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Demand for fine wine in China boosts February activity at Cult Wines

08 March 2023 By Arabella Mileham

The rebound in China following the lifting of covid measures has helped boost demand for fine wine during February, the latest figures from Cult Wine show.

Resting wine bottles stacked on wooden racks in basement.

The data showed Cult Wines’ first quarter trade sales in Greater China were on track to reach the highest quarterly total since before the pandemic, at £2.6m, which it attributed to the end of zero-COVID policies as well as high savings rates.

The rising demand wasn’t just confined to one region either, it noted, with Bordeaux to Chilean picked out as beneficiaries.

The resurgence of China came in addition to “better-than-expected economic sentiment in Western economies”, it added, reversing the 0.52% dip suffered by the January blues, by rising 0.77%.

“The rebound supports the narrative of strong supply-demand fundamentals,” Cult Wines said.

Among the winners this month were wines from the US, up 1.48% – on the back of better than expected economic data as the and rising inflation, along with the belief that the US Federal Reserve may keep raising interest rates longer than expected, which triggered a mid-month sell-off in US equities. Burgundy also rose 0.99% on the back of collectors receiving lower stock in the recently released 2021 vintage en primeur campaign, and Bordeaux also seeing a lift of 0.45% on the back of the 2019 and 2020 vintages. Champagne, however, saw lessening demand (down 0.71%) which Cult Wines said attributed to it “going through a post-bull market period of price consolidation”.

Wines that did notably well included Napa’s Stag’s Leap FAY vineyard 2008, which rose 47.8%, Domaine Denis Mortet, Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru, Lavaut Saint-Jacques 2011 (up 56.5%) and Perrot-Minot, Chambertin-Clos de Beze Grand Cru, Vieilles Vignes 2007 (up 39.5%). Spain’s top performer was Artadi Pagos Viejos, rising 34.2%, while back vintage of Bordeaux’s Clos Fourtet, Premier Grand Cru Classe B, Saint-Emilion, notably the 2007 and 2013 vintages. There were also two wines in the top ten from the Rhone, M. Chapoutier, Cote Rotie, La Mordoree 2006 (up 64.4%) and Clos des Papes, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Blanc 2019 (up 59.7%).