Confidence in every Case: Liv-ex Reduces Risk & Streamlines Fine Wine Operations
Liv-ex reduces the threat of fraud and remains at the forefront of industry efforts to stop counterfeiting.
In the fine wine industry, logistics and payments can be a slow, complex process – with delays, errors, and unnecessary costs eating into margins every step of the way. Liv-ex has revolutionised this process – streamlining buying and selling, transportations and payments, to offer seamless operations for your wine business.
As part of our logistics offering, we not only move the wine between seller and buyer, and handle all paperwork and payments, we also check the veracity and condition of many wines sold on the exchange. Our dedicated verification team, led by our Authentication Manager Jess Dunn, is continuously improving our processes to avoid the risk of counterfeits.
We maintain open channels of communication between members of the trade, producers, and authentication experts to reduce the threat of fraud and remain at the forefront of industry efforts to stop counterfeiting.
Reducing Risk
Before joining Liv-ex, every prospective member undergoes a thorough vetting process; they need to provide two trade references, and an Exchange Committee vets the business to ensure every member dealing on the Liv-ex Exchange is reputable.
When it comes to listing wines for sale on Liv-ex, our employees are expertly trained to ask the right questions and dig into the facts to help flag suspicious products. This starts with our brokers, who frequently ask for evidence of provenance when listing high-risk cases or bottles on the Exchange. For wines of a certain vintage and value, photographs may be requested as a pre-trade check.
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.
Our wine storage facilities include state-of-the-art security and climate control systems to ensure wines are protected around the clock. Our storage facilities also have comprehensive security features such as alarms, CCTV, or periodic security patrols.
Our warehouses have 24-hour climate control, humidity control and are free from vibrations and daylight, maintaining the quality of goods for as long as they are stored with us.
