Liv-ex Blog

Liv-ex: Your Trusted Partner for Seamless Wine Logistics 

Liv-ex moves wine from seller to buyer, checks and verifies wine in our high tech, bonded warehouses, and ensures sellers are paid correctly and on…

At Liv-ex we handle every aspect of logistics. This includes moving the wine from seller to buyer, checking and verifying wine in our high tech, bonded warehouses, and ensuring sellers are paid correctly and on time.  

Liv-ex reduces the complexity of buying and selling fine wine as we act as the single point of contact on the other side of every deal, meaning one invoice, one transportation partner, one payment, despite doing businesses with other wine businesses all over the world.

So how does it work? 

• Once a seller accepts a buyers bid on their wine, the trade is matched, and the wine is sold 

• We collect stock from the seller, or the seller delivers directly to one of the Liv-ex warehouses, in either London, Bordeaux or Belgium 

• Our warehouse team validates the wine ensuring that it complies with the Liv-ex contract 

• The seller is paid as soon as we validate the wine 

• The buyer pays and we move the wine to them 

How does Liv-ex reduce risk in the secondary market?   

To keep our exchange safe, each prospective Liv-ex member undergoes a thorough vetting process; two trade references are required, and an Exchange Committee is in place to assess every prospective member.   

Liv-ex trading contracts ensure buyers know the condition of wines, delivery parameters and packaging before they bid on wine, so buyers know what they are getting with no surprises. Our benchmark SIB contract (Standard in Bond) requires the wine to be in good condition, that packaging is original and in good condition, and that the duty status is In Bond, meaning the buyer can receive their wine in 30 days.  

Our wine storage facilities include state-of-the-art security and climate control systems to ensure wines are protected around the clock. Members can store their wines in our warehouses pre and post trade, before deciding whether to trade again or ship onwards.   

When thorough checks are required, we take the bottles out of cases to photograph them. We use ultraviolet torches to check the labels as well as checking them for other producer specific anticounterfeiting measures such as microprint, holograms and QR codes. We inspect capsules, including checking any prooftags. And we also check the cork, sediment and glass embossing or laser etching. 

How does Liv-ex simplify buying and selling internationally? 

Liv-ex arranges and handles the full process of bonded transport and storage, manages customs paperwork, and oversees chain-of-custody checks, cross-border transfers and warehouse reconciliation. We also use a trusted network of Liv-ex-approved storage partners to bolster these capabilities. For businesses managing high volumes of trades, we overcome common bottlenecks in invoicing, logistics, and fulfilment that would otherwise drain profitability. 

We understand that sellers require prompt payment, and buyers expect fast delivery.  We have a standardised payment calendar so that sellers know exactly when they will be paid. And an individual stock management portal so that buyers can access live updates on their purchases and arrange onward movement of their stock as soon as it hits their account.  

If you’d like to reduce the logistic burden of trading wine on the secondary market, speak to us about becoming a Liv-ex member.  

Liv-ex Blog

En Primeur Reflections from Tom Burchfield, Head of Market Intelligence 

Tom talks to us about his experience of attending En Primeur; the Chateau he visited, the wines he tasted, and his expectations of pricing to…

• Market Intelligence

Along with most of the UK trade, we boarded the first Easy Jet flight from Gatwick to Bordeaux on Sunday morning. Bleary-eyed, I travelled with our CEO James Miles, Chief Commercial Officer Anthony Maxwell, and our Broker for Europe, Paolo-Luca Rossi. There was a sense of nervous anticipation. Rumours had it that the wines in Bordeaux had turned out better than expected. Word on the street was that producers were ready to face the current market state. We would see… 

We headed straight to the Ballande & Meneret tasting. A huge warehouse, almost devoid of human life greeted us. Stacks of 2021s lined the tasting space, hoping for another day in the sun. We tasted c.50 wines, organised by appellation, and mostly towards the lower end of the price scale. I tasted quite a lot of green and unripe tannins. There were a few successes (Rauzan-Segla was a team favourite), but we left fearing that this year may not be the turning point we’d hoped for. After a streak of bad vintages, and a tough growing season, we wondered what the rest of En Primeur week would bring? 

Day two began with a trip up the Left Bank to Saint-Estephe, starting with Montrose. After the mixed bag at Ballande, Montrose lifted our spirits – it was a very delicious wine. A quick hop skip and a jump over to Calon where we had a chance to chat with the team around the vintage, the market, and their plans. 

In advance of tasting week, the Liv-ex Market Intelligence team (Market Analyst Sophia Gilmour, Data Analyst Alex Chisholm and I) had published our En Primeur book. We included an opening ‘state of the Bordeaux market’ report and individual analyses on each major wine. I brought a copy of the book along to Bordeaux, with individual printouts of the wine analyses, which I offered to each producer we met. 

When we showed the data, the response was generally consistent insofar as there really did appear to be a willingness to support the campaign (this gave me a boost). There was also talk about reducing the number of negociants they worked with. Among other things, we routinely ask: 

• How many full-time employees do you have? 

• What about producing more grand vin and less of the second and third wines? 

• How much is one critics’ point worth to you? 

• Will you release at a price that will make the 2024 the cheapest in the market? 

In that very charming bordelais manner, our hosts managed to come across as both humble and confident, that the market would come around to their will. 

Day three begins with a drive to Libourne for the Moueix tasting, followed by a mind-altering sequence at Le Pin, Lafleur, Petrus, and lunch at Cheval Blanc. Possibly the most fascinating meeting of the trip, the Cheval team appeared committed to releasing the 2024 at a ‘no-brainer’ price. This left us feeling confident that we’d touch down in the UK with a promising En Primeur campaign ahead…. 

We took the last flight back to London for the Easter break and the anticipation of Pontet-Canet kicking things off next week. 

EP campaign – hard work 

At Liv-ex, we send our members real-time analysis of each major release. As the campaign began, we hopefully asked each other the same question: ‘Do you think Chateau X will do enough’? The further the campaign went on, the more inevitable the answer became: ‘They’ll get close, but probably not do quite enough’.  

En Primeur coverage had been too focused on the percentage increase or decrease from the previous year’s release. While this made for good marketing material and enticing news stories, it is largely insignificant. Moreover, comparing a decade of generally poor release prices to one another makes little sense at all. 

The crux of whether a release represented a good buying opportunity was simple and boiled down to one question: Were there less expensive back vintages, of similar or better quality, available on the market? 

If the answer was no, then it could have been a ‘buy’. You do need to factor in costs of carry, and with storage currently c.£15 per 12×75 a year, this is not insignificant. .  

However, if the answer was yes, then the release could not be considered a no-brainer ‘buy’. If there were multiple better rated and considerably less expensive back vintages available, then it really wasn’t a buy. 

Unfortunately, this year’s campaign had few instances where the price and quality presented a better offer than what was already available on the market from previous years. Lafite and Mouton spring to mind, and Carmes Haut-Brion ascent continued. While release price reductions were commendable, there were better alternatives available. 

It’s was notable that, according to our members, even when a release appeared a no-brainer buying opportunity, it was often been met by disengaged end consumers. Buyer’s apathy had taken hold, or as one more forthright traditional EP buyer told me: ‘We’ve been ****** for too many years, why buy this middling vintage?’ 

It was interesting that the frustration with the system had reached a point where participants from across the supply chain were now daring to put their heads above the parapet. As the first releases came out, UK merchants publicly told their customers that they had hoped for better prices. This was quite remarkable. There couldn’t have been many other industries where sales emails told you that the price wasn’t great. 

Similar stories emerged from La Place, where negociants had not been shy of showing their dismay at prices they knew wouldn’t sell. Reportedly, the courtiers were also shaking their heads in disbelief. 

So what might the future hold? 

Before the campaign kicked off, we had thought that the small crop of 2024s represented an opportunity for producers to reset and price at a level that would invigorate the market. There may not have been any price good enough to reinvigorate the market, but now we’ll never know… So what could 2025 hold? 

We had to hope that 2025 would be a beautiful and bountiful vintage. One that was cheaper for producers to make, and theoretically gave the trade an easier thing to sell. While still 12 months away, we anticipated that the market could not stomach further price rises. It would have to be priced well below other back vintages. In a falling market, this was no easy feat, and one that might be hard to contemplate. But that’s what needed to be done. If the 2024 campaign had felt like last chance saloon, then for some another misstep might well result in closing time. 

Liv-ex Blog

Offer Your Customers Greater Variety Without Investing in New Stock 

Liv-ex members can pull over 23,000 Liv-ex listings onto their ecommerce site to offer their customers increased choice and variety.

• Automation

At Liv-ex we’ve developed a solution that lets you showcase all the wine available on the Liv-ex exchange, without the need to invest in the stock upfront. Liv-ex members that connect their ecommerce site to the exchange can automatically show wine available on Liv-ex, offering more variety to their customers.  

Bulk out your portfolio at no extra cost 

Liv-ex members can pull over 23,000 Liv-ex listings onto their ecommerce site to offer their customers increased choice and variety. Members who choose to integrate with Liv-ex are able to create tailored views for each of their customers, to showcase only the most relevant, and of-interest wines, to create a personalised buying experience for them. 

Liv-ex is very powerful as a way to expand your offering! Starting with 1,000 wines, we now have a ‘virtual cellar’ of 23,000 wines, thanks to Liv-ex. Gianluca Queiroli Wine Empire

Read full case study here. 

Reduce Risk and Streamline Operations  

Before becoming a Liv-ex member, every prospective member undergoes a thorough vetting process; they need to provide two trade references, before an Exchange Committee vets the business, so you know every wine you are listing on your ecommerce site comes from a trusted and reputable wine business. 

Additionally, most wines on the exchange are available under the Standard in Bond (SIB) contract, meaning its condition is verified and the wine is held in bonded storage. Members can connect their ecommerce sites knowing that if the wine is listed, it is available and can be delivered in 30 days. 

Liv-ex moves the wine between seller and buyer, and verifies it in one of our state of the art warehouses. Liv-ex warehouse employees undergo regular authentication training to ensure they feel confident identifying issues with stock. We have developed a bespoke algorithm to quantify the fraud risk surrounding a wine so the appropriate checks can be conducted. As a result, around 28,000 cases of wine were checked by our warehouse teams in 2024. 

When thorough checks are required, we take the bottles out of cases to photograph them. We use ultraviolet torches to check the labels as well as checking them for other producer specific anticounterfeiting measures such as microprint, holograms and QR codes. We inspect capsules, including checking any prooftags. And we also check the cork, sediment and glass embossing or laser etching. 

To further enhance security for our members, Liv-ex engages the services of an independent authentication expert who conducts ad-hoc audits of our warehouses and assists in training our staff to spot potential counterfeit bottles. 

Liv-ex Podcasts

UK Wine Show x Liv-ex: Tom Burchfield: Episode 1 – The Fine Wine Market

Tom Burchfield, Head of Market Intelligence at Liv-ex, joined Chris Scott on the UK Wine Show for the first of a three-part podcast series. In…

• Market Intelligence

Tom Burchfield, Head of Market Intelligence at Liv-ex, joined Chris Scott on the UK Wine Show for the first of a three-part podcast series.

In this opening episode, Tom discusses sophistication of the Fine Wine market, Bordeaux pricing and the use of data and technology for decision making in the wine industry.

Tom kicked things off by outlining the value of Liv-ex for wine businesses, the role of Market Intelligence at Liv-ex, and his plans to bring greater personalisation to the insights his team delivers.

The next episode dives deeper into Bordeaux En Primeur. Listen here.

Liv-ex Blog

How to Sell Wine in Your Sleep with Liv-ex Automation

Through automated selling, wine businesses can achieve greater sales, and with Liv-ex logistics services, increased sales doesn’t mean increased admin. 

• Automation

That’s the power of automation with Liv-ex…  expose your entire stock list to our network of members around the world—each with their own base of private clients—giving you access to hundreds of thousands of potential customers worldwide.

Automation with Liv-ex 

Benefit from automated and frictionless, round-the-clock deal-making. Through automated selling, wine businesses can achieve greater sales, and with Liv-ex logistics services, increased sales doesn’t mean increased admin.  

By connecting your ERP system to the Liv-ex Exchange, you automatically list your available stock, enabling anyone in our member base to buy. But don’t worry, you remain in total control. You set the price and quantity you want to sell, there are no listing fees, no limits on how much you can offer, and no risk of double-selling. 

With members around the world, the Exchange is up and running 24/7, so you can sell while you sleep, or even when you’re on holiday.

Members already benefiting from automated selling 

Goedhuis Waddesdon was one of the earliest adopters of automated selling. Since then, they haven’t looked back—maintaining consistently high trade volumes, with annual sales more than double what they were before automation. 
 

Another leading merchant, Jeroboams, tripled their sales since going live.  

It’s been a gamechanger for us! It allows us—to sell while we’re asleep or away from our desks. Since going live, we’ve trebled our sales on Liv-ex, which is a huge advantage in the current market. Alex Turnbull Head of Private and Online Sales, Jeroboams

Read full case study here. 

Seamless Logistics for Liv-ex Sellers 

At Liv-ex we handle every aspect of logistics. This includes moving the wine from seller to buyer, checking and verifying wine in our high tech, bonded warehouses, and ensuring sellers are paid correctly and on time.  

Liv-ex reduces the complexity of buying and selling fine wine as we act as the single point of contact on the other side of every deal, meaning one invoice, one transportation partner, one payment, despite doing businesses with other wine businesses all over the world. 

Liv-ex Podcasts

The Wine Conversation: Justin Gibbs on The Bordeaux Market

Liv-ex co-founder Justin Gibbs joins Sarah Kemp on The Wine Conversation podcast for a deep dive into the ever-evolving Bordeaux market.

Liv-ex co-founder Justin Gibbs joins Sarah Kemp on The Wine Conversation podcast for a deep dive into the ever-evolving Bordeaux market.

In this episode, Justin uncorks the challenges, explores the opportunities, and shares his insights on what the 2024 En Primeur Bordeaux campaign might have in store.

To listen to the podcast on The Wine Conversation website, simply click here.