The sale of Château Beauséjour Duffau-Lagarrosse Premier Grand Cru Classé ‘B’ was finalised this week. Joséphine Duffau-Lagarrosse and Prisca Courtin-Clarins, an heiress to the Clarins cosmetic empire, acquired the property following approval from SAFER, the French land management organization, for €75 million (£64 million). The château has been the ninth most traded Saint-Emilion Grand Cru over the past year.
Both the Liv-ex Fine Wine 100 and Liv-ex 1000 closed March with gains, the latter reaching an all-time high.
The Liv-ex 1000 closed at 365.06, surpassing the previous high set in November 2018. All sub-indices have risen over the past one year.
The Champagne 50 leads performance, up 12.65% and just a touch off its all-time high set in February 2021. It is closely followed by the Rhone 100 (9.94%) and the Italy 100 (9.38%), both of which hit all-time highs in March. The Bordeaux 500 also reached an all-time high in the month. The Rest of the World 60 has lagged behind (0.94%).
Bordeaux trade share by value was back in the lead this week, reaching 35%. The 2015 vintage proved the most popular, along with the wines of Pauillac and Pomerol.
Burgundy may have relinquished a touch of share from last week, but it still held well above its 2020 share (17.9%).
In Champagne, the 2012 vintage continued to drive trade for the region.
In the Rest of the World, another English still wine traded for the first time this year – Gusbourne’s ‘Guinevere’ Chardonnay 2017. It was joined by two vintages of its Blanc de Blancs, the 2014 and 2017.
Château Lafite Rothschild 2015 was the top traded wine this week. Neal Martin of Vinous was the latest critic to taste the wine and awarded it 94 points during the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting in 2019. The wine has been on the upturn since the start of 2020 and has risen 11% over the past 16 months.
Bollinger’s Vieilles Vignes Françaises 2009 also joined the list. Antonio Galloni of Vinous said the wine, “remains one of the most compelling wines – still or sparkling – in the world.” He awarded it 96+ points in November 2020.
Bollinger was in the news this week with its acquisition of Ponzi Vineyards in Oregon, USA. Bollinger chairman and CEO Etienne Bizot said: “The US is such an important market for luxury Champagne, Burgundy, Sancerre, Cognac, and other regions in which our family owns wineries.”
Liv-ex Indices
