Bordeaux 500 makes biggest gain since 2011

As primeurs swings into action in Bordeaux this week, the Liv-ex Bordeaux 500 Index has experienced its biggest gain in the last five years.

The price of Lafite 1996 is up by 10% on the Liv-ex Fine Wine 50

The index rose by 2.4% to close the month of March on 249.01 – its biggest month on month gain since February 2011, when it was up by 3%.

The Bordeaux 500 put in the strongest performance within the Liv-ex 1000 Index in March, which itself was up by 1.7%, closing the month on 253.59.

The Bordeaux Legends 50 meanwhile, also saw strong gains in March, ending up 1.8%, while the Burgundy 150 was up by 1.5%

The Liv-ex Fine Wine 50 and the Second Wines 50, which track the Bordeaux first growths and their second wines, were both up by 3.3%.

Three of the month’s biggest movers were first growths, with the 100-point Lafite 1996 up by 10%.

According to Liv-ex, wines from the Left Bank and the first growth’s second wines are leading the charge in terms of rises, though all of the sub-indices are now in positive territory on a year ago.

Meanwhile, the Liv-ex Fine Wine 100 ended March on a high, up 6.55 points on February, signaling its fourth consecutive monthly rise and its biggest gain for three years.

Over 80% of the wines within the index saw price gains in March. Liv-ex puts the growth down to sterling weakness against the Euro and the dollar since last November, however prices continued to rise during the stable month of March.

The Liv-ex Bordeaux 500 represents the price movement of 500 leading wines and is calculated monthly from the last ten “physical” vintages of each wine. It is formed of the Fine Wine 50, the Right Bank 50, the Second Wine 50, the Sauternes 50, the Right Bank 100 and the Left Bank 200.