At the start of the week, Neal Martin (Vinous) released his scores and notes on 2016 Bordeaux tasted blind. The report confirmed Cos d’Estournel as the single perfect wine. There were small downgrades (from 100 points to 99) for Figeac, Latour and Vieux Chateau Certan but Martin did give the caveat that blind tastings “tend to manifest scores that are a little lower than tastings sighted”. On the opposite end, Grand Puy Lacoste (a Fifth Growth) was upgraded from 95 to 97 points and found some trade and a small bump in price (2.5%).
Even with Bordeaux in the spotlight, the region’s trade share by value (35.6%) slipped below its July share for the second week. Similarly, Burgundy fell to 13.4%.
Italy’s (23.0%) trade share rose back above its year-to-date total (14.7%). The growing number of Italian wines on the market has been a marker of the year. As pictured in the chart below, Italy has had dramatic growth in both LWIN7s and LWIN11s traded this year, leading all regions in terms of growth.
Others (15.7%) saw the largest share increase, led predominantly by Australia (12.4%), with the support of Spain (2.3%) and Germany (0.30%).
Penfolds Grange 2016 was the most traded wine by value this week. The wine was released in the UK last week at £4,140 per 12×75, the same price as the 2014 and 2015 vintages. Additionally, Australia’s Henschke, Hill of Grace 2009 also proved popular, last trading at £5,020 per 12×75.
The cheapest of the Super Tuscans, Tignanello, saw plenty of activity in its 2016 vintage. Its price has risen 5% since the start of July.
Number of unique wines traded reaches an all-time high
The number of unique wines traded in the first half of 2020 grew 37% over the equivalent period in 2019. The second half of the year started even stronger, in July the amount of wines traded (LWIN7) broke past 1,000 for the first time in Liv-ex’s history and expanded on the previous highest month by over 20%, seen below.
Premium Market Report
The July Market Report has been published and is being available exclusively to Silver+ members. Bronze+ members have access to Page 1, summarizing what has happened in trade for the month. Liv-ex will be making more of it market leading insights exclusively available to paying members of Liv-ex*. These articles and reports will become restricted and labelled as Premium Content. More information on the scheme, here.
