was looking for older wines.
Dom Pérignon’s 2008 vintage and 2018 Sassicaia seemed a popular choice in both the UK and USA.
Italian (especially Piedmontese) and US labels dominated in the USA, alongside Lynch-Bages and the oldest wine looked for in any market – 1961 Le Pin.
