Fine wine decline slows in July

The Liv-ex Fine Wine 100 declined for the sixteenth straight month in July but it was the slightest monthly drop since December last year.

Liv-ex stated on its blog that July was “more stable” than a rather more volatile June which saw severe tumbles for the first growths and even Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s La Tâche.

Bordeaux was hit hardest in July, particularly Lafite which saw its 2009, 2000 and 2006 suffer respective falls of 9%, 8.1% and 7.9% – clearly the 2009 is still finding its floor and the £5,550 a case it traded for in July is an historic low.

Léoville Las Cases was the worst performer with its 1996 dropping 9.2% to £1,600 a case.

On the up it was a rather mixed bag of regions. Burgundy saw its highest share of trade in 18 months at 12.5% of all trades by value in July.

Ponsot’s 2011 Clos de la Roche went up 9.3% to £3,499 and Comte de Vogüé’s 2009 Musigny Vieille Vignes went up 7% to £5,900 a case.

Haut-Brion 2010 bounced back from last month’s 11% drop on its case price and rose 8% to £5,050 a case, Pichon-Baron’s 2010 went up 6% to £989 – a sub £1,000 classed growth Bordeaux from a good vintage being the sort of bargain buyers are looking for at the moment.

Also in the month’s top risers was a Rhône wine, Clos Papes’ 2010 Châteauneuf du Pape up 8.7% to £815 a case.

Overall the index fell 0.85% in July and the Liv-ex 50 fell 1.1% (running flat in the last week of the month).

As Liv-ex suggested late last month, while there may be no immediate change in the situation there is, perhaps, reason to be more optimistic that the market is on the cusp of turning a corner.