- The majority of Liv-ex’s major indices saw declines in May, though not as severe as in April.
- Of the Liv-ex 1000’s sub-indices, the Rest of the World 60 and Bordeaux Legends 40 were the top performers, up 0.4% and 0.1% respectively. The Champagne 50 was again the worst hit, down 0.7% month-on-month.
The majority of Liv-ex’s major indices saw declines in May, though not as severe as in April. Tariff concerns, En Primeur tasting week and bank holidays rendered April’s trade levels lower than expected but May brought back an element of stability. Daily average traded volume rose by 7.6%, though remained 19.0% below that of March.
The Fine Wine 100
The Liv-ex Fine Wine 100, the industry benchmark, fell 0.5% in May to close at 314.3. The index now sits between two critical horizontal supports – its 2018 peak and 2020 low. 36 components saw month-on-month gains, seven remained flat, and the remaining 57 saw declines. E. Guigal, La Turque, 2015, Pol Roger, Winston Churchill 2015 and Chateau Les Carmes Haut-Brion 2020 were the index’s best performers, while Domaine Francois Raveneau, Montee de Tonnerre, 2021, Chateau d’Yquem 2011 and Domaine Trapet Pere et Fils, Chambertin 2020 fell the furthest.
The Fine Wine 1000’s sub-indices
The Liv-ex Fine Wine 1000, the broadest measure of the market, fell 0.4% in May. The Rest of the World 60 was the top performing index, up 0.4% month-on-month. No single brand can be pointed to as driving this increase — the top six performers comprised one vintage each of Sena, Screaming Eagle, Penfolds, Dominus, Opus One and Vega Sicilia. Though not concentrated in these top performing vintages, May saw a 63.4% increase in traded volumes of Rest of the World 60 wines, led by both UK and US buyers.
The Bordeaux Legends 40 was the Fine Wine 1000’s second best performer, up a modest 0.1% month-on-month. For the second month running, the Champagne 50 took the hardest hit, down another 0.7% (compared to 1.3% in April).
Particularly when compared to the Champagne 50, the Bordeaux Legends 40 has exhibited minimal volatility over the past 20 years. While making a lower peak than the broader market (as represented by the Fine Wine 1000) in late 2022, it has shown signs of recovery sooner, appearing to find support now at its 2020 lows.
Lafleur 2000 was the index’s best performer. As shown below, its prices have been trending upward in an ascending triangle since July 2024 – a pattern generally understood in technical analysis as a bullish outbreak signal.
Technical analysis of Lafleur 2000
Bordeaux 500 sub-indices
In the Bordeaux 500, the Sauternes 50 was the only index to record a rise – up 0.8% month-on-month. While it remains true that the market for sweet wines is weak, there was an uptick in Sauternes 50 trade in May compared to April – albeit a return to March’s traded volumes. Still, the Left Bank 200 (represented by the flattening green line below), despite it 0.2% month-on-month decline, remains the most promising prospect of the Bordeaux 500’s sub-indices.
Liv-ex Fine Wine 50
As the 2024 En Primeur campaign comes to a close, members of the trade have been increasingly outspoken on the problems of release pricing and price performance. This is well-evidenced by the Fine Wine 50’s current components. Only three now remain up year-to-date – Latour 2013 and 2017, and Chateau Margaux 2021. Trades of the latter wine paint a fairly promising picture – prices initially consolidated around £3,000 in January, and have now started to rise, regularly trading around £3,200 per 12×75.
Liv-ex trades of Margaux 2021
