Fine wine diversifies further

The secondary market is becoming ever more diverse in size and scope with over 3,000 more individual wines traded this year than there were in 2010.

According to figures published by Liv-ex, so far this year 4,642 different wines have traded on the Exchange which already a 6% increase on last year’s tally and an a staggering 182% more than in 2010 when just 1,644 wines were traded.

Furthermore, back in 2010 Bordeaux absolutely dominated that figure, accounting for 1,068 of the wines traded with Burgundy being the next largest on 158.

Claret still dominates trades of course, accounting for 1,723 of the wines traded this year – a 61% increase on 2010 so even Bordeaux itself is becoming more diverse too.

But the real change has come from other regions and countries such as Champagne, the Rhône, Italy, Australia and the US.

Back in 2010 Champagne saw 38 wines traded on the Exchange, the Rhône 70, Italy 61, Australia 41 and the US just 12.

Since then, and really taking off last year, those areas have seen 252, 322, 479, 151 and 110 wines traded respectively on the Exchange all representing double digit growth over the course of a year and well over triple figure growth when compared to 2010 – the number of American wines traded for instance has grown a mighty 817% in the last seven years – the best performer albeit from a very small base.

A better example is Burgundy. Already the second largest component on the Exchange in 2010 with 158 wines, this year it has seen 845 different wines traded, a rise of 435% (although actually 1% down on last year’s 857 wines but the year’s not quite over yet).

The best-performing region this year is Champagne which has already grown by 42% from 178 wines traded last year to 252 in 2017 so far.