Fine wine market down but good year for Champagne, DRC, Super Tuscans

While the value of the fine wine market has declined for a third consecutive year, 2013 has been a good year for Champagne, DRC, Super Tuscans and Right Bank Bordeaux.

Cristal 2004 is up by 16.7% on the Liv-ex Champagne Index

Liv-ex’s 2013 fine wine report reveals that early optimism in the first quarter of 2013 was subsequently quashed by a damp squib of an en primuer campaign.

By the end of November, the Liv-ex 100 had fallen 2.5% to its lowest point in 2013, down 0.9% on a year ago, with the 2008, 2009 and 2010 vintages accounting for 52% of all Bordeaux traded in November.

But while First Growth prices continued to fall, more affordable Bordeaux from 2009 and 2010 saw positive movement, with 99-point Montrose 2010 and 100-point Ducru Beaucaillou 2009 among November’s highest risers in the Liv-ex 100.

The Right Bank also had a good year, with the Liv-ex Right Bank 50 and Right Bank 100 showing gains of 3.6% and 7.6% respectively this year with Pavie and Angélus showing solid price rises since their promotion to Grand Cru Classé A status last September.

Bordeaux continues to dominate the Liv-ex 100, though its value share has decreased in the last three years, down from 95.2% in 2010 to 82.6% today.

This shift illustrates how the marketplace is expanding beyond Bordeaux to other Old World regions, such as Burgundy, Tuscany and the Rhône as collectors broaden their fine wine horizons and lessen their reliance on Bordeaux.

Burgundy has expanded its market share from 1.2% in 2010 to 6.8% today, while Italy has grown its value share from 0.9% in 2010 to 3.3% today.

Liv-ex reports that its Super Tuscan index has risen by 18.6% this year, with Masseto and Sassicia proving star players, while the DRC index is up by 6.9%.

It has also been a sparkling year for Champagne, with the Liv-ex Champagne Index surging up by 10.7% this year, buoyed by a stellar performance from Louis Roederer’s prestige cuvée, Cristal 2004, which climbed 16.7%.

Given that yields in Bordeaux are at a 20-year low this year, expectations for the Bordeaux 2013 campaign are equally low, meaning it is unlikely that the campaign will provide the Liv-ex 100 with an upswing in the first quarter of 2014.