Every Friday, we take a look at activity on the fine wine market in our weekly ‘Talking Trade’ post. Highlights from the past week include:
- The USA and Champagne experienced an increase in their regional trade share by value this week.
- Château Pavie 2014 and Château Ausone 2018 were the most active wines this week.
- Liv-ex published two market updates highlighting opportunities in Bordeaux 2014 and Taittinger wines, along with an update on the benefits of maintaining live exposure over the holidays.
Regional trade in the past week
Bordeaux’s trade share experienced a marginal decline this week, dropping to 41% compared to last week’s 41.6%, buoyed by two wines taking the top spots in the list of most active wines. See more below.
Champagne, which saw its trade share rise to 12.1% in comparison to 7.5% last week, claimed two of the other spots in the top-traded wines this week.
The USA had a better week, experiencing the largest increase in trade share. It jumped to 7.5% compared to just 3.8% last week. This increase was primarily driven by wines like the 2018, 2014, and 2017 vintages of Promontory trading, as well as Screaming Eagle, Sauvignon Blanc 2018, and Screaming Eagle, Cabernet Sauvignon 2020.
The ‘Others’ category also experienced a slight uptick in its trade share, rising from 3.9% last week to 4.9% this week.
All other regions, namely Burgundy, the Rhône, Tuscany, and Piedmont, experienced declines in their regional trade shares. Piedmont recorded the most significant decline, decreasing to 4.4% this week compared to 7.6% last week. Tuscany’s trade share, despite Tignanello 2020 featuring among the top-traded wines, fell to 8.4% this week from 12.7% last week.
This week’s top-traded wines
As mentioned earlier, the top two spots this week were taken by Bordeaux wines, more specifically from Saint-Emilion: Château Pavie 2014 and Château Ausone 2018. Both of these estates featured in the Saint-Emilion Classification as Grand Cru Classé A for these vintages, before Ausone withdrew in 2022.
Château Pavie 2014 was released at £1,700 per case and received a score of 94 points from Neal Martin. It last traded at £1,996 per case, slightly below its current Market Price, which has increased 17.5% since its release.
Château Pavie 2014 trades on Liv-ex
Champagne was also represented among the top-traded wines this week, with Armand de Brignac, Ace of Spades Brut Gold NV and Taittinger, Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs 2012 securing two spots. Taittinger 2012 scored 95+ points from William Kelley and 96 points from Antonio Galloni. The wine last traded at £1,242 per case, 5.9% below its current Market Price of £1,320 per dozen.
Taittinger unveiled its latest offering yesterday, the Brut Comtes de Champagne Rosé 2011. The wine scored 94 points from Yohan Castaing (Wine Advocate) and has an earlier drinking window than some of its previous vintages, a great alternative for those patiently awaiting the maturation of their 2009 and 2008 wines.
Weekly insights recap
This week, Liv-ex published two market updates. The first focused on unlocking trading opportunities in Taittinger wines, while the second was the first part of a series on finding value in Bordeaux 2014. Additionally, an update was published highlighting trading opportunities during the holiday period.
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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 £100m of bids and offers across 16,000 wines.
