Up and up for fine wine in June

June saw the Liv-ex Fine Wine 100 index rise for the seventh consecutive month as the recovery of the market continues apace.

The index rose 2.1% last month, far outpacing the small 0.6% rise seen in May and back nearer the 2.7% gain witnessed in a bout of ‘March Madness’ this year. The Fine Wine 100 is now back at a level not seen since the end of 2013.

The first growth tracker, the Fine Wine 50, also saw a rise in June, up 2.5% and it was a good month for Bordeaux in general with several claret labels, particularly from the 2009 vintage, taking centre stage.

Pontet Canet 2009 was the month’s top mover, ending the month with a mid-price of £1,593 a case – up 13.6%.

Vega Sicilia’s 2004 ‘Unico’ was also up a substantial 11.6% in June but the rest was all Bordeaux.

Yquem’s 2001 rose 9.8% to £3,830 per dozen while the 2009 vintages of Angelus and Pavie went up 9.6% and 8.9% respectively.

It is worth noting that both the 2009 Pontet Canet and Pavie were given 100-points by Robert Parker and the ’09 Angelus was scored 99+.

It was not all sunshine and roses for the 2009 clarets though as the ’09 Léoville Las Cases declined 2.9% but it was Champagne and the Rhône which took the brunt of the June declines.

The 2006 and 2004 vintages of Louis Roederer Cristal were both down, the 2006 by almost 4%, while Beaucastel’s 2010 Chateauneuf du Pape dipped 5.2%.

The month’s biggest loser were the ‘La Las’ from Guigal which fell 10.2% in total.

Overall however, June was a hugely stabilising month reported Liv-ex with 85% of all the labels on its indices either seeing prices rise or at least hold steady. It is interesting to note too that, for the first time in a while, the market has continued to hold steady in the wake of an en primeur campaign, especially one that while successful was not a sell-out affair.

The Fine Wine 1000 also gained in June, climbing nearly 4% with every sub-index rising.