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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, October 2009
Trading
The strong trading activity we have seen in the second-half of 2009
continued through October, with exchange turnover up 5% on last year.
For the first time since early summer, Lafite Rothschild was forced to share
the limelight, with its near-neighbour Mouton Rothschild supplanting it as
the most traded brand on the exchange. A welcome sign that the hitherto
Lafite-driven market growth is now developing a broader base.
The Liv-ex 100 Fine Wine Index’s run of good results also continued,
finishing the month up 1.9% at 234.3; the seventh monthly rise in a row.
The index is now up an impressive 14.3% year to date and 9.5% year on
year. Indeed, all the major Liv-ex indices are now showing annual growth
(see the Key Data box, left) although they remain between 10-12% below
their high water marks. (See www.liv-ex.com for details or find the Liv-ex
100 on Bloomberg: see index code LIVX100.)
(more analysis in the full report)
Major Movers
Mouton heads the major movers board for the first time in 2009,
reflecting the rise in demand we have seen for the brand in recent
months. Lafite seems unwilling to completely relinquish its hold on the
major movers board, however, with the 2005 vintage continuing to
perform well.
Festive buying sees two mature Sauternes come to the fore. It would seem
the stickies are finding more favour this Christmas than fizz, with Cristal
(et al.) still failing to find much-needed momentum. Meanwhile, is the fall
in price for Carruades 2000 simply a pause for breath, or is its seemingly
relentless price climb now loosing impetus?
Critical Corner: Robert Parker on the Southern Rhone in 2007
Final thought — the Rhone in focus
(analysed in detail in full report)
Robert Parker’s scores for the 2007 southern Rhone arrived at the end of
October, providing us with a surfeit of superlatives and ten 100-point
scores. Described by Parker as the “most compelling vintage of any
viticultural region I have ever tasted”, no previous Wine Advocate report
has featured so many maximum scores. Only 2000 Bordeaux (with nine)
and 2001 California (with eight) come close. Indeed, the southern Rhone
has more 100-point wines in 2007 than Italy and Spain have had in their
history, combined.
The vintage is described as superb across all price levels – “I have never
tasted better Côtes du Rhônes, Gigondas, or sumptuous, rich, complex
Vacqueyras” – but it was the southern Rhone’s premier wine region,
Chateuneuf du Pape (CNDP), that garnered most interest. “Profoundly
concentrated, vividly aromatic, and remarkably fresh, yet substantial, fullbodied,
and flawless,” the 2007 CNDPs are apparently the product of a
year when the days were hot, the nights were cold, the mistral blew and it
barely rained.
The issue for trade and collectors alike is that many of these wines
(particularly the tiny-production tete-de-cuvees) are extremely hard to
find on the secondary market – of the top 15 wines by score, only Clos
Papes has a production of more than 5,000 cases. Those who missed out
on the 2007s probably won’t have to wait too long to get their hands on
top-quality CNDP, however. As Parker states in at the end of his report:
“At the time of writing, 2009 was looking fantastic.”
Below are the top 12 wines (all those that scored 99 and above). As the
table shows, all the wines surpassed or matched their previous best (PB)
score, something we see repeated throughout the report.
The Rhone Valley has been enjoying quite a run. No other major wine
region has been blessed with quite so many exceptional vintages in
succession. From 1998 onwards, only 2002 and (potentially) 2008 can be
considered lesser years. Furthermore, Robert Parker clearly favours the
region above all others. Of the 139 100-point scores he has awarded to
French wines, 70 are from the Rhone, as opposed to 55 from Bordeaux.
Over the last ten years, the Rhone has 46 ‘perfect’ wines, as opposed to
just 17 from Bordeaux.
Those wines that have found most favour, however, are almost exclusively
limited-production wines from single vineyards (such as Guigal Cote Rotie
Mouline) or ‘tete-de-cuvee’ selections of the very best grapes (such as the
wines highlighted in the table above). A very different situation from
Bordeaux, where 100-point wines are often available in quantities of up
to a quarter of a million bottles.
This lack of liquidity is apparent when you look at the trading figures. In
2009 the Rhone has accounted for only 1.2% of total Liv-ex exchange
trade, while in the auction market it constitutes just 2.5% of sales.
Furthermore, trade is dominated by just a few brands. The three Guigal
single-vineyard Cote Roties (Landonne, Turque and Mouline) together
with Beaucastel and Clos Papes, constitute 77% of Rhone trade on the
exchange. Similarly, in the auction market the Guigal single-vineyard
wines account for 35% of Rhone sales alone.
With such high scores, limited production and high consumption rates
(most Rhone is drunk far younger than its Bordeaux equivalents) it would
appear the conditions for secondary market price appreciation are in place
– particularly for the Parker point-laden super-cuvees.
(analysed in detail in full report)
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