- The Liv-ex 100 rose 0.4% in February marking the first rise for the index in four months.
- The best-performing labels came from a variety of regions including Champagne, California, Australia and Burgundy.
*made using the Liv-ex Charting Tool
The Liv-ex Fine Wine 100 rose 0.4% in February, closing at 415.29. This is the first time the benchmark index has risen in 2023, after several months of decline. The last positive movement for the index was back in September, when it rose 1.9%.
The Liv-ex Fine Wine 100 was the only major index to see a positive movement in February. Both the Liv-ex Fine Wine 50 (which tracks the movement of the First Growths) and the Liv-ex Fine Wine 1000 (which tracks 1,000 wines from across the world) fell 0.3% and 0.8% respectively.
That being said, February’s rise of 0.4% isn’t enough to correct the 1.85% loss the index has experienced over the past four months.
What’s driving the index?
Of the 100 wines in the index, performance was split. 54 wines saw their prices rise this month, while 44 fell and two ran flat.
While it is difficult to draw any firm trends from the risers and fallers, it appears that this positive movement has been driven by recent vintages outside of Bordeaux and Burgundy.
For example, several wines from Italy saw impressive gains this month, including Tignanello 2019 (+4.7%), Masseto 2018 (+4.5%) and Sassicaia 2019 (2.8%).
Harlan Estate 2018 (which also features among the top risers below), and Opus One 2019 (+2.1%) from California also saw positive movements.
The performance of these wines is also reflected by the performance of Liv-ex’s other indices. The California 50 rose 1.2% this month and the Italy 100 was the only Liv-ex 1000 sub-index to end the month in positive territory. More to come on this.
February’s top performers
The table above shows the best-performing wines in the Liv-ex 100 index in February. Bollinger La Grande Annee 2014 saw the biggest price increase (+11.1%). It was followed by Napa Valley’s Harlan Estate 2018 (+9.9%). Australian staple, Penfolds Grange 2017 was also up 8.0%.
Burgundy’s Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Richebourg Grand Cru 2018 and Domaine Armand Rousseau Chambertin-Clos de Beze Grand Cru 2016 rose 9.1% and 7.8% respectively. Our recent report on the region considers the future of Burgundy’s secondary market and if its exponential price rises can be sustained.
What is the Liv-ex 100 index?
The Liv-ex Fine Wine 100 Index is the industry leading benchmark. It represents the price movement of 100 of the most sought-after fine wines on the world’s most active and liquid marketplace from France, Italy, USA, Australia and Spain. Stretching back over 20 years, the Liv-ex 100 is quoted on Bloomberg and Reuters screens.
All Liv-ex indices are calculated using our Mid Price; the mid-point between the highest live bid and lowest live offer on the market. These are the firm commitments to buy and sell at that price; transactional data rather than list prices. It represents the actual trading activity of 600 of the world’s leading fine wine merchants. Because Liv-ex doesn’t itself trade, this data is truly independent and reliable.
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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 620 merchant members from across the globe. Together they represent the largest pool of liquidity in the world – currently £80m of bids and offers across 20,000 wines.
