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Talking Trade – fine wine over Christmas

  • Bordeaux and Champagne lead Christmas trade
  • Lafite Rothschild 2010 most traded
  • Fine wine outperforms equities in 2018
  • Liv-ex indices close 2018
  • Liv-ex in the press

Trade over the festive period focused on the classics: The past two weeks saw activity from ‘on-vintage’ Bordeaux and Champagne. The First Growths accounted for more than a third of the total trade by value, with Lafite being the most active. Indeed, its 2010 vintage took the top spot in most traded wines by value, while Dom Perignon 2008 led the fortnight’s trade by volume.

Champagne overtook Burgundy to become the second most traded region by both value and volume after Bordeaux in December. Burgundy accounted for a reduced 6.1% of the total trade by value in the past two weeks, bringing its monthly share down to a (still strong) 11.4%.

Italy’s trade share also dipped from 9.8% to 6.2% over Christmas. However, Sassicaia 2015 continued to prove popular on the secondary market.

The top traded wines by value were all Champagnes and Bordeaux First Growths. Two Dom Perignon vintages featured in the top five, with the exclusive 2009 Luminous Label edition making an appearance.

Another special label also traded heavily: Mouton Rothschild 2005, which Robert Parker praised on multiple occasions, last sold for £5,400 per 12×75, just below its current market price.

Fine wine outperforms equities

Fine wine has emerged as the better performing asset class over the past fifteen years. While global equities have experienced considerable pressure, the Liv-ex 100 and Liv-ex 1000 have risen by 213.9% and 258.2% respectively. Find out more here.

Liv-ex 100 and Liv-ex 1000 close 2018

The Liv-ex 1000 index – the broadest measure of the market – closed 2018 on 363.3, a gain of 10% on last year’s close. Meanwhile, the Liv-ex Fine Wine 100 index, has been very stable, trading within a narrow 2% range in 2018.

December round-up: Liv-ex in the press

December was a busy month in the press for the fine wine market, with several outlets such as the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times picking up on its strong performance in 2018 compared to equities. Find out more here.


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