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Chinese New Year boosts fine wine market
Fine wine demand has been building up ahead of Chinese New Year, which starts on 14 February, Valentine’s Day.
The influence of this festival on the fine wine market has grown over recent years, pushing up prices of those labels that are most cherished in China.
This helps explain the strength of January’s fine wine market performance, which saw the Liv-ex 100 rising by 2.7%.
Elsewhere, The Fine Wine Investment Fund reported a 3.9% for the first month of 2010.
“We are about to welcome in the Chinese Year of the Tiger and although the clamour for first growth claret ahead of that hasn’t quite tipped the broader fine wine market into roaring mode, it has certainly had a very positive impact on the price of some stocks,” noted the fund’s latest report from Wine Asset Managers. 

Explaining further, it recorded, “We experienced this first hand, selling cases (12 bottles) of Lafite ’82 at £27,000 (10% above valuation) and Lafite ’86 at £12,000 (22% above valuation) directly to Hong Kong and Singapore-based merchants.”
However, it highlights the ongoing narrow nature of China’s fine wine demand. While this market – which is buying primarily for consumption – is driving a dearth of older vintage Lafite and Mouton, other first growth and right bank Bordeaux brands are still being overlooked.
“Many Latour, Margaux, Haut-Brion, Pétrus, Cheval Blanc and Ausone from what we consider to be the investment grade vintages are all trading well below their peaks set before the financial crisis,” explained The Fine Wine Investment Fund.
In particular, among the left bank first growths, it is Haut-Brion which appears to command the lowest prices among its peers, which, as the fund points out, is “an irony given that it is easily the lowest production first growth”.
As the report concludes, “When we launched our first fund in autumn 2006, Lafite, Latour and Margaux generally traded at parity when similarly rated within a vintage while Mouton and Haut Brion traded at a 30% discount as they have lower average ratings.
“They now all trade at a 40-60% discount to Lafite.”
In essence, China has significantly altered the fine wine market’s demand profile in a surprisingly short space of time.
Patrick Schmitt, 11.02.10