This week was memorable for smaller fine wine regions. South African wine Mullineux NV Olerasay 2° was awarded 100 points by Neal Martin of Vinous, his first perfect score for the region. Additionally, Neal posted his inaugural Vinous report on English wine, awarding Wiston Blanc de Blanc 2015 95 points, the highest ever for an English sparkling. The Wiston Blanc de Noir 2010 was awarded 93 points. Luis Gutierrez of the Wine Advocate awarded Spanish wine Descendientes de Jose Palacious La Faraona 2018 100 points – 2014 also carries 100 points.
With broadening eyes viewing the market and a few large parcels of DRC moving hands, Bordeaux (30.9%) share of trade by value fell below that of Burgundy (33.6%) for the first time in Liv-ex history. Prior to 2020, Bordeaux’s annual share of trade value had always been above 50%, being as high as 73.3% as recent as 2016. So far this year Bordeaux share is just 45.8% of trade by value with the difference being captured by a number of regions.
USA (8.0%), Rhone (2.5%) and Others (3.7%) have increased substantially this year as secondary markets for their wines develop further.
Champagne (12.4%) and Italy (8.95) both drifted from the previous week but are up year over year.
The evolution of trade share can be seen in the graph below.
DRC, Romanee Conti 2016 was the top traded wine by value this week. It was also joined by the 2000 vintage which traded at a slight premium (6.0%). DRC made up 52% of trade for the region and Armand Rousseau made up another 22%.
Screaming Eagle, Cabernet Sauvignon has now spent its third week in the top 5, although this week it was the 2016 vintage. The wine received unanimous praise from critics, being awarded 100 points from James Suckling, Lisa Perrotti-Brown and Antonio Galloni. Released at £9,545 per 12×75, the wine has since more than tripled in price.
In the news
The 2019 opening report on Bordeaux 2019, “The Value of Time”, has now been made available to the greater public. The closing report “The Magic is back” is currently available exclusively to Liv-ex members. However, a short blog was posted highlighting this year’s En Primeur wines that have since posted positive performance. It comes as no surprise that wines we initially described as great value are now posting some of the best returns.
