Fine Wine trading down

Liv-ex fine wine indices are all down by double digits in the year to date with the Fine Wine 50 -13.7%, Fine Wine 100 -13.2% and Fine Wine 1000 -13%.

The fall has been attributed to high inflation and interest rates and the uncertainty of the Israel and Ukraine wars. The changes in market appear to be the newer investible wines that have less history in the investment market.
While Bordeaux investment wines are down, there has been a flight to quality which has seen a relative recovery for Bordeaux, impacting other regions, with Burgundy the worst-affected – its share of trade has slumped from 31.2% in 2022 to 24% this year as cautious buyers are no longer willing to pay sky-high prices, particularly for newer, less well-established brands.

Warning that “2024 looks bleaker than 2023”, Liv-ex highlights the “daunting” prospect of soon-to-be-released large (and also high-quality) vintages from regions including Burgundy, Tuscany, California, Bordeaux and Champagne – making the role of Primeur campaigns and wine pricing more crucial than ever.

They say “We’ve reached the usual impasse typical of bear markets – buyers won’t buy wines at their current market price [and] sellers are reticent of lowering their prices and taking on losses,” the report concludes. Meanwhile, stock is accumulating in warehouses and cellars, and there is more on the way.