- Lafite 2018 was the best-performing wine of the first half of the year.
- Italian wine, Champagne and rosé topped volume trade.
- Trade by value and volume rose greatly versus the same period in 2020.
The first half of 2021 marked an extremely positive trading period for the secondary market. Trade by value in the first six months of the year was 74% higher than in the same period in 2020, when the market stumbled in the face of the growing pandemic.
The market rebounded strongly in the second half of 2020 but the value of trade so far this year was still 34% above that much stronger end to last year.
Trade by volume meanwhile was 54% higher than in the first half of 2020, with over 3,300 distinct wines (LWIN7s) and over 7,700 wines identified by vintage (LWIN11s) being traded (versus 2,400 LWIN7s and 5,500 LWIN11s in H1 2020).
Top wines by value
Lafite 2018 has been consistently mentioned as one of the best monthly performers so far this year and it topped the list of best-performers for the last six months as well.
The wine has risen 16.6% in price since release, spurred on by its strong critical scores and limited-edition label to mark the 150th anniversary of Rothschild ownership.
Its current Market Price of £6,997 per dozen is not quite its strongest level. Earlier in the year it was trading above £7,000 a case.
The 2018 vintage from multiple regions proved the most popular vintage overall by volume and value between January and June.
Top wines by volume
Although second to Lafite in value trade, Sassicaia’s 2018 vintage was the most traded wine by volume so far in 2021, its 2017 vintage not far behind.
Dom Pérignon 2010 was the second most traded, with Champagne having been a leading category this year. The Champagne 50 is the best-performing sub-index of the Liv-ex Fine Wine 1000 over the past year.
Also making an appearance in the volume trade was Provençal estate Domaine Tempier’s rosé. The thinking drinker’s rosé of choice, accessible prices and hopes of a long (restriction-free?) summer perhaps helping activity along.
