- Bordeaux led weekly trade, followed closely by Burgundy and Champagne.
- 2020 DRC Assortments were the top-traded cases by value; Château Angelus 2012 was the top-traded individual wine.
- This week, Liv-ex members were sent a Market Update breaking down the DRC index into individual cuvées, assessing their price movements separately. An update on Liv-ex’s major indices was published and is available for all. A Liv-ex Insider video discussing the role of technology in the fine wine industry was also released.
Bordeaux again led the market with a 30.0% share of traded value. Across vintages, Château Mouton Rothschild came in as the region’s top-traded wine, but Château Angelus 2012 was the top-traded individual vintage overall. The region continues to be the preferred region of UK buyers, who account for 38.6% of the region’s traded value.
Burgundy followed close behind with a 27.7% share. Though not included in the ‘top-traded wines’ table below, several cases of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s 2020 Assortment changed hands (packed in 6×75 OWC, including one Romanee-Conti, one La Tâche, two Échezeaux and two Romanee-Saint-Vivant), accounting for 29.4% of the region’s traded value.
Champagne’s trade share decreased from 15.6% last week to 13.0% this week. Dom Pérignon was once again the region’s top-traded producer, thanks to the 2015 Tribute to Jean-Michel Basquiat and 2013 flagship trading in high volumes.
Almost flat on last week, Spain took a 4.2% share of traded value. Vega Sicilia accounted for 88.3% of all Spanish wine traded, and 3.7% overall. Alongside several vintages of Unico, Valbuena 5.° 2018 and Pintia 2017 also changed hands. Liv-ex members located in France accounted for 61.0% of Spanish wine bought this week.
The USA’s trade share fell from 6.0% last week to 3.3% this week. In previous weeks, trades of Opus One and Screaming Eagle have buoyed the region, but both wines saw minimal trade this week.
Last week, US traders accounted for 37.6% of all buying on the exchange. This week, likely due to focus shifting towards the presidential election, they accounted for only 25.4% of buying.
What were the week’s top-traded wines?
Château Angelus 2012 came in as the week’s top-traded wine by value. Cases changed hands between £3,640 and £4,000 per 12×75. Volatile trading activity has not been uncommon for this wine over the past five years. Still, as shown in the chart below, it has exhibited strong resilience to the turn of the market, trades taking place at consistently rising prices since its release.
Liv-ex trades of Château Angelus 2012
Louis Roederer’s Cristal 2015 came in as the third top-traded wine by value and fifth top-traded by volume. It traded actively this week around £1,750 – a 32.7% discount to its ex-London release at £2,600. Still, the international commercial power of Cristal and the Grand Marques allows overseas merchants to hold their prices high. The current best listed price in the US (converted to pound sterling using today’s exchange rate) is £2,403 – this presents an interesting arbitrage opportunity.
Liv-ex Regional Benchmarks of Louis Roederer, Cristal 2015
Top-traded wines by volume
Château Musar’s 2016 red has seen a considerable increase in trading activity this year. While trade prices had been holding over £300 per 12×75, it traded several times this week between £240 and £260.
Liv-ex trades of Château Musar 2016
Liv-ex trades of Produttori del Barbaresco, Barbaresco 2020
Weekly insights recap
This week, Liv-ex members were sent a Market Update breaking down the DRC index into individual cuvées, assessing their price movements separately. An update on Liv-ex’s major indices was published and is available for all. A Liv-ex Insider video discussing the role of technology in the fine wine industry was also released.
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 20,000 wines.
Independent data, direct from the market.
