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market report
Liv-ex is an electronic exchange for fine wine used by professional merchants and collectors. Market Report is part of a package of services offered to subscribers of Liv-ex, with subscriptions starting at £49.95 per year. Below is an extract from the latest Market Report. For the full report and to access Liv-Ex's services, sign-up with them at www.liv-ex.com
Liv-Ex Market Report
by Liv-ex.com, June 2010
Trading
The 2009 en primeur campaign finally started to pick up momentum by month end, with the first major Left and Right Bank wines released. With expectations of high release prices being well and truly met, trade in back vintages was brisk. And though Lafite was, as usual, the exchange's most sought-after wine, the remaining First Growths enjoyed robust trade across multiple vintages. Exchange turnover hit a new all-time high as a result, up 34% on last month. The Liv-ex 100 Fine Wine Index rose 4.4% to reach 294, continuing its rapid ascent. The index is up 23.8% year-to-date and 37.2% year-on-year. The Liv-ex Claret Chip finished the month at 355, gaining 5.6% on April. (See www.liv-ex.com for details or find the Liv-ex 100 on Bloomberg: see index code LIVX100.) Bordeaux continued its recent dominance in May, accounting for 96% of total exchange turnover. Trade of Italian wine was somewhat redemptive after last month’s lows, and Burgundy saw a marginal increase, though it remains well below its 2009 and 2008 averages. Bordeaux trading was led by recent vintages, with 2006 accounting for 31% of trade, driven largely by Lafite and Carruades. Some distance behind, the 2005 and 2008 vintages accounted for 12% and 10% of trade, again spurred on by strong demand for Lafite, along with Leoville Las Cases. We also saw our first major volumes for 2009, led by Duhart Milon.
(more analysis in the full report)
Major Movers
The upper half of the major movers table is once again filled almost exclusively by Bordeaux back vintages, which continue to benefit from prodigious 2009 prices. Lafite 2007 makes its second appearance in a row, with the vintage pushing up close to £5,000. Beyond Lafite, the 2007s are continuing to fall. Ausone joins them on the downward slope and remains one of the few top Bordeaux not to benefit from the strong uplift in prices we have seen in 2010.
(analysed in detail in full report)
Critical Corner: The critics’ take on 2009
Last month Ian D’Agata of the International Wine Cellar delivered his
verdict on the 2009 vintage, adding the final page to this year’s chapter of
en primeur tasting notes. D’Agata and Parker’s views on the vintage
appear polarised, with the former judging only four wines possible 100-
pointers (Haut Brion, Latour, Margaux and Petrus; all 97-100).
Nonetheless, IWC is known to be a harsher critic than most (no Bordeaux
has ever been awarded a final score of 100 points), and D’Agata goes on
to describe the vintage as “outstanding”, adding: “While 2005 produced
many more good to very good wines than 2009, the latest vintage may
well have yielded more superstars, with numerous estates making some of
the finest wines in their history.”
With all of the scores in, we’re now able to glean a fuller picture of how
2009 has been received by the major critics. The table below shows the top 25 wines of the vintage as scored by Neal Martin, Robert Parker, IWC,
and James Suckling. (Only the scores of critics who judge wines out of 100
were included in the study.)
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