Bordeaux 2005: trade falls away

Trade in the recently upgraded Bordeaux 2005 vintage is already slowing on the Liv-ex platform after an explosive, initial burst.

Robert Parker’s rescore at the end of last month did much to push the vintage back into the spotlight and a number of the wines have seen substantial increases in value.

Nonetheless, actual trade in the vintage has fallen away sharply with Liv-ex reporting that having hit a 37% share of trade by value in the week finishing 2 July, its share the following week (3-9 July) was a mere 2.6%.

Speaking to the drinks business, Liv-ex director Justin Gibbs said this wasn’t unusual.

“With these reviews the action tends to happen in the first day or two and then it’s done,’ he said.

For the ‘05s that day was 29 June when – in what is a minor controversy – a copy of The Wine Advocate arrived in Bordeaux ahead of schedule and the scores were effectively leaked.

After that the market, “kicked off very quickly”, especially for freshly elevated Angélus, Haut-Brion, La Mission Haut-Brion and Cheval Blanc.

Furthermore, the fact that the report – far more controversially – didn’t drastically update the Médoc, “took the wind out of the market entirely”.

Not only did it leave many, “scratching their heads” but it meant that many buyers so no need to move in on Left Bank wines, which further stymied trade.

Gibbs added that the scores had also hit the Liv-ex 50 (which tracks the first growths) and it had dropped a couple of points in late June/early July meaning it entered this month “in a slightly listless place.”

Although the Parker review wasn’t quite what many expected, Gibbs predicted that, in time, “the vintage will come to be appreciated by a far greater number of people and when the market begins to find some real upward momentum, I think the ’05s are going to be right up there.”

As the market turned from the 2005s once again, instead, Pavie’s 2012 and Lynch Bages’ 2008 wines made up the bulk of Bordeaux’s share of volume and value trade last week while Italy dominated most areas, accounting for 12.2% of all trade.

Sassicaia’s 2012 vintage was an important prop in the week’s share of trade by value, while Argiano’s 2010 Brunello di Montalcino and Rampolla’s 2008 “Alceo” dominated in the volume trade accounting for 14.4% and 8.4% respectively.