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White Burgundy’s secondary market potential
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By January 25, 2022Bronze, Burgundy, Fine Wine Market

  • Red Burgundy represents 76% of the region’s trade and has risen in value by almost 5,000% since 2010.
  • White Burgundy’s trade has risen much more slowly over the last decade.
  • White Burgundy represents 60% of the region’s production suggesting its trade level has ample scope to grow.

Burgundy recorded an extremely successful year of trade in 2021. Overall the region took 22% of trade by value, its highest ever level.

The growth of Burgundy’s trade over the last decade can be seen in the chart above. The value of red wines traded has grown by 4,900% since 2010 but white trade has not risen as much – though it is still up by 2,000%.

In total, red Burgundy accounts for 76% of the region’s trade by value and 63.4% by volume. White by contrast represents 20.5% of trade by value and 36.2% of the volume.

The difference in the average price between them is also notable; £2,954 for a 12-bottle case of red Burgundy and £1,391 for white.

Time for growth in white Burgundy?

One of the major recent trends has been the broadening of the market and this is true of Burgundy trade as well.

As our soon-to-be published Burgundy Report makes clear, Burgundy had the largest number of different wines (as measured by LWIN11) sold on Liv-ex last year – over 4,000.

Yet the great majority remain red as the chart above shows. Seemingly, the expansion of Burgundy trade has not yet caught the region’s whites in its wake.

In one sense this is entirely typical. Across nearly every fine wine region, with Champagne being a notable exception, red wines lead secondary market activity. It is possible that concerns surrounding premature oxidation, which was once a serious problem for the region’s white wines, also linger.

Yet Burgundy is a predominantly white wine region, with white varieties representing around 57% of plantings and 60% of production, according to regional trade body, the Bourgogne Wine Board.

Supply and rising prices are two of the great challenges facing Burgundian secondary market activity in the coming years.

If buyers remain committed to buying Burgundy, then the diversity, availability and relative affordability of the region’s white wines is an obvious area where trade might expand.

For all white Burgundy LIVE offers click here.

In case you missed it

Here’s what we’ve been reading:

  • WSTA – The UK trade is being encouraged to write to local MPs over the proposed duty reforms.
  • FT – Investors sell out of IPOs as stocks boom.
  • The Drinks Business – Duckhorn extends Napa holdings with two acquisitions.

Liv-ex analysis is drawn from the world’s most comprehensive database of fine wine prices. The data reflects the real time activity of Liv-ex’s 560+ merchant members from across the globe. Together they represent the largest pool of liquidity in the world – currently £100m of bids and offers across 16,000 wines. Independent data, direct from the market.