Liv-ex Blog

This week in wine: Bordeaux En Primeur kicks off, US buying rises

With much of the trade’s focus on Bordeaux En Primeur, the region’s share of secondary market trade value climbed back above Burgundy’s

• Market Intelligence

• Bordeaux En Primeur kicked off, with reports of differing levels of success so far for Pontet-Canet and Batailley.
• On the secondary market, Bordeaux regained its lead of trade value.
• US buying rose 19.4% week on week, with US buyers taking a 25.2% share of purchase value.
• Pavie was the week’s top-traded producer.

With much of the trade’s focus on Bordeaux En Primeur, the region’s share of secondary market trade value climbed back above Burgundy’s. Pavie was the region’s top-traded producer, with the 2017 the overall second top-traded wine of the week by value.

Burgundy’s share of trade fell back (20.1%), with DRC the region’s top-traded producer.

Tuscany had a stronger week, taking 15.3% of trade value. Guado al Tasso and San Guido were Tuscany’s top-traded producers, with Guado al Tasso 2023 the week’s top-traded wine by both value and volume.

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Liv-ex Blog

Liv-ex Launches new Robert Parker Wine Advocate API Just in Time for En Primeur

Liv-ex has launched a new Robert Parker Wine Advocate API, enabling fine wine businesses to integrate one of the world’s most influential wine critics scores, drinking…

• Automation

Critic scores continue to play a central role in the fine wine market. They influence buyer behaviour, pricing expectations and demand across regions and vintages. For wine businesses operating at scale, keeping scores up to date and consistently applied across internal systems is a real challenge. 

Manually updating critic scores across pricing tools, ERPs, websites and trading platforms is time-consuming and can be prone to human error. In a market where confidence, credibility and speed matter, even small data inconsistencies can undermine pricing decisions and client trust.

To address this, Liv-ex has launched a new Robert Parker Wine Advocate API, enabling fine wine businesses to integrate one of the world’s most influential wine critics scores, drinking windows and tasting notes directly into their websites and operating systems, alongside live market pricing and liquidity data.  

A single, reliable view of quality and market value 

The new API allows Liv-ex members to automatically bring Robert Parker Wine Advocate scores, tasting notes and drinking windows into their internal platforms. By doing so, critics analysis no longer sits separately from commercial data. 

Instead, businesses can view quality indicators alongside genuine transaction prices, historic price performance and market liquidity. This integrated view supports more informed pricing, buying and selling decisions. 

Crucially, the integration is underpinned by the Liv-ex LWIN identifier, ensuring critic scores are accurately matched to the correct wine, format and vintage. This removes the ambiguity caused by naming variations and inconsistent data sources, strengthening confidence across pricing, trading and client communication. 

Reducing friction and improving data quality

For merchants, brokers, traders and investment-focused wine businesses, the operational benefits are immediate. 

Automated delivery of critic scores eliminates the need for manual updates and reduces the risk of human error. With reliable data flowing directly into pricing tools, trading systems and customer-facing platforms, teams can respond faster to market developments and consult clients using the most accurate and up-to-date information available. 

As fine wine businesses increasingly rely on automation to scale efficiently, access to high-quality, structured data becomes a competitive advantage, not a nice-to-have. 

Strengthening Liv-ex as the data backbone of fine wine 

Liv-ex already provides members with access to live and historic transaction prices, liquidity indicators and market intelligence across the global secondary market. The launch of the Robert Parker Wine Advocate API further reinforces Liv-ex’s role as the central data infrastructure for fine wine – where pricing, market sentiment and critics analysis are brought together in one place. 

Available exclusively to Liv-ex members 

The Robert Parker Wine Advocate API is available as part of Liv-ex membership, giving fine wine businesses access to trusted critic data alongside independent market pricing, liquidity insights and automation services. 

The new release adds to the Lix-ex suite of critics scores available via API, including Jancis Robinson, Jane Anson, Vinous (with Neal Martin) and the Wine Independent. 

For businesses looking to professionalise operations, reduce manual data maintenance and make better-informed pricing and trading decisions, this integration represents a significant step forward. 

Find out more about Liv-ex membership and how our data infrastructure can support your business. 

Liv-ex Blog

Talking Trade 17th of April: US, UK and EU buyers all ceded ground to Asian buyers, who claimed 18.0% of traded value

Burgundy, Champagne and Tuscany levelled out this week, each claiming around 17% of traded value.

• Market Intelligence

• Burgundy, Champagne and Tuscany levelled out this week, each claiming around 17% of traded value.
• Armand de Brignac’s Ace of Spades Brut was the top traded wine by value, the newly released Tignanello 2023 in second place and Conti Costanti 2021 in third.
• US, UK and EU buyers all ceded ground to Asian buyers, who claimed 18.0% of traded value. Still, with trade levels much higher this week than last week all four geographies raised their nominal purchased value.

Though its share of trade fell from last week to this week, Bordeaux continued to lead the market. Chateau Mouton Rothschild was the top-traded wine overall, though Petrus 2016, trading at £31,600/$42,660 per 12×75/ €3,023 per bottle was the top individual wine.

Champagne pulled ahead of Burgundy with an 18.7% share of the market, claiming second place. Armand de Brignac was the top-traded producer by value, Ace of Spades Brut coming as the top-traded individual wine overall. Dom Perignon, Louis Roederer and Krug followed.

Burgundy took third place with a 17.9% share of traded value. Leroy, Domaine de la Romanee-Conti and Joseph Drouhin led, the 2018, 2020 and 2014 vintages top-traded by value.

Tuscany had a strong week, sitting just behind Burgundy with a 16.8% share of the market. This was largely thanks to active trade of the newly released 2023s – Tignanello, Ornellaia, and Saffredi all changing hands. Conti Costanti was the top-traded wine across vintages, US buyers leading its purchasing.

Piedmont’s share rose to 6.0% thanks largely to US purchasing of Giacomo Conterno’s Barolo Monfortino Riserva, the 2019, 2013 and 2010 vintages leading the region’s trade.

US purchasing rose to 6.1%, Screaming Eagle 2019 in the top position.

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Liv-ex Blog

Talking Trade 10th of April: Burgundy leads with three Domaine de la Romanee-Conti came out on top wines

Burgundy pulled ahead of Bordeaux to lead the market with a 33% share of traded value. Domaine de la Romanee-Conti came out on top.

• Market Intelligence

• Burgundy pulled ahead of Bordeaux to lead the market with a 33% share of traded value.
• Three Domaine de la Romanee-Conti came out on top wines – Echezeaux 2009, La Tache 2016 and Echezeaux 2006 featured among the top-traded wines by value.
• With the Easter bank holiday falling over the weekend, trade levels dipped significantly. While UK buyers led, they too purchased less this week than last week.

Burgundy overtook Bordeaux to lead the market this week with a 33.1% share of traded value. Domaine de la Romanee-Conti came out on top, with three wines amongst the top five traded value. Domaines Leflaive, Sylvain Cathiard and Jacques-Frederic Mugnier followed.

Bordeaux followed with a 29.8% share of traded value, down on its 34.6% share last week. The 2017, 2015 and 2022 vintages were the top-traded by volume, with Pavie and Margaux pulling ahead of Lafite as the top-traded wines by value.

Champagne’s share rose slightly from 9.5% last week to 10.1% this week. US buyers took the lead, accounting for 42% of the region’s traded value, their efforts largely concentrated on Cristal, La Grande Dame and Comtes de Champagne.

Tuscany and Piedmont claimed a combined 13.4% of traded value. Aggregated across vintages, Sassicaia led, but Giuseppe Rinaldi’s Barolo Brunate 2018 was the country’s top-traded individual wine.

Following a very strong week last week (driven by Screaming Eagle and Opus One trades), the US’s share fell to 4.9%.

Copyright © 2026 Liv-ex Ltd. All rights reserved.

Liv-ex Reports

Gavin Quinney Bordeaux 2025 Weather and Crop Report

The Gavin Quinney Bordeaux Weather and Crop Report 2025 is published. 2025 will prove to be an excellent vintage for Bordeaux but it’s another dastardly…

Gavin Quinney – the well respected wine writer and owner of Chateau Bauduc – has released his Weather Report for Bordeaux 2025. We publish it in full below.

2025 will prove to be an excellent vintage for Bordeaux but it’s another dastardly small one, unfortunately, with low yields. Here’s my annual weather and crop report in readiness for the tastings in April, when the world of fine wine descends on the region to sample the new wines.

The official production figures were released internally on the Bordeaux trade’s website at the end of March. So, along with the data from six different weather stations around the region and other sources, I’ve put together a formidable series of graphs, maps and tables for what might be referred to as ‘a deep dive’ into the growing season and the resulting production.

The subjects I cover in order:

• 2025 and the growing season graphs
• Comparing 2025 with other years
• Bordeaux rainfall 2009-2025
• Bordeaux temperatures 2009-2025
• A photo recap of the season
• Bordeaux wine production graphs
• The smallest crop since 1991
• A closer look at falling yields
• The dramatic fall in volume and vineyards
• Where 20,000 hectares (20%) have gone

2025 is the smallest crop since 1991 – as was, in fact, 2024. But while 2024 was a relatively wet year, 2025 was dry and hot throughout much of the growing season. It is the weather, after all, which largely determines the quality and size of the crop

This is a graph I’ve put together each year since the 2016 vintage, taking the averages from six weather stations around Bordeaux to get a more representative picture of the vintage. Note that there can be regional variations, not least because it is a vast wine region. Following the dry, hot summer, we had an unusually early harvest, with the dry whites being picked in August and the reds being brought in from the start of September.

There are parallels with the really hot year of 2022 and, looking further back, to 2003. This is an interesting graphic using the (Bordeaux Mérignac) rainfall and temperatures of each vintage from February to August, showing 2003, 2022 and 2025 in the hot and dry corner. It’s particularly relevant to precocious years like 2025, when the red grapes are harvested early, from the start of September. Many great vintages like 2016 saw later harvests, so when the fine September conditions are taken into account, that year would rightly move further to the left.

2025, 2022 and 2003 saw more days which went over 35˚C than any others this century. I remember those summers well, not forgetting that summer days which reach 30˚C are more than satisfactory.

This graph shows a weekly timeline of the rain and the heat, while comparing the rainfall and average temperatures with the 15-year averages from the same weather stations. The heavy rain over Easter in late April was to prove useful given the lack of water and the heat that was to follow. It was warmer from May through August than the average, and the rain in August only came in the last days of the month. For many, just before the red harvest, the rain helped, keeping potential alcohol down and maintaining acidity. September saw rain intermittently during the harvest, and it was cooler than the average.

The same graph from the 2022 growing season shows the summer heat and lack of water was similar to 2025, though the timing of the rain was different, especially when compared with the significant rain in late August and September 2025.

I’ve kept the data from the six weather stations for many years now, including the daily rainfall numbers. These are the averages of the six per month, with the 15-year average 2010-2024 of those same stations, and the 30-year Bordeaux Mérignac data. Every year can, of course, be quite different – such as 2024 v 2025. July and August are fairly consistent, though summers like 2022 can be too dry. As we saw above, the rain in August 2025 came at the end of the month, and that is often the way. A month’s high rainfall figure can be down to one or two days of stormy weather.

Above are the rainfall figures going back to the excellent vintages of 2009 and 2010, with the 30-year averages shown on the right. As well as those two years, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022 and now 2025 would be rated as the best vintages for red wines.

Some would add in 2015 as well, especially for the better wines of Margaux and St-Emilion. That would also make it easier if you like the handy sequence of very good Bordeaux vintages ending in 0 or 5 (since 1990).

Here are the monthly average temperatures for each year. They don’t really tell the full story but can convey an impression – 2025 was warmer than average from April through to August, cooler in September.

Again, the same statistics going back to the top vintages of 2009 and 2010. You also get a feel for how a weaker vintage like 2013 never got off the ground with a chilly May and June.

A quick reminder of where the Bordeaux vineyards are located. We live at Château Bauduc just outside Créon, south east of the city of Bordeaux, in the Entre Deux Mers.

Brief photo recap of the season

An interlude from all the tables and graphs.

It poured with rain over Easter. 20 April 2025, Château Bauduc.

But no damage was done. 22 April 2025, Château Bauduc.

During and just after the flowering. 3 June and 10 June Château Bauduc.

Thankfully, the light hail on 13 June turned into a helpful, heavy shower. Château Bauduc.

Green and lush still, 14 June. Château Bauduc.

Véraison – changing of the colour, 26 July. Healthy looking vines. Château Bauduc.

The impact of the heat and drought was clearly evident on the ground, left, on 20 August 2025. Then, after the rain, and the harvest of this parcel of merlot. 16 September, Château Bauduc.

Getting a bit warm. Sémillon, 9 August, Château Bauduc.

The Quinney family picking sémillon for our Crémant de Bordeaux. 19 August, Château Bauduc.

Sauvignon Blanc coping despite the drought and the heat. 20 August, Château Bauduc.

Harvest of that parcel by machine before dawn, 25 August 2025. In a normal year, if there is such a thing, we’d harvest this block in mid-September. Château Bauduc.

Sauvignon Blanc before and after the harvest machine. 25 August, Château Bauduc.

Elsewhere, many vines suffered from the lack of rain and the summer heat. These were in the Côtes de Bordeaux in Haux, near us, 24 August.

Vines, notably younger ones, struggled in more prestigious appellations too. Pomerol, 26 August.

While other vines showed no signs of stress. Pomerol, 26 August.

The 2025 red harvest took place almost entirely in September, and from the start of the month. Merlot at Château l’Eglise Clinet, Pomerol, 4 September, left, and at Château Tour Baladoz, Saint-Émilion, 17 September

Healthy looking rows in Saint-Emilion, 17 September.

The Cabernet Sauvignon harvest at Château Montrose, Saint-Estèphe, 18 September.

Cabernet Sauvignon at Château Montrose, Saint-Estèphe, 18 September.

Merlot harvest, Château Bauduc. 16 September.

Machine harvest, hand sorting to remove any unwanted bits, 16 September.

Cabernet Sauvignon – the later ripener – at Château Bauduc, 26 September.

Bordeaux wine production in 2025

In 2025, Bordeaux produced 82% red wine, 4% rosé, 9% dry white, 4% crémant blanc, and 1% sweet white. The overall vineyard split is 86.7% red and 13.3% white.

After four years in a row of small Bordeaux crops, 2025 ended up with even less, and the smallest harvest since 1991.

The 2025 figure of 290.6 million litres, with a low yield of 33.6hl/ha (hectolitres per hectare), followed 2024 with 332 million litres and 35hl/ha, 2023 with 384 million litres and 37hl/ha, 2022 at 411 million litres (38hl/ha) and 2021 with 377 million litres (35hl/ha). The table with these numbers is shown below.

The five-year average from 2021 to 2025 of 359 million litres is 25% lower than the annual average of 487 million litres of the previous decade (2011-2020) and 38% lower than the 581 million litre average of the decade from 2001 to 2010.

So it’s fair to say, given the current five-year average, that Bordeaux makes the equivalent of around 480 million bottles per year. That’s still a lot of wine, but considerably fewer bottles than the 650 million average of 2011-2020, and the 775 million bottles per year of 2001-2010.

A closer look at yields

These are the yields per hectare from the whole of Bordeaux, broken down into the main groups. 2025 produced low yields across the board for reds, and the whites and rosé were lower than usual.

I’ve taken the yields in 2025 compared to the average of the last 20 years (2005-2024). As you can see, the production per hectare for red wines is down 19-27%% in 2025 against that 20-year average.

2013 (poor weather) and 2017 (late April frost) saw low yields, and 2025 is the fifth consecutive year – for the generic wines – of small crops. 2021 was lower due to spring frosts in some areas and widespread mildew, 2022 due to drought and heat stress, 2023 and 2024 courtesy of the threat of mildew in the main, and now 2025 primarily down to drought and heat.

For many vineyards, there were fewer bunches in 2025 as a knock-on effect from the difficult flowering conditions for the 2024 vintage. As a result, there were fewer bunches. (I noticed this on our Sauvignon Blanc before a grape had even formed.) Then, with the drought and heat, the grapes remained small and the yields never recovered from that. Fewer bunches, smaller grapes, great concentration but less juice.

The yields in the most prestigious appellations are of particular interest for the ‘en primeur’ or ‘futures’ campaign that will follow the spring tastings in Bordeaux for the trade.

Compared to the 20-year averages from 2005-2024 shown on the right, the yields per hectare for 2025 are considerably down. 37% lower for Saint-Julien, 31% for Pomerol – both with just 26% hl/ha, then 29% less in Margaux and 27% in Pauillac (29hl/ha and 30hl/ha). Saint-Émilion and Saint-Estèphe got off comparatively lightly at 10% and 17% down on the averages, respectively.

For those of a nerdy disposition, or for anyone with a special interest in certain appellations, a rather detailed map showing the size of each sub-region and the yields per hectare in recent years. As you can see from the ‘KEY’, the yields are broken down into more manageable chunks. The Entre Deux Mers is usually shown on maps in green, but it’s where a great deal of basic red Bordeaux comes from, so it’s here in red with dots of green to represent the dry white wines.

The dramatic fall in production and the vineyard area

There’s less wine produced, less vineyard land and lower yields in Bordeaux. That much is obvious; this graph shows the general picture in five-year spreads. I asked Claude the other day ‘How much wine does Bordeaux produce?’ (That’s the AI app, not my neighbour.) ‘Around 850 million bottles of wine per year‘ came back the immediate reply. That might have been true 25 years ago, but not these days.

This graph illustrates just how big a change there has been in the last decade, especially just the last few years. It’s extraordinary to think that for the excellent 2016 harvest, Bordeaux produced twice as much wine as it did in 2025.

Meanwhile, the reduction in the vineyard area (the green line) has accelerated at quite a pace. 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres) or 20% of the Bordeaux vineyard have either been ripped up (with or without a grant) or left abandoned in the last three years.

To put it another way, 20,000 hectares is around four times the total vineyard area in England and Wales – including those not yet in production (around 4,250ha were harvested in England in 2025).

More worrying for those of us still at it are the diminishing yields per hectare, mainly due to climatic conditions. For the vast majority of growers, yields of thirty something hectolitres per hectare are just not tenable. Once in a while maybe, but not consistently.

The light blue line shows how many growers have stopped. From 6,600 in 2016 to 4,400 today – a third – and 1,000 of those in the last three years, since the 2022 harvest.

My somewhat detailed table above shows again how the average yields have dropped considerably in recent years. The total area of Bordeaux vineyards is falling too – that’s all the sub-regions and generic Bordeaux wines that are AOP or Appellation d’Origine Protégée. There’s also a smallish amount (about 5% each year of the total Gironde vineyard) of Vin de France (VSIG) and IGP ‘Atlantique’ (previously Vin de Pays) combined, neither of which say Bordeaux on the label.

The number of hectares per grower used to go up, as a reasonably consistent surface area of vineyards was operated by fewer growers over time – consolidation, in effect. But now that the vineyard area is diminishing, and growers are quitting in droves, the average of 20 hectares per grower (those declaring a harvest) has remained fairly constant.

More on the volume of wine

An illustrative breakdown of where all the wine comes from, based on the volume made. The Entre Deux Mers (both West and East on the map) is better known for its white wine as an ‘appellation’, but here’s an estimate of the enormous amount of mainly red produced here using the generic red Bordeaux AOP on the label. 10,000 hectares of Bordeaux rouge have disappeared in the last three years, so that’s increased the percentage of wine from some other areas.

There is simply too much red wine being produced in Bordeaux.

I haven’t seen a precise, up-to-date breakdown of the split of grape varieties for a while, so this is a best guess. But my estimates will be pretty close.

About 40% of the wine produced is generic red Bordeaux or Bordeaux Supérieur rouge, plus another 10% or so of Blaye, Bourg and other Côtes. Then there’s a bit more than 10% for Saint-Emilion and its satellites (Montagne, Lussac and so on) plus 15% from the Médoc appellations, on the left bank, in all. Graves and Pessac Léognan red, also on the left bank, accounts for less than 5% of the total, and they produce a much smaller amount of dry white (1% – a similar amount to all the sweet white wine produced).

White wine accounts for just 10% of production overall. One area of growth – on top – is white Crémant de Bordeaux. In 2021, 550 hectares were declared as white crémant, which produced 4.5 million bottles. In 2025, nearly 1,700 hectares of white crémant were picked, making the equivalent of over 15 million bottles.

For comparison, above is the same chart for 2019. At the time, we thought it was a very good year, but with pretty average yields of 44hl/ha. And yet 2019 produced 200 million more litres than 2025.

I’m afraid we’ve still got some way to go. A lot less red wine is required.

Well done for making it this far. With this final graphic, I’ve mapped out the rough location of the 20,000 hectares that have disappeared in the last three years. Half have gone from ‘Bordeaux rouge’ – most of it from the Entre Deux Mers, around us, and not far from us.

The other areas where the vineyards have either been ripped out (or not declared for the 2025 harvest) can be seen by following the red dots: as well as generic Bordeaux Supérieur, there are the various Côtes de Bordeaux and up and over to the Médoc appellation, with many more in between.

To be fair, the authorities have been pushing for this, knowing that production has to fall in line with the diminishing market at home and abroad. Grants for pulling out vines have been in place at various stages in the last few years, while many growers have simply pulled up or abandoned vines regardless as they’ve been unable to sell the wine.

Onwards and upwards.

Liv-ex Reports

Tuscany Market Update

The Tuscany Market Update looks at the resilience of 100 Italian wines traded on the Liv-ex exchange.

The topics covered in the Liv-ex Tuscany Market Update:

• Tuscany Strength Underpins Stability in the Italy 100: The Italy 100 has remained relatively stable compared with the broader market’s three-year decline, largely driven by the Tuscan components.
• Masseto taken the lead  vintages up 5% YTD: Of the Italy 100 Tuscan components, Masseto has taken the lead, the 2020, 2022, 2016 and 2014 all up over 5% YTD. 
• Tuscan Value Concentrates as Fewer Wines Drive Trade: So far this year, 157 Tuscan wines, across multiple vintages,  have traded on the exchange

Liv-ex members receive weekly market updates enabling more confident buying, selling and pricing decisions.

Liv-ex Blog

Navigating En Primeur Amidst a Challenging Fine Wine Market 

For a growing number of merchants, the central challenge of En Primeur is no longer uncertainty, it is credibility.

• Automation

When the En Primeur model breaks down

For a growing number of merchants, the central challenge of En Primeur 2025 is no longer uncertainty, it is credibility. In recent campaigns, new releases have frequently struggled to justify their pricing when compared with the broader secondary market. In many cases, buyers have been able to purchase back vintages that are physically available, already approaching drinkability, or with a few years of age, at prices below those asked for wines still in barrel. 

This dynamic has fundamentally altered how En Primeur is perceived. What was once a route to early access and long‑term value increasingly carries the risk of immediate underperformance. For merchants committing capital, the danger is not only financial. Advising clients to buy wines that later trade cheaper on release can erode confidence and damage long‑standing relationships. 

Against this backdrop, intuition and tradition are no longer sufficient. En Primeur decisions now demand far greater scrutiny. 

Why data now matters more than ever 

What does this mean for merchants, and their customers, who are still drawn to the tradition and excitement of buying En Primeur? 

Merchants must interrogate En Primeur offers far more rigorously than before. That means understanding how critics’ scores have translated into real‑world pricing in previous vintages, how similar wines have performed after release, and whether a new price genuinely reflects scarcity, quality and demand. 

Without this context, En Primeur becomes a speculative exercise. With it, merchants can begin to distinguish between releases that may still offer value and those where patience is the more rational strategy. 

This is where transactional data and historical market performance become essential tools. Looking beyond list prices to examine how wines have actually traded over time allows buyers to sense‑check release decisions against market reality, not marketing narrative.

Analysing new releases within market context 

One of the biggest mistakes a merchant can make during En Primeur is treating each campaign in isolation. Critics scores alone cannot be relied on to assess the opportunity, and risk, at hand. Capital committed to Bordeaux must now compete with opportunities across regions, vintages and styles that are already available and proven in the market. 

Being able to compare new releases with established alternatives, and to understand how price, score and demand have interacted historically, gives merchants a clearer framework for decision‑making. It also enables more transparent conversations with clients, grounded in evidence rather than expectation. 

Liv‑ex support during En Primeur 

This is where Liv‑ex plays a central role during En Primeur. By providing access to independent analysis, as well as transactional exchange data and historical pricing, alongside vital critics scores. 

During the campaign, Liv‑ex supports members with ongoing insight, helping them interpret critics’ scores, track sentiment as it evolves, and understand how new prices sit relative to both back vintages and the wider fine wine market. This allows merchants to remain selective, adapt strategy as the campaign unfolds, and avoid being locked into early decisions that no longer make sense. 

Crucially, this support extends beyond allocation. Once wines enter the secondary market, merchants can benchmark performance, refine pricing strategies and respond quickly to demand, protecting both margins and reputation. 

It’s not too late to access Premium Market Intelligence to help you navigate the campaign with confidence . Contact our business development team to prepare for En Primeur 2025

Liv-ex Reports

Talking Trade 27th of March: US and Asian buyers both increase market share; Lafite leads

Bordeaux maintained its lead in the market, claiming 34.0% of traded value. Lafite led the region, commanding c.20% of its traded value.

• Market Intelligence

• Bordeaux maintained its lead in the market, claiming 34% of traded value.
• Dom Perignon 2013 was the top-traded wine of the week by value, followed by Romanee-Conti 2008 and Lafite 2017.
• Traded value fell overall, with UK and EU buyers buying 15+% less than last week.

Bordeaux maintained its lead in the market, claiming 34.0% of traded value. Lafite led the region, commanding c.20% of its traded value. While the 2017 featured amongst the top five wines overall, ten other vintages, ranging from the 2006 to 2023, also changed hands.

Burgundy also kept its share steady on last week, accounting for 24.4% of traded value. Domaine de la Romanee-Conti’s Romanee-Conti was the top-traded wine by value; Domaine Dujardin’s Monthelie Les Vignes Rondes led by volume.

Champagne performed better this week than last week; its share up from 7.9% to 10.9%. Dom Perignon led, but was closely followed by Jacques Selosse, with Lieux-dits assortment cases, Substance and the flagship Millesime changing hands.

Tuscany’s share rose to 12.0%, shy of its February share of 14.0%, but up from 8.5% last week. Super Tuscans accounted for most of the region’s traded value, though Biondi-Santi also traded actively, taking a c.17% share of Tuscan trade.

Piedmont had a better week, its share rising from 3.5% to 5.5%. Gaja, Roagna and Giacomo Conterno led by value, while Produttori del Barbaresco led volume.

The US’s share fell from 15.0% last week to 5.0% this week. While Opus One, Promontory and Harlan Estate traded actively, this week saw a notable lack of action around Screaming Eagle.

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Liv-ex Blog

Tom Burchfield, Head of Market Intelligence, ProWein Agora Takeaways

Tom Burchfield, Head of Market Intelligence, shares insights from his presentation and panel discussion at ProWein Agora, alongside his takeaways from the event itself.

• Market Intelligence

First time at ProWein Agora. A maze of stands. The no and low section was pretty massive, a sign of it being perhaps the one wine category that is growing. The spirits section also vast. 

I managed to locate my former Vivino colleagues (where I worked for six years) to catch up with old friends. They told me the fair was half as big as last year, itself half as big as the year before and that there were fewer attendees. Still felt vast to me. 

Agora

This year ProWein reintroduced the Agora stage, where various experts present on and discuss key topics within the industry. How to market to the new generation? How to market no and low? How to leverage new technologies including AI to better serve customers? What is the current state of the fine wine market and where is it going? 

That one was the topic I presented on. A lot of ground to cover in 20 minutes, and the aim was to set the scene for a debate with Krister Bengtsson (founder of Star Wine List) and Robert Joseph (journalist and consultant). To further condense my 20 minutes into a 3-bullet point summary of where the market is and where it’s heading: 

• Price stability. At the top of the fine wine market, more wines are now either seeing flat or gently rising prices than falling prices. 

• Fragmentation. The fine wine market is broader than ever, and this trend is likely to continue with the next generation of collectors. 

• Stratification. At the same time, across segments within traditional regions like Bordeaux and Burgundy we see the top of the pyramid looking more secure than further down. Within Bordeaux the portion of the industry that is at risk is growing. 

Scene set, half an hour of interesting debate. 

Is demand for fine wine elastic?

Yes, in my opinion, not for others.

My take is that participants are doing everything they can to maintain higher release prices – squeezing supply, pouring cash into production to achieve high scores. Is that sustainable on their side? Is it worth the effort with prices softening post-release? I believe there is a price that works. We see this consistently with Bordeaux after release. There is a price at which demand is unlocked. You can try to avoid market reality or you can accept it. 

To download Tom’s presentation slides, please fill out the form here.

Liv-ex trades of Lafite 2021 

A flight to value. Something we all agree upon. Whether that’s the collapse in demand for Second Wines or changing tastes in the on-trade, consumers are after value. 

The next generation of collectors. We agree that price is a challenge. The industry needs a broad base of potential collectors. How does that happen for Burgundy, where even regional wines are becoming a special occasion indulgence? The on-trade needs sommeliers that have not just tasted, but drunk both the classics and the future classics. 

GLP-1 medications. An existential threat for the fine wine market? Some say yes, I say not at this point. Fine wine is sheltered to some degree. 

Other reflections 

• Betraying my ignorance, but I had no idea that Dusseldorf has a big Japanese community? I do now, and can vouch for some excellent ramen as a counterpoint to wurst. 

• The drinks industry is clearly faced with many challenges. The more we discuss these, try things, share successes and challenges the better. But don’t forget that wine has an incredible ability to bring people together. Despite the current challenges, people were having fun at ProWein. 

• Of the UK contingent travelling to Dusseldorf on the Saturday, judging by how many were supporting the team in blue in the 6 Nations rugby decider, a high proportion were Scottish. 

• Was everyone in the brauerei? Heading to Brauerei Schumacher to sample the city’s trademark Alt Bier on Saturday night, it was packed full of Proweiners – probably to be expected, drinks industry people warming up for vinous delights with malted beverages.