Tag: Market Intelligence
What Happened In Fine Wine This Week: US buyers take a 41% share of purchase value; Burgundy maintains its lead
Tuscany accounted for 19.7% of total trade value this week, making it one of the market’s strongest-performing regions.
The latest Liv-ex exchange trading data shows US buyers accounted for 41.5% of purchase value this week, reinforcing their growing influence on the fine wine market. As highlighted in recent Liv-ex analysis, American buyers have been returning to the market throughout 2026, and this week their share of purchasing increased further, underlining sustained demand from investors and collectors alike.
Burgundy Leads Trade, DRC Tops Producer Rankings
Burgundy retained its position as the market’s leading region, accounting for 31.4% of trade value this week. Demand remained concentrated on the region’s most sought-after names, with Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) emerging as the top-traded producer overall, followed by Rousseau. Burgundy’s continued dominance highlights the enduring appeal of its most prestigious wines among global buyers.
Bordeaux’s Share Grows, 2010 Vintage in Focus
Bordeaux’s share of trade rose to 25.9%, although this remained below both the June average of 30.4% and the 2026 average of 31.6%. The standout vintage was 2010, which was the most traded by value during the week. The continued interest in mature, highly regarded vintages demonstrates ongoing demand for established Bordeaux wines with proven track records
Tuscany’s Ongoing Strength
Tuscany posted another strong week, capturing a 13.5% share of trade value. Tenuta San Guido was the region’s leading producer, reflecting continued interest in Italy’s most recognisable fine wine brands. Despite shifting market dynamics, Tuscany continues to attract buyers seeking both quality and diversification within their fine wine portfolios.
If you missed last week’s post, read here.
Copyright © 2026 Liv-ex Ltd. All rights reserved.
Tag: Market Intelligence
What Happened In Fine Wine This Week: Trade value rises as each buying geography steps up
Tuscany accounted for 19.7% of total trade value this week, making it one of the market’s strongest-performing regions.
What this week’s wine market news tells us
After a quiet week last week, trade value rose 34.5% as each buying geography stepped up activity. While Burgundy remained the leading region by value traded, activity was spread across the market, with Tuscany, Bordeaux and the Languedoc all recording notable performances.
Tuscany shines as Valdicava tops the trading charts
Tuscany accounted for 19.7% of total trade value this week, making it one of the market’s strongest-performing regions. The region’s activity was driven by a cluster of trades in Valdicava wines, with the Brunello producer finishing as the overall top-traded producer of the week.
The performance highlights the continued prominence of Tuscany in the secondary market, where top producers can generate significant trading activity when multiple vintages and formats come to market.
Burgundy, meanwhile, retained its position as the top-traded region for the second consecutive week. Domaine de la Romanée-Conti led the way, while Coche-Dury ranked as the region’s second most-traded producer. Together, the two names helped Burgundy maintain its lead despite increased competition from other regions.
Bordeaux and the Languedoc make their mark
Bordeaux accounted for 22.0% of total trade value, although trading remained spread across a range of wines and vintages. Among them, 2016 emerged as the most actively traded Bordeaux vintage of the week. With prices continuing to show stability, the vintage remained a key contributor to the region’s share of market activity.
Elsewhere, one of the more notable regional performances came from the Languedoc. Increased trading across multiple vintages of Grange des Pères Rouge and Blanc pushed the region to a 5.5% share of total trade value.
That was enough to place the Languedoc ahead of several established fine wine regions, including the USA, Piedmont, Rhône and Spain. While the market’s largest regions continue to dominate overall trading, the week’s activity demonstrates how demand for a single sought-after producer can have a meaningful impact on regional trade patterns.
If you missed last week’s post, read here.
Copyright © 2026 Liv-ex Ltd. All rights reserved.
Tag: Market Intelligence
Inside NAWR New York: What’s Changing in US Wine Retail
Robbie Stevens, Head of Broking at Liv-ex presented at NAWR (National Association of Wine Retailers) to discuss where Bordeaux is, and where it’s heading.
NAWR is the National Association of Wine Retailers, and they hold an Annual Summit in the US each year. I’ve now attended and been invited to speak at the last five NAWR summits, and this years event was certainly one of the most memorable – strong attendance, coupled with excellent content, and most importantly, fantastic engagement from the US wine trade. To download Robbie’s presentation slides, please fill out the form here.
Around 100 people were in the room, representing 50 to 60 businesses. As expected, retailers dominated, but there was a mix: logistics providers, lawyers, tech platforms, ERP systems, and press.
For Liv-ex, it was a valuable audience with a mix of members, service providers as well as plenty of new faces.
A recurring theme: the wine industry continues to struggle with data
One of the standout sessions came from Andrew Sussmann, CTO and co-founder of Preferabli. Andrew’s keynote was centred around AI and its adoption within the wine trade. One of his principal points will be familiar to most: the wine industry still struggles with data standardisation -particularly naming conventions.
What was interesting was where the conversation went next.
An audience member asked whether Andrew had heard of LWIN, and asked why the industry hasn’t coalesced around it in the same way publishing settled on ISBN. Sussmann’s response was ‘we love LWIN, it is by far the best standardisation out there and we encourage all our users to adopt it, but coverage remains a constraint.”
It’s always nice to hear other people championing Liv-ex, without the need to weight in.
Regulation, restriction, and the shifting US retail landscape
NAWR’s focus remains consistent: tackling the inefficiencies and barriers created by interstate shipping restrictions and the three-tier system – bureaucratic legislature dating back to the post-prohibiltion era.
If anything, the urgency is increasing.
Alongside structural constraints, US retailers are now dealing with a broader cultural and regulatory shift. The rise of anti-alcohol lobbying continues to gather momentum, with increasingly visible campaigns – particularly in cities like New York. At the same time, changing consumer behaviours, partly influenced by GLP-1 drugs, are seemingly having an impact on demand.
Several retailers reported softness in lower price points, while fine wine remains comparatively resilient.
There’s also growing competition from adjacent categories. CBD drinks, currently operating under a much looser regulatory framework, are expanding quickly, creating an uneven playing field. That said, many expect tighter regulation to follow.
The net effect is a market that is becoming increasingly complex to operate in, particularly for businesses reliant on volume-driven models.
A market adapting to tariffs, and looking to what’s next
The broader mood across the US trade felt cautiously stable.
Tariffs remain in place, but with a big question mark over them. Businesses have largely adapted. Compared to 2024, there’s a sense that operators are finding ways to manage the impact. There is some optimism following the Supreme Court ruling earlier this year declaring certain tariffs illegal, although uncertainty remains around enforcement and refunds. Many also fear that with the liberation day tariffs in question, other tariff triggers such as Digital Services Taxes might resurface; there is also the question of the unresolved Boeing/Airbus dispute.
From a supply perspective, there are early indications the auction market is beginning to recover, suggesting that previously imported European stock has largely worked its way through the system. If sustained, that should be a positive signal for import demand as a gap in the market begins to appear, and then grow.
Bordeaux: a timely conversation
I joined a panel alongside Jeff Zacharia and Pierre Ogden de Rothschild to discuss where Bordeaux is, and where it’s heading.
As we were in the midst of a Bordeaux En Primeur campaign, it was a timely discussion.
For many in the room, this was an opportunity to engage more directly with market data and pricing dynamics. The level of audience participation suggested strong interest – not just in Bordeaux as a category, but in how it’s evolving within a broader global market context.
Encouragingly, the conversation didn’t stop when the panel ended. Over the following 24 hours, there were multiple follow-ups on the topic itself, and on how tools like Liv-ex can help inform decision-making.
To download Robbie’s presentation slides, please fill out the form here.
Lasting Takeaways
What NAWR reinforced is that US wine retail is becoming more nuanced:
- Regulation remains a defining constraint
- Consumer behaviour is shifting at the lower end
- Competition is broadening beyond traditional wine
- Data, and the ability to use it effectively, is increasingly critical
For businesses navigating this, access to accurate pricing, liquidity, and global supply is no longer a nice-to-have – it’s fundamental.
The US remains one of the most dynamic, and complex, wine markets globally. Events like this are a useful reminder that while the challenges are evolving, so too is the industry’s willingness to adapt.
Tag: Market Intelligence
Sophia Gilmour, Market Analyst: Reflections on En Primeur 2025
Sophia Gilmour, Market Analyst, shares her reflections from her time on the ground in Bordeaux, along with her key takeaways from the 2026 En Primeur…
An outstanding vintage in an uneasy year
Before heading to En Primeur this year, I was warned by colleagues who’d attended previous tasting weeks in Bordeaux to not expect to enjoy barrel samples. The wines, they said, would be too intense, too acidic, too tannic or not yet developed enough to give any pleasure. And I admit, stepping off the plane at 10am and driving straight to a Hangar for my first 40 wines was challenging. But they were not quite as unwieldly as I’d been told to expect; many wines that we tasted over the following days were generous, some borderline approachable. Though I’m far better placed to discuss the subsequent release pricing of these wines than their quality, I was not alone in my glowing overall assessment – the 2025 vintage, on the whole, has been near-unanimously declared by critics outstanding.
While there was little contention on quality, the mood in Bordeaux couldn’t quite have been described as jubilant. Even tasting delicious wine, it is not easy to be entirely upbeat as one stands surrounded by leaning towers of unsold cases of wine. It is no secret that the supply chain has been struggling. There was recognition – whether said aloud or not – that getting this years releases right could be make or break. In the words of one winemaker ‘I know, I know. Either I price low and upset the directors or I price high and kill En Primeur’.
It seems that over the past two decades, Bordeaux has found itself at more critical junctures, inflection points and pivotal moments than ought to be possible. What set this year’s apart from the rest was the wake of the 2024 campaign — a vintage that had brought into harsh reality the possibility that, unless private clients could be clawed back, long-standing supply chain relationships alone might fail to keep En Primeur alive.
Last year, following successive vintages of unrealistic pricing and deep into the decline of the broader market, it was not just private clients, but merchants and negociants that found themselves either unable or unwilling to take on stock of the (poorly rated but sometimes aptly priced) 2024s. Without sufficient demand from the rightly-dubious collector, there was neither warehouse space nor cash available to buy what could not be sold.
The campaign commences
Though I do love the excitement of En Primeur and relish in analysing releases, I am not exactly a morning person. But, if I am to be arriving to an empty office at 7am for six weeks straight, I’d at least like to be sharing exciting news. In the early days of the campaign, there were several such occasions. Batailley, Larcis Ducasse, Cheval Blanc and (once Kelley’s potential 100 point score had been released) Pontet-Canet were amongst the early successes.
Then came Lafite. Having come down significantly in 2024, they were able to raise the price by 15% year-on-year while keeping the 2025 the cheapest of similarly rated vintages on the market. The pricing was smart – it clearly drew on current Market Prices rather than release prices of back vintages. They also leveraged the supply-side. While not a popular decision amongst merchants who’d had their allocations squeezed, and possibly unsustainable in the long-run, this move did create an air of scarcity.
Unfortunately, ‘15%’ caught on. Where wines did not provide clear value, they did not sell. In most of these cases, the similarly or better rated 2019 or 2020 vintages came out on top. There were notable releases that bucked this trend, Gruaud Larose and Clinet worthy of mention.
The campaign lost steam after Vinexpo, though the strong releases from Leoville Las Cases and Montrose did inject some life into its final days.
EP sales
In general, Liv-ex members were disappointed with their sales over the course of this campaign. Of UK merchants we surveyed, sales this year were flat on last year by value. The majority of merchants we spoke to thought release prices were too high to overcome this year’s hurdles. There were others, however, who were genuinely surprised by the lack of demand, deeming these releases fair.
Conversations were dominated by complaints, but there were few who did not name at least a couple successes.
Lessons from the 2014 vintage
Take a moment to consider post-campaign coverage of the worse-rated 2014s, a vintage that is now regularly touted as the last well priced En Primeur:
Those who’ve been following this year’s coverage will no doubt feel a sense of Déjà vu. I’d draw attention to some other similarities between the 2014 and 2025 campaigns:
- Released after years of ambitious pricing (2009, 2010; 2021, 2022).
- Directly following a low yielding, poor quality vintage (2013; 2024).
- Released into stabilising markets.
While, at the time, there was discontent with 2014 pricing, they have fared well in the longer run. If we were to ask now if the 2014s were correctly priced, if with perfect hindsight one would have bought at those prices, many would say yes. With the Bordeaux market showing signs of stability, there is finally also reason to believe that, in two years time, when the 2025s reach shores, alternative vintages won’t be cheaper than they are now.
What now?
In short, this was not a knock-out campaign, but neither have those of the past that we now look fondly back on been either. This was perhaps not the make or break campaign we expected it to be, but one of okay prices and tepid sales. There remain reparations to be made to piqued En Primeur buyers of the past, but the 2025 vintage was not the death of En Primeur. I may have many more early wake ups ahead of me yet.
Tag: Market Intelligence
What Happened In Fine Wine This Week: Burgundy took the lead in fine wine this week, and US buying grows
Burgundy has taken the lead, moving ahead of Bordeaux to become the largest contributor by value, accounting for 29.3% of the market
Burgundy has taken the lead, moving ahead of Bordeaux to become the largest contributor by value, accounting for 29.3% of the market. What’s driving that shift is not just demand for established names, but the growing liquidity in the latest available vintages. The 2023s alone make up around 40% of Burgundy’s traded value – a signal that buyers are actively deploying capital earlier in the wine’s lifecycle than in previous cycles.
For merchants, this is a notable change. Burgundy is not just trading strongly at the top end; it is becoming a more dynamic, two-speed market where both emerging and established wines are finding buyers.
Bordeaux remains resilient, but increasingly selective
Bordeaux still holds a significant share of the market, with 26.4% of traded value. But the nature of demand is evolving.
Rather than broad-based trading, activity is concentrating around mature, highly regarded vintages. First Growths from 2010 and 2005 are leading the way, with names such as Château Latour and Château Haut-Brion underpinning liquidity.
One example highlights this shift clearly: Château Latour 2016 was the most traded wine by value, yet it changed hands below its original release price.
Champagne and Italy: quiet gains, but strategic importance
Elsewhere, Champagne is seeing a meaningful uptick, rising to 16.7% of traded value, well above its recent averages. Leading houses such as Dom Pérignon and Krug continue to dominate activity.
In Italy, the picture is more mixed. Tuscany remains a key contributor, even as its share fluctuates, with producers like Poggio di Sotto continuing to draw attention. Piedmont also delivered a strong week, with top names such as Gaja and Bruno Giacosa attracting consistent demand.
Taken together, these regions highlight an important dynamic: buyers are maintaining diversified portfolios, but are highly targeted in where they deploy capital.
A more global market led by US demand
Perhaps the most striking development is geographic. US buyers accounted for 35% of traded value – the only group to increase their share week-on-week.
Access the full insight for a detailed breakdown of weekly trade, pricing movements and buyer activity by becoming a Liv-ex member.
Copyright © 2026 Liv-ex Ltd. All rights reserved.
Tag: Market Intelligence
What Happened In Fine Wine This Week: Burgundy and Bordeaux go head-to-head supported by strong demand for First Growths
Chateau Margaux 2015, Domaine Leroy, Vosne-Romanee, Aux Genaivrieres 2017 and Carruades de Lafite 2022 were the top traded wines by value.
After a quieter week, activity on the fine wine exchange picked up, with all major buying geographies increasing their participation. Exchange data shows that Chateau Margaux 2015, Domaine Leroy Vosne‑Romanée Aux Genaivrières 2017 and Carruades de Lafite 2022 were among the top traded wines by value, with Bordeaux and Burgundy each accounting for around a third of total traded value.
Bordeaux holds a narrow lead
Bordeaux edged ahead with a 32.0% share of traded value, supported by strong demand for First Growths. Chateau Margaux and Chateau Lafite dominated activity, together accounting for over a third of the region’s trade. Haut-Brion and Mouton Rothschild also contributed meaningfully, although at lower volumes.
At a wine level, Chateau Margaux 2015 stood out as one of the most actively traded labels.
Burgundy keeps pace as top producers gain ground
Burgundy followed closely with a 31.5% share, with 2023 vintages leading both value and volume. Trading was concentrated among a small group of highly sought-after producers, including Domaine Leroy, Coche-Dury and Jean-Claude Ramonet, which moved ahead of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in terms of activity this week.
Champagne gains momentum
Champagne saw a notable increase in share, rising from 9.5% to 11.3% week-on-week. Dom Perignon accounted for a significant proportion of this activity, with its P2 2008 emerging as the top-traded wine by value. Prices around £4,200 per case indicate continued demand for prestige cuvées.
Italy and the US take a step back
In contrast, Italian regions lost ground. Tuscany’s share fell sharply, while Piedmont also declined, suggesting a shift in buyer attention rather than a drop in liquidity. That said, key brands such as Tignanello and Sassicaia remained active, accounting for around a third of Italian trade.
US wines held steady at 5.7% of the market. Screaming Eagle led the region by value, with its 2021 Sauvignon Blanc among the most traded wines overall.
UK buyers return to the market
One of the more notable shifts this week was the resurgence of UK buyers, alongside increased participation from other key geographies. After a subdued period, this broad-based uptick suggests improving confidence and renewed engagement across the fine wine market.
Access the full insight for a detailed breakdown of weekly trade, pricing movements and buyer activity by becoming a Liv-ex member.
Copyright © 2026 Liv-ex Ltd. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2026 Liv-ex Ltd. All rights reserved.
Tag: Market Intelligence
What Happened In Fine Wine This Week: Lafite drives Bordeaux trade
Lafite and Carruades account for 10% of weekly trade as Bordeaux strengthens share.
Lafite Rothschild and its second wine, Carruades de Lafite, together accounted for around 10% of total traded value this week, highlighting continued demand for the First Growth and its wider range.
Overall trading volumes were lower week-on-week, with UK participation seeing the most notable decline. Despite this, Bordeaux increased its share of traded value, rising from 33.2% last week to 35.6%.
Within the region, Lafite featured prominently among the most actively traded wines by value, while Petrus ranked second in terms of Bordeaux trade. Activity was also influenced by the release of several 2025 vintages, although UK buyers were relatively subdued, accounting for 15.5% of Bordeaux trade during the period.
Burgundy held its position as the second most traded region, though its share fell from 25.6% to 20.2%. Trading focused on the 2023 vintage, with wines from producers including Joseph Faiveley, Sylvain Cathiard and Claude Dugat seeing consistent volumes.
Champagne’s share increased slightly to 9.3%, although it remains below levels seen in May. Jacques Selosse 2008 was the region’s top-traded wine by value, with transactions reported at £22,800 per 12×75 case.
Tuscany recorded one of the more notable increases in share, rising from 8.6% to 13.5%. Sassicaia was the leading wine by value both within the region and across the wider market, accounting for a significant proportion of Tuscan trade.
Piedmont remained broadly stable, representing 4.4% of total traded value. Activity was concentrated among established producers including Giacomo Conterno, Produttori del Barbaresco and Gaja, which together made up around half of the region’s trade.
A concentrated week for top names
While overall activity declined, trading continued to focus on a relatively small number of regions and producers. Bordeaux’s increased share, supported by strong demand for Lafite and Carruades, was a key theme, alongside steady interest in Burgundy 2023s and continued liquidity for leading Italian wines.
Access the full insight for a detailed breakdown of weekly trade, pricing movements and buyer activity by becoming a Liv-ex member.
Copyright © 2026 Liv-ex Ltd. All rights reserved.
Tag: Market Intelligence
What Happened In Fine Wine This Week: Trade levels up after Vinexpo, focus on high value Burgundy and Bordeaux
UK buyers almost doubled their purchasing, efforts focused largely on high value Burgundy. Read ‘What Happened In Fine Wine This Week’.
The latest Talking Trade is now live!
- Bordeaux led the market, claiming a third of traded value.
- Lafite 2020, Domaine d’Auvenay 2009 and Sassicaia 2023 were the top-traded wines by value. Three vintages of Vieux Telegraphe La Crau featured amongst the top five by volume.
- UK buyers almost doubled their purchasing, efforts focused largely on high value Burgundy.
Bordeaux led the market with a 33.3% share of traded value. The 2018, 2019 and 2020 vintages – which have frequently stood out as value picks relative to new releases — traded most frequently. Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Petrus and Chateau Mouton Rothschild dominated, together accounting for 40% of the region’s traded value.
Burgundy followed in second place, its share rising from 22.1% last week to 25.6% this week. Domaine de la Romanee-Conti and Domaine d’Auveny led, the former’s 2009 Richebourg and latter’s Bonnes Mares 2009 featuring amongst the top five wines overall.
Champagne’s share fell from 11.6% last week to 8.9% this week. US buyers accounted for 50% of the region’s traded value, focusing their efforts on Dom Perignon, Salon and Comtes de Champagne.
Tuscany’s share fell from 13.2% to 8.6%. Super Tuscans dominated, Sassicaia, Ornellaia and Soldera accounting for over 60% of the region’s trade.
The Rhone had a strong week, claiming 6.8% of traded value. Vieux Telegraphe led, with three vintages of La Crau featuring amongst the top traded wines by volume.
Premium Market Intelligence members have access to the full ‘What Happened In Fine Wine This Week’ piece, providing high-frequency updates on the latest fine wine market trends to help them stay on top of market movements and respond early to emerging trends.
Copyright © 2026 Liv-ex Ltd. All rights reserved.
Tag: Market Intelligence
White Wine Demand Surges: What Liv-ex Data Reveals About an Evolving Fine Wine Market
A significant shift in fine wine demand is underway, with sparkling wine trade rising by 1,100% since 2010 and red wine activity falling 15% since…
New data from Liv-ex, the exchange for fine wine, data and insight, shows a sustained surge in demand for white and sparkling wines, even as red wine
trade continues to lag.
Since 2010, the value of white wine traded on Liv-ex has increased by 650%, while sparkling wine trade has risen by 1,100% over the same period. While sparkling wines experienced a sharp boom (and subsequent bust) during the Covid-era bull market, recent data suggests that white wines, having experienced a less dramatic peak, have sustained high demand through the subsequent market downturn.
By contrast, red wine trade has remained relatively flat. In 2025, the total value of red wine traded on Liv-ex was 15.0% lower than in 2010,
underlining a structural shift in buying behaviour rather than a short-term anomaly.
A structural shift, not a seasonal trend
While red wine has traditionally dominated the secondary market, Liv-ex data indicates that buyers are increasingly diversifying where they choose to allocated their capital.
Any coverage referencing this information must attribute and link to Liv-ex White wine, in particular, has demonstrated resilience during recent periods of market uncertainty, maintaining more stable levels of trade value compared to both red and sparkling wines
Which white wines are driving growth?
The most significant growth in white wine trade has been seen in Burgundy, now firmly established as the leading white wine region on Liv-ex. This
growth has been driven by two complementary dynamics: increased trading volumes of lower-priced Burgundy whites and relative price stability at the top end of the market.
Since 2011, the value of Bordeaux white wine traded on Liv-ex has declined by 17.6%, allowing Burgundy to overtake Bordeaux as the dominant white wine category by value.
This shift reflects changing buyer preferences as well as the increasing importance of data-led decision making in the fine wine market. As White Burgundy’s prices and liquidity have surged, buyers have moved away from Bordeaux.
Data-driven insight for a changing market
As the fine wine market adjusts to a more selective buying environment, access to accurate, timely and unbiased data is becoming increasingly critical. Liv-ex analysis highlights how demand patterns are evolving across categories and regions, providing the trade with objective insight into where activity and value are sustained over time.
About Liv-ex
Liv-ex is the exchange for fine wine, market data and insight. They offer a membership that brings wine professionals independent market data and insights, and the ability to price, buy and sell wines through one point of contact.
Liv-ex offers automation services that enable fine wine businesses to streamline buying and selling, and gain operational efficiencies, including the ability to bring critics scores directly into their own systems.